Originally published on New Hope Network
Melaina Juntti,Freelance writer.
Retailing ain’t easy—most any store owner, operator, manager or buyer will tell you that. Independent retail brings its own set of challenges. It’s a ton of work, first and foremost. Plus, there are peaks and valleys, wins and losses, boom times and slow stretches, headaches, heartaches and happy moments too. That’s a whole lot to navigate, especially for someone just starting their journey in independent natural products retail.
Yet most folks who’ve chosen and stuck with this path will say it’s well worth it. No retailer knows what they’re doing all of the time, they’ll attest, and like most careers, you learn as you go, get stronger with experience and become better with time. However, in hindsight, are there useful nuggets they wish they knew sooner? Of course! We asked three independent retailers to share theirs.
Co-owner
Alina Hornfeldt, co-owner of Mastel’s Health Foods in St. Paul, Minnesota
Trust your inner voice. When I started my retail journey, I wish I would have known that you need to trust your gut instinct. When working with a customer or a vendor, or hiring an employee, you’ve got to listen to that inner voice. At this point, I’ve had enough experiences when I knew something was off, but didn’t listen, and later had regrets about how it went. It can feel like you are being unreasonable or “difficult” in the moment, and I think it’s hard for women, especially, to hold firm boundaries when it feels potentially confrontational. But a little awkwardness upfront can save a lot of future hassle.
Don’t diminish yourself. I’ve also learned to empower myself to be direct in my communication and not minimize myself in emails with filler words like “I just wanted to …” or apologize for things that aren’t my fault. On the other hand, being direct doesn’t mean being cold. I do embrace being enthusiastic in my emails and use exclamation points and emojis when they feel appropriate. Some of my relationships exist mainly over email, and they don’t need to stay blunt and stodgy as we work together. I appreciate a well-written email, and I think it’s one of those soft skills that’s really worth developing.
Retail is a valid career. I think I downplayed or thought retail wasn’t a “good enough” career path since you don’t necessarily go to college for it. But I really enjoy working with people, problem-solving and working on a team. I spent several years in corporate retail, and while I loved my coworkers and customers, the management style was too stifling for me. I wanted to improve the customer experience, or streamline an operation, and was met with a brick wall. When I got into independent retail, I felt at home being able to make meaningful changes at a quick pace. And now as a store owner, I love listening to my employees’ ideas and implementing them right away if they feel reasonable. There’s nothing wrong with making your dream of “playing store” as a little girl come true!
Director
Jeremy Laurange, director of retail operations and enterprise development, Hawthorne Valley Farm Store in Ghent, New York
Core values persist. I wish I understood earlier that some things never change, while others are constantly changing—and both are OK. What doesn’t change are the core values that bring people to natural food stores. People want to know where their food comes from, how it was grown or made, who produced it. They care about quality, freshness, trust and connection. A customer may be buying bread, yogurt or cheese, but often, they’re also looking for the story behind it: Was it made locally? How were the animals raised? Who is the farmer? Those questions were important 25 years ago—and still are today.
Separate trends from values. What changes are the products, trends and ways people express their core values. I’ve watched countless trends come through natural retail: the rise of soy milk, then almond milk, oat milk, coconut water, kombucha, bone broth, CBD, keto foods, adaptogens, functional mushrooms and now protein everything. Some trends become permanent categories; others peak and fade away. I wish I had learned earlier not to confuse a trend with a value. The product may change, but the reason customers look for it often doesn’t.
Embrace the journey. In retail, you’re always looking ahead to the next day, the next holiday, the next promotion, the next budget. There’s always another deadline, challenge or goal. Earlier in my career, I sometimes treated those milestones as the destination: “Once we get through the holidays …” or “Once we hit this sales goal …” or “Once we finish this project, things will slow down.” But retail doesn’t work that way. So, I’d tell my younger self: Keep planning for tomorrow, but don’t miss what is happening in front of you. Be present for the journey. Celebrate wins. Take time to recognize the employee who has grown tremendously. Enjoy the conversation with the longtime customer. Appreciate the farmer dropping off the first strawberries of the season.
Founder and CEO
Jilea Hemmings, founder and CEO, Nourish + Bloom Market in Atlanta and Fayetteville, Georgia
Innovation isn’t everything. When we started Nourish + Bloom, we focused on reimagining grocery retail. We built an autonomous grocery experience using AI and frictionless technology because we believed people deserved greater access to fresh food and a more convenient way to shop. But I learned quickly that even the most innovative retail concept still has to master the fundamentals. You can have incredible technology and a beautiful store, but if people don’t know you’re there or the location doesn’t generate enough traffic, innovation alone won’t solve those problems.
Honor the human experience. I’ve learned that technology should remove friction, not humanity. We entered retail wanting to eliminate checkout lines and make shopping more convenient, but we’ve discovered that customers still want connection. The winning model isn’t technology versus people. It’s using technology to handle the friction so people can focus on the parts of the experience that actually require humanity. I also wish I had understood how valuable customer behavior is. Customers tell you what they want through what they buy and don’t buy, and how often they return. As entrepreneurs, sometimes we become attached to what we think the business should be. Retail teaches you that the customer gets a vote every single day.
Pursue your vision. I would tell my younger self: “You have no idea how far this vision is going to take you. Be fearless enough to follow it.” When you have a vision that is ahead of its time, not everyone is going to understand it, and they don’t have to. I spent years learning that you cannot measure the size of your dream by someone else’s ability to see it. I would tell myself to walk into every room knowing that I belong there. Ask bigger. Think bigger. Build bigger. Don’t shrink the vision to make other people comfortable with it. Most importantly, the hard moments aren’t necessarily signs to stop. Sometimes they’re preparing you for the level you’re asking to reach.
