Well, hi everybody.
Speaker AGlenn the Geek, back with you.
Speaker AFounder of the Horse Radio Network and host of Horses in the Morning, the longest running daily horse podcast, one of the longest running daily podcasts in the world at 15 years.
Speaker AWelcome to the WESA Retail Roundup.
Speaker AThe Retail Roundup is your go to virtual hub for all things retail.
Speaker AJoin panel discussions, learn from webinars, share your thoughts, ask questions and connect with your community.
Speaker AWe host a virtual event on Mondays and share educational content with you every week via the Retail Roundup Facebook group.
Speaker AIf you're not a member yet, search for Retail Roundup on Facebook.
Speaker AIn a landscape dominated by big box stores, whether they're, you know, physical stores, brick and mortar stores, or online stores, how do small retailers not just survive, but thrive?
Speaker AWe'll find answers today as we chat with Stevie Cummins, the powerhouse behind Jewel of the west, to explore how independent stores can win in 2025.
Speaker AStevie is the founder and creative force behind Jewel of the West, a western inspired boutique known for its unique creation, curation and fiercely loya customer base.
Speaker AStevie, where are you guys located?
Speaker BWe are in a little town in the Black Hills of South Dakota by the name of Hill city.
Speaker BWe're about 10 miles from Mount Rushmore.
Speaker AAre you the only business other than Mount Rushmore in Hill City?
Speaker BNo, no, actually we have a really cute little downtown.
Speaker BIt's kind of one or two blocks long, but a lot of stores, art, galleries, restaurants, things like that.
Speaker BWe have strong traffic May mid May through mid October.
Speaker BSo about five months out of the year.
Speaker AAre you open the other months?
Speaker BWe are, we are.
Speaker BI do not own the building that we are in.
Speaker BI rent and as you can imagine, the rent in a little tourist town can be pretty high as have all the other expenses gone up.
Speaker BSo there's no way I could survive if I didn't stay stay year round, stay open year round.
Speaker BAnd we found some really great workarounds that we've built upon over the years that have really helped us succeed.
Speaker ASo you're brick and mortar and online?
Speaker BWell, we don't have an online shopping cart website.
Speaker BWe have a website that kind of shows the vibe of our store and where people can go and schedule a virtual shopping appointment.
Speaker BIt also has a very robust calendar of events so that people can see what we have going on.
Speaker BWe do so much virtual, our virtual and our social media.
Speaker BHonestly, they're probably responsible for 75% of our revenue throughout the year, including tourist season added in.
Speaker BSo we've really built upon that and it's been a huge Focus.
Speaker BAnd we've stayed very consistent with it.
Speaker BSo that has been very helpful.
Speaker AWell, that leads to the first question, right?
Speaker AIs how do you compete with the Amazons and the big box stores of the world?
Speaker AYou know, how do you compete individually with that?
Speaker BYeah, well, I'll be honest.
Speaker BYou know, it can be hard at times.
Speaker BOne, we're pretty transparent here.
Speaker BYou know, sometimes you'll have a customer come in and say, well, I saw this online at their website for $5 cheaper than you're selling it.
Speaker BAnd, you know, I'm just real honest with people that, you know, 90% of vendors sell direct to the end user.
Speaker BAnd that can make it very hard for their wholesalers, you know, the people that buy wholesale, to sell retail.
Speaker BBecause we eat that freight coming to us and with what freight costs have done, I just can't eat them all or I won't stay alive.
Speaker BSo I'm just honest that I wish I could.
Speaker BBut this is, you know, recently I got in 29 boxes of boots and the freight on it was $497.50.
Speaker BYou know, I can't eat all of that and charge the same price they are.
Speaker BSo I'm honest and transparent with people.
Speaker BBut also I feel like we stand out in a lot of other ways too.
Speaker BOne I can honestly say, most importantly is the women that work for me.
Speaker BI don't even know how to say enough about them that really, I don't even know how you put a value on them.
Speaker BIn South Dakota, the minimum wage is $11.50 an hour.
Speaker BI start my employees at 15 an hour.
Speaker BWe never advertise that we have a job opening.
Speaker BI would rather work 16 hours a day, seven days a week than have someone in our establishment that is not a good fit for the type of customer service element that we want to provide to our customers.
Speaker BSo pretty much all of our employees, they were either a really good customer that we reached out to, they were a referral by a good customer, or a friend of an employee that decided they wanted to come on board.
Speaker BAnd what we have developed is truly a family here.
Speaker BWe give a different experience than I think you can get in most big box stores.
Speaker BI don't know about you, but these days when I walk in a big store, I feel like I'm having to ask for someone to help me.
Speaker BAnd even sometimes when you ask, you can't get the help.
Speaker AAnd I've given up on that.
Speaker AI never even just assume nobody's there to help you.
Speaker AYou just make that assumption, right?
Speaker AYou find it yourself.
Speaker BA lot of times, yeah.
Speaker BAnd a lot of times the younger folks, which I don't want to stereotype people because I've had some amazing young employees that left and went off to college.
Speaker BBut a lot of times, you know, they're busy on their cell phone and they don't even look up to acknowledge my age range currently of staff is 53 to 70.
Speaker BI love it, isn't it?
Speaker BAnd I feel like it comes from a generation that truly cares about the in person experience, the customer service element.
Speaker BThere is not a person that walks in our door that is not greeted and thanked for coming in and that is not thanked when they leave for stopping in whether they made a purchase or not.
Speaker BAnd I love that about the women that work for me.
Speaker BAnd I think that is one thing that really helps us stand out.
Speaker BAnother thing that has really helped us is the marketing company that I work with that manages my website.
Speaker BThey told me that if you could get more Google reviews it would help your business.
Speaker BThey said do not ask for good reviews, just ask for honest feedback.
Speaker BAnd they said the more of those you get, the more it is going to drive people to your website when they're looking for a keyword like turquoise jewelry or what have you.
Speaker BAnd so we started a thing.
Speaker BOne of my techie young gals that went off to college, she created a barcode for us and we do them on these fun little postcards.
Speaker BWe put one in every package.
Speaker BSometimes we'll hand them out to people that just come in to browse.
Speaker BAnd it's got our return policy on there.
Speaker BIt takes this takes you right to our Google page where they can leave review and we just ask for honest feedback and tell them it really helps us if you tell us how we can improve what you enjoyed.
Speaker BAnd we do a $250 gift certificate drawing every 100 Google reviews that we get.
Speaker BAnd the marketing company actually used us as, what do I want to say, kind of an example to other clients because it's driving so much website.
Speaker BWe are sometimes in the first or second position when people search certain items.
Speaker BOur tiny little store that's not even 1,000 square feet.
Speaker BSo that really helped us as well.
Speaker AThat's interesting because you know, one of the things we always said in business and marketing is you have to make it simple or they won't do it.
Speaker AAnd what you've done is made it simple for them to do it.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker BAnd we do our drawings live.
Speaker BI use that wheel of names, you know, where you're em all in.
Speaker BSo People can see that it's fair and honest and it has really driven people to give us honest feedback and it's really helped out.
Speaker BAnd I love how they're always giving a shout out.
Speaker BIf you go to our Google page, one of the overview things that Google says about us is that people comment on how lovely the staff is.
Speaker BAnd you know, we're not pushy.
Speaker BWe let people know, you know, we want to help you just let us know if there's anything you'd like help with.
Speaker BBut we also don't breathe down their neck while they're shopping.
Speaker BWe let them enjoy the experience and kind of fill out the vibe.
Speaker BSome people want you to engage with them from the minute they walk in and not ever let go of them.
Speaker BAnd others, they just want to browse and be left alone till they're ready for something.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker BSo we try to read the room there.
Speaker BBut I feel blessed because truly I call my staff the jewels and they are amazing and they are worth gold.
Speaker BAnd I think that is one way that you can really stand out as a smaller store instead of a big box.
Speaker BYou have control over who's hired and the type of vibe and the type of people and you know, with the servant's heart that are in there.
Speaker BInstead of being put out and feeling like, you know, that's not my job, it just.
Speaker BThat is probably the biggest difference in our store is my staff.
Speaker ASo one of, you know, one of the things too that I think smaller stores, and I know we felt this too, you feel the pressure to that you need to kind of scale up.
Speaker AYou need more products to be competitive with the big box stores.
Speaker AAnd that's killed a lot of stores too.
Speaker AI mean that's, that's a temptation that gets you in trouble.
Speaker BYes, it does.
Speaker BAnd it definitely can.
Speaker BAnd things have not always been perfect.
Speaker BThere are times I've had to right the ship in different ways.
Speaker BBut I will tell you, you know, the one thing that's kept me grounded is money.
Speaker BI don't have as much money as the big box.
Speaker AKind of grounds all of us, doesn't it?
Speaker BYes, it does.
Speaker BDarn it.
Speaker AWouldn't it sometimes.
Speaker BUnlimited checkbook.
Speaker BBut not the case.
Speaker BBut I think too what I love is that instead of trying to be everything to everyone, you figure out what your customers love the most.
Speaker BAnd not just being a certain brand store.
Speaker BIt's fun because you can bring in all these different brands and just carry the most epic of what they have to offer.
Speaker BAnd I think that's an opportunity where I Think depending how you look at that, to me it's an opportunity to outdo the big box store.
Speaker BThey might have more offerings, but not every single thing is amazing.
Speaker BIf you just really hone your eye in on what's most exciting to your customers, I think you can really see some good sales.
Speaker ASo you're in a location that brings a lot of tourists in for a certain period of time.
Speaker AHow do you get them to come in your store locally?
Speaker ASo let's, let's forget the Internet now.
Speaker ANow you're, you're, you're brick and mortar in, in a local town.
Speaker AAnd how are you getting to come in?
Speaker AIs it just that they're walking by and they're going to stop in anyway because they're just hitting store to store to store?
Speaker AOr are you doing advertising in the area?
Speaker AHow are you getting the word out?
Speaker BI will tell you.
Speaker BIn our state, I advertise with Kello Land.
Speaker BI absolutely have gotten so much bang for my buck.
Speaker BNot only do they advertise in the entire state of South Dakota, it's a TV station that goes as far as Sheridan, Wyoming, which is three and a half hours from us.
Speaker BIt goes into Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, not the whole state, but the parts closest to our.
Speaker ASo it's a, it's a, it's a TV station.
Speaker BIt's a TV station and we do commercials.
Speaker BBut also once a month they have something that they do every week that's called Kello Land Living.
Speaker BAnd it's like a program where all these different businesses get featured and it's six to eight minutes long, your segment is.
Speaker BAnd they film it and it's where you can really talk about the heart of your store and what it is and what you have to offer and the things you're doing that has drove so much business for us.
Speaker BAnd so that is where the bulk of my advertising goes.
Speaker AAnd I assume it's in all the hotels that it's shown in all the hotels.
Speaker BIt is one of the main channels that most of the hotels put out, you know, like on their news and everything.
Speaker BSo it's, it's been good money.
Speaker BAnd I'll be honest, I haven't had a lot of money to advertise other than that.
Speaker BBut we're very lucky because we are a small downtown.
Speaker BAnd so the tourists, when they come, they do kind of start and go down one block and up the other side and we are blessed with a very good location.
Speaker BI pay the highest rent in town, but I'm Kitty Corner from a world famous restaurant that is owned locally, that was started by a little German woman called the Alpine Inn.
Speaker BAnd we also are directly like the railroad, the old Hill City Railroad.
Speaker BIt's a huge tourist attraction to ride that.
Speaker BAnd when people get off the railroad and cross the street to come to downtown, that that street takes you right to the corner where we are.
Speaker BSo we are blessed with that.
Speaker BWe definitely pay more.
Speaker BBut it does help us out.
Speaker AWhat's been your most successful social media?
Speaker BGosh, you know, I would say two things.
Speaker BOne is just we do very descriptive videos, and it's really prevented a lot of returns because I'll tell you, amongst designers and even within a designer's line, like in Double D Ranch, I have everything in my closet from a small to a 1x.
Speaker BAnd just sizing can be all over the place on things.
Speaker BAnd I'm not putting them down.
Speaker BI'm just saying all designers are like that, you know, and even just from designer to designer.
Speaker BAnd we've.
Speaker BWe hardly ever get a return or an exchange because of the description we put out there about the fit.
Speaker BAnd we'd recommend going up or this piece is really not good for someone with large boobs, you know, or this looks better on someone with more of a boyish figure.
Speaker BNot curves.
Speaker BYou know, we try to really just be authentic and honest.
Speaker BSo that has been helpful.
Speaker BBut the big event for us on social media is I grew up in a basketball family.
Speaker BMy dad was a basketball coach for over 35 years.
Speaker BAnd March Madness, big thing in our household.
Speaker BBig, big thing amongst my family.
Speaker BAnd we decided to do March Madness thing every year.
Speaker BWe've done it three years now.
Speaker BAnd we do it in correlation with one of our vendors, Juan Antonio, his great one of a kind handbag.
Speaker BAnd we take photos of every handbag we have in store.
Speaker BAnd we do brackets where we match them up against each other.
Speaker BAnd we do a poll every day where people have to vote on their favorite bag.
Speaker BAnd the winning bag advances to the next round.
Speaker BAnd it's drove a lot of traffic because we'll give you an extra entry if you tag five of your friends.
Speaker BThat sort of thing.
Speaker BThat has been huge for us every year.
Speaker BWe've noticed major growth during that.
Speaker AYou know, it's huge because it's just fun, right?
Speaker AI mean, it's just fun.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BAnd someone's winning a handbag at the end of that.
Speaker BYou know, one of a kind, gorgeous leather handbag.
Speaker BSo that's probably been our biggest event.
Speaker AI love that because it's so interactive.
Speaker AAnd two things.
Speaker AIt's interactive, but it's, it's repeat interactive.
Speaker AThey're coming back to vote every time, so that builds over time too.
Speaker ABut people want to come back and vote every time because they want to see the one that they actually want to win as the winner.
Speaker AIt's a brilliant.
Speaker AThat's brilliant actually.
Speaker BAnd a lot of times the one that wins sells during the contest.
Speaker BSo we always will pick another great bag.
Speaker BWe try to pick one that's, you know, going to appease most people.
Speaker BYou know, some people don't like fringe, some don't like cowhide.
Speaker BSo a lot of times we'll go with more of like a leather bag that's a little more common, you know, and stuff if the one that wins sells.
Speaker ASo, so what can you do merchandising wise in the store that's never different than the big box and maybe calls more attention to obviously the products with.
Speaker ADo you, do you, do you merchandise in a way with the products with the higher margins?
Speaker AWhere, you know, do you, do you think about that?
Speaker BWe actually always try to.
Speaker BFirst of all, once a week, every Monday, we change out all of our displays and we do that.
Speaker AWhich displays?
Speaker ALet's clarify that because some stores can have a lot of displays.
Speaker BMannequins, where our clothing racks are, there's shelving on top of all of them.
Speaker BAnd you know, we may have pillows and blankets up there or you know, we have a lot of those not full on mannequins, but like the shirt, the iron shirt stands that you can put a shirt or a blouse over and we'll pair it with a handbag and wallet, you know, and, and a hat or what have you.
Speaker BAnd we just always try to change our displays.
Speaker BWe also try to mix, which is.
Speaker AA lot of work.
Speaker BIt is, it's a lot of work and.
Speaker BBut it produces sales and it is.
Speaker BWe try to mix high end and more affordable pieces together so that not everything is super high end.
Speaker BAnd it is a lot of work.
Speaker BBut I'll tell you, if you ever have a piece that's really fabulous and for some reason it's not selling, we'll move things around.
Speaker BWe do a floor reset every week where we just kind of change things up a little bit.
Speaker BThat way if you're in a period where you can't afford to get a lot of new merchandise in, it gives things a fresh look and makes people see it with a different set of eyes.
Speaker AIs there one particular display that you that just, you know, did 10 times better than you thought it would or was Your best one of the year or whatever.
Speaker AWas there one that stands out to you?
Speaker BWell, I will tell you that we have this one employee that she just has this amazing style and some of the stuff she puts together, it's like, I would have never thought of that, but it's really good.
Speaker BBut we.
Speaker BWe name our mannequins.
Speaker BWe're kind of goofy here at work.
Speaker AWork.
Speaker BAnd Marilyn.
Speaker BMarilyn's our mannequin that's about five feet in the door when you walk in, right before you turn to go to the cash.
Speaker AShe blonde and shapey, and she's headless, actually.
Speaker BWe always have a hat on her of some sort, you know, because she stops about right here and we just lay a hat there.
Speaker BBut she always puts something really fabulous and unexpected on that mannequin, and it just always seems to bring the comments big time.
Speaker BAnd I'll be honest, I don't want to name throw, but I will tell you, Pat Danke, her pieces are so special.
Speaker BAnd there's almost always a piece of Pat Danke on there.
Speaker BJust something really unique that's maybe paired back to more everyday stuff.
Speaker BBut we have a lot of fun with Marilyn.
Speaker BShe's definitely our flashy model.
Speaker ASo obviously social media kind of helps you a little bit to level the playing field, even with some of the big ones.
Speaker AYeah, they spent a ton of money and all of that, but I still think that the smaller companies can get more engagement.
Speaker AThey may have, you know, a million followers on Facebook, but your company, I'm not saying you specifically, but, you know, everybody's company that has 50,000 can get more engagement than their millionaires.
Speaker AYou know, that's.
Speaker AAnd actually Facebook, you know, they made some changes a couple years ago that really trashed our pages.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd we all had to get creative to.
Speaker ATo bring back the engagement.
Speaker ABut that allowed us to.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AI mean, it allowed us to.
Speaker ATo level the playing field more.
Speaker AAnd is that what you found?
Speaker BI.
Speaker BI do think so.
Speaker BAnd one thing we really focus on is quick response.
Speaker BWe have done away with our landline in our store, and we have two cell phones.
Speaker AWe.
Speaker BWe transferred that landline number over and we have them in conjunction with each other.
Speaker BIt's two separate phone numbers.
Speaker BSo we've got two lines people can be calling in on or us calling out on, but we can.
Speaker BIt updates the social media, any texts going back, virtual shopping via text with customers.
Speaker BSo we try to really keep an eye on that.
Speaker BThe employees, somebody's always got one of the phones on them.
Speaker BAnd when they get a Second, they're making sure.
Speaker BI think being responsive is very important.
Speaker BBut I also think, you know, one of the things you were talking to me about was how do you feel like you can compete with the big box store?
Speaker BAnd I kind of looked into, you know, when they made all those changes and things kind of crashed down.
Speaker BI was like, maybe I need to hire an influencer.
Speaker BAnd I quickly reigned myself in because I noticed two things.
Speaker BOne, I didn't have the money to hire an influencer.
Speaker BAnd two, I gotta be honest with you that, that, that's not my customer and that's where I need to stay grounded.
Speaker BI think it's amazing to see those beautiful reels that are real fancy and they have all these special features and highlights and all these things they do.
Speaker BI'd have to go to college for six months to learn how to do all of that.
Speaker BAnd we just have stayed really authentic.
Speaker BAnd there are times we've done really well with our outfit of the day videos.
Speaker BPeople are always saying, I loved what Stevie had on in that.
Speaker BSo we started like when I shot a video of something else.
Speaker BSo I've started doing an outfit of the day video every day and putting it up on my stories.
Speaker BAnd you know what?
Speaker BSome days I realize I haven't done that till I'm ready to go home.
Speaker BAnd maybe it was a 14 hour day.
Speaker BAnd we're all that age where having hot flashes and, you know, things.
Speaker BWe're not always looking so hot.
Speaker BSometimes I'm barefoot, my feet are tired.
Speaker BWe have kept it so authentic.
Speaker BAnd that is one of our biggest compliments we hear over and over is that people say, I love how you guys are authentic.
Speaker BYou show the clothes on people that aren't a size 2, that aren't a 5, 10 size 2, supermodel with airbrushed makeup, you know, hey, sorry.
Speaker BAll I've got on is mascara today because I had a hot flash and the rest melted off.
Speaker BI think that's really helped us is being authentic and really learning who is your customer.
Speaker BAnd we have customers of all different ages.
Speaker BBut I would say honestly, our average customer is 45 to 65.
Speaker BAnd so we're just trying to keep it real.
Speaker ASo it's interesting because with the Horse Radio Network, our listener base, which is tens of thousands, but they tend to be in the 40 to 70 range.
Speaker AWomen 40 to 70 is.
Speaker ATends to be who, who the.
Speaker AOur active listeners are.
Speaker AYeah, yeah.
Speaker AAnd, and that.
Speaker ASo that makes sense, right?
Speaker AI mean, it does kind of make sense, I think for us and probably you that is coming down a little bit in age.
Speaker AWe're picking up more of the younger than we ever have in the past.
Speaker AAnd I think that's because, you know, the whole world's catching up, right?
Speaker ASo, yeah, I agree.
Speaker BAnd I think, too, you know, I think things have gotten a little crazy these last four or five years.
Speaker AOh, really?
Speaker BAnd, yeah, just a little bit.
Speaker BAnyway, I will tell you that I feel like the Western way of life, that down home, you know, giving thanks to God, you know, being grateful, it's really.
Speaker BI feel like people want more of that in their life.
Speaker BAnd I feel like it's become a life that is more appealing to a broader age range now.
Speaker BAnd it's just grounded and it's wholesome and it's good and it's positive.
Speaker BAnd I do think that's part of it, too.
Speaker BThat's.
Speaker BThat is what is driving more of an age range in there.
Speaker BI think people are realizing after what we've been through that, wow, I want to be grounded a little more and have these roots and care about things that really matter.
Speaker BAnd so I think in a way, that's been a blessing, too, for all of us in business.
Speaker AYou know, it's interesting, too, people whine all the time about the negative effects of social media, right?
Speaker ABut what they don't realize is it even younger people, teenagers or whatever, you're exposed to so much more than we ever were growing up, right?
Speaker AI mean, we had the newspaper and magazines and tv.
Speaker AThat was it.
Speaker ASo you're exposed to so much more than you ever were before.
Speaker AYou're seeing things that you would have never seen 20 years ago.
Speaker ASo it does open it up more than it ever has in the past.
Speaker AIt's not all negative.
Speaker AA lot of that's a positive because you are exposed to more than you ever were before.
Speaker AI don't view that.
Speaker AYeah, there are negative aspects of anything, but I don't view that as a negative in this case.
Speaker AI ran an acting company for 10 years pre Internet.
Speaker AWe would have done so much better had the Internet been around, because we could have been exposed so much more.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AWe had to do everything the hard way.
Speaker AYou know, we were advertising on radio and TV and newspapers.
Speaker AEverything was harder.
Speaker AYou know, even selling tickets was harder.
Speaker ASo it has made doing business easier in many ways.
Speaker AAnd also, you know, there are challenges that come with that, too.
Speaker AIt's keeping up with.
Speaker AKeeping up with it all is the challenge.
Speaker ABut you're right.
Speaker AAnd going back to what you said about doing those daily posts about the outfit of the day.
Speaker AWhat we have found through all of our experiment, I'm part of the Equine Network, which is the largest network now for the media world in the horse world, period.
Speaker AThey own everything.
Speaker AAnd what we have found is posts first thing in the morning with horse people.
Speaker AIt's between 6 and 7 o' clock and get 10 times more play than if you posted at 4 o' clock in the afternoon.
Speaker AAnd we just found that that's the way it is, you know, we get a lot more play.
Speaker ASo now I'm at the point now even for Horse Radio Network, if I don't post it by 10 o' clock in the morning, I wait till the next day.
Speaker AI don't even post it.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ABecause I know it's going to get lost.
Speaker BThat's interesting you say that because that is kind of what we've noticed.
Speaker BI'm an early riser, so I'm always up by 5am and I kind of have morning routine and I'm usually in a chair doing my to do list and my social media for the day between 6 and 7am before I go out to feed horses.
Speaker BSo that's interesting.
Speaker BAnd another thing that you said really caught me when you said that everything was harder back in the day.
Speaker BAnd I think sometimes, like when I was talking about employees and stuff, I don't ever like to stereotype anyone, but I do think that people of our age did have to work harder for things.
Speaker BIt wasn't.
Speaker BYou know, I see such a difference these days, even just at a high school level.
Speaker BUsed to if you were a good athlete and worked hard, you could get playing time at high school.
Speaker BNowadays, if your parents don't have you on these expensive travel ball teams, you know, that literally destroy any weekend time at all.
Speaker BIt's so expensive and everything.
Speaker BBut then maybe things come easier.
Speaker BBut back in the day, if that was how it would have been, that wouldn't have been me and my sisters.
Speaker BMy parents couldn't have afforded that.
Speaker BAnd we just, I mean, I had two jobs in third grade, I had a paper route and I mowed lawns and I've just always been a hard worker.
Speaker BAnd I don't know, there's something about that gratitude, that gratefulness level that comes out when you've really had to work hard for something and it means more.
Speaker BAnd I love that.
Speaker AThere you go.
Speaker ASo we're running out of time.
Speaker AI wanted to ask you, what do you see as the biggest opportunity for small retailers in 2025?
Speaker ADo you see?
Speaker ADo you see opportunity, and what do you see?
Speaker AWhere's it fall?
Speaker BI do see opportunity because I feel like this is an opportunity with things looking up.
Speaker BFirst of all, I think every owner of small businesses needs to first look in the mirror.
Speaker BYou know, these last several years have been so hard that it's so easy to get down, feel defeated.
Speaker BYou've got to do a check and get yourself in place.
Speaker BHow bad do you want it and what is your attitude like?
Speaker BThis is an opportunity to.
Speaker BTo totally reset your attitude, to manifest amazing things for your business, your staff, everything, to reevaluate, you know, who is our customer, what do we want to be?
Speaker BWhat do we want to focus in on?
Speaker BIt's really a time for reset and, you know, really think about what fun you can bring.
Speaker BI think that is one reason we have a lot of people coming back to our business.
Speaker BWe do a lot of fun events for the locals.
Speaker BIn the middle of winter, when the weather's crappy and no one wants to get out and half the businesses are closed in town, we do a pajama party and we serve mimosas, and people come in in their pajamas and slippers, and we all drink mimosas and we take pictures and we give a killer prize to the person with the best pajamas.
Speaker BWe have so much fun in our store.
Speaker BAnd I do, I feel like this year things are looking up.
Speaker BSo ride that wave, get on that wave of positivity and, you know, look up and be grateful and really figure it out what it is that you want to do.
Speaker BAnd anytime you feel yourself maybe slipping back into that negativity, rein yourself in and refocus, because it does bring amazing things to a person.
Speaker BAnd I feel like, too, that things have been tough and we're coming out of that really, really tough, bleak stuff, that if you just hang on and be positive, think of all the amazing things that are coming, and you don't want to waste all of that struggle bus you went through the last four or five years.
Speaker BAnd so I just encourage everyone to find your passion, be positive, manifest awesomeness, and just look up and look ahead.
Speaker AI couldn't agree more.
Speaker AWe, I always said, you know, I do some consulting, and, you know, I've owned a number of business over the years, some successful and some not.
Speaker AAs all of us that have been around for a long time, we owned a number of businesses, some are successful and some are not.
Speaker AThat's just the way it is.
Speaker ABut our thing, my wife and I always said, are we having fun?
Speaker AAre we still having fun?
Speaker AAnd the minute we said we weren't having fun anymore, that's when we sold the business or we moved on.
Speaker AYou know, and, you know, if you're not having fun, your employees aren't having fun, your customers are not coming back because they don't want to come to a place that's not fun.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ABut just what you said.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker AAnd you're probably done.
Speaker AGo find something then that is fun.
Speaker AGo.
Speaker AYou know, it doesn't.
Speaker ABecause you're closing the business for whatever reason or selling it, doesn't mean that you failed.
Speaker AIt just means you've learned something and now you're going to go find the thing that is fun.
Speaker AYou know, I started the Horse Radio Network.
Speaker ANow it's almost 18 years ago, and I started it because I wanted to have.
Speaker AI was a performer and I wanted to have fun again.
Speaker AI hadn't performed in a while, and, you know, that's why I did it, was to have fun again.
Speaker AAnd, you know, this is the longest job I've ever had because, you know, because I'm still having fun.
Speaker AAnd I think.
Speaker AI think that's, you know, we talk about the money and all that stuff, but sometimes you're making money and not having fun, and then you have to look at that too.
Speaker AYou know, that's, you know, life is short.
Speaker ADo we all want to just do something we're not having fun with for the rest of our lives?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BThat is so important.
Speaker BIt is.
Speaker BAnd I do.
Speaker BI feel like 2025 is a.
Speaker BA time to reevaluate.
Speaker BAnd as small business owners, we're lucky.
Speaker BWe get to make a lot of decisions that big corporate businesses, you know, they're being ruled by someone higher up that is maybe making decisions that the manager doesn't agree with.
Speaker BAnd, you know, you're lucky because, as you know, we're lucky as small business owners, we can make changes, we can.
Speaker AWrite, while we're a lot more nimble.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker BYep.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker AThat is one of the huge advantage.
Speaker AThat's probably the biggest advantage we have, is we're nimble.
Speaker AI agree.
Speaker AWe can make a decision today and implement it tomorrow.
Speaker AThey make a decision today and implement it in six months to a year.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BYou know, it's even like on an application for anything these days.
Speaker BThey want to know all these different things about you.
Speaker BAnd, you know, I don't care what religion or what race someone is.
Speaker BI want to hire people that have a vision and a heart that fits in in our establishment.
Speaker BAnd I think that's where it starts.
Speaker BYou know, sit down and reevaluate.
Speaker BIs who you have working for you really portraying the vision you have for your business?
Speaker BAre they all in?
Speaker BYou know, and I just, I love that as a small business owner you get to make decisions that eliminate a lot of headache.
Speaker BOther things might be harder in ways, but there's a lot of really positive things, a lot of them.
Speaker AAnd then there's the 100 hour weeks.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker BAnd I've done some of those.
Speaker BIsn't it better when it's for yourself and you're building something for your family versus doing it for someone that you know, doesn't say thank you, maybe doesn't appreciate it, expects more.
Speaker BInstead of saying thank you, good job.
Speaker BThey're like, why didn't you get this done too?
Speaker BAnd I love that.
Speaker BAnd I do think as a small business owner, you have to ask yourself, are you filling up your employees cups?
Speaker BDo you, do you sandwich a piece of criticism between two pieces of praise?
Speaker BAre you lifting them up?
Speaker BAre you empowering them?
Speaker BI just, I think it's so important.
Speaker BI always knew if I could ever go in business by myself that the most important thing to me would to be that, to be the kind of boss I always wished that I had.
Speaker BAnd I did have one or two bosses like that in my years of working.
Speaker BAnd I feel very grateful for that.
Speaker AYes, we all had both.
Speaker BMajor difference.
Speaker AWhere can people find you?
Speaker BPeople can find us on social media.
Speaker BWe're on Instagram and Facebook at Jewel of the West.
Speaker BIt's singular.
Speaker BThere's someone in North Dakota that's jewels, plural.
Speaker BSo you can find us there.
Speaker BAnd Our website is www.jewelofthewest.com.
Speaker Byou can contact us through there.
Speaker BYou can read about our pillar project annual award we give out, which has been a huge thing for us.
Speaker BYou can schedule a virtual shopping appointment or check out how we do it.
Speaker BIt's really fun.
Speaker BNot many people use our virtual calendar.
Speaker BWe do it through calendly.
Speaker BWe have a few use that but most people just call the store and sched one.
Speaker BBut yeah, you can definitely check out the vibe of our store and everything there.
Speaker AVery good.
Speaker AThank you, Stevie.
Speaker AAppreciate you being on with us today and thank you all for joining us for WESA's retail roundup.
Speaker AWe're only what, two months away from Dallas again?
Speaker AYeah, yeah, we're only two months away.
Speaker ATo to watch the retail roundups, check out the WESA trade show YouTube channel.
Speaker AYou can also find episodes on Wisdom by WESA podcast.
Speaker ASo if you want to listen to it on the Wisdom by WESA Podcast Feed, and they have a terrific podcast over there as well.
Speaker AAnd on the WESA website@wesatradeshow.com Retail roundups will be published every week.
Speaker AStay up to date with the Retail Roundup on the Facebook group at wesatradeshow and at wesatradeshow.com you can find me at horsesinthemorning.com we have 4000 episodes of horses in the Morning to listen to, so you have a little catching up to do.
Speaker AAnd you can subscribe by Wisdom by WESA on Apple, Music, Spotify, or any podcast player.
Speaker ADon't miss out on the Retail Roundups here every Monday.
Speaker AThanks, Stevie.
Speaker ANext time I come up.
Speaker AThank you so much to see the rocks.
Speaker AI'll come over and say hi.
Speaker AOkay?
Speaker BAll right.
Speaker BThat would be awesome.
Speaker BWe'd love to have you in.