We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stacey Price. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stacey below.
Hi Stacey, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
Shop Made Brands started in 2017 as an economic development experiment. I had spent over a decade assisting local business and spreading localism and I wanted to know what would happen if we created a space that made it convenient for the consumer to support all locally-owned business– could we scale businesses, build community, change consumer perception of locally-made? They answer is YES x 3 and also we turned a profit in that first year which is kind of unheard of in the business world. We took the profits from the first stores and sunk them into other stores to create a ripple effect in our variable. DC maker community exploded and then we started VA and MD.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Shop Made Brands is a mission driven retail initiative that exists to grow makers and artists in specific locals. We have initiatives in DC, VA and MD. We have 10 store fronts but also help corporations shift their dollars locally with gifting, offices supplying and corporate DIY events and activations.
Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?
When I was 23 I accidentally bought a business. In October 2002, the owners of a retail store I lived above left a proposal on my door step to buy a 13 year old gift store by the end of the year. $23K in owner financing later I was a business owner. I call this my MBA. I spent 7 years learning through trial and error how to run a retail store. I tap into all of that expertise daily for Shop Made and all of my business consulting.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Shop Made environment is transparent, collaborative and fun. I knew as a leader what I valued and it took some time but we created an environment where we recruit team members that thrive on our culture. This does not mean our team does not get discouraged, burnt out or stuck– in those times we go back to core values and bring people together, create incentives and show appreciation how our team likes to receive it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www,shopmadebrands.com
- Instagram: @sdprice
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceydeniseprice
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceydprice/
Image Credits
Kate Warren