Jodi’s Journal: Local retailers sounded a warning — and you listened
July 14, 2024
It felt like a metaphorical retail roller coaster.
One week ago, I shared the perspective of Greg Koch, co-owner of 605 Running Co., who candidly assessed the “2024 truth” as he detailed the conditions his business has been facing.
“Our retail business isn’t making money,” he said. “Despite our best efforts, our retail operations are struggling to turn a profit. We’ve strategized, tweaked, evolved, moved, added services, expanded, run promotions and so much more. You name it, we’ve tried it to make our stores appealing to shoppers in Sioux Falls.”
You can read the rest here. After the column published, the response was swift — from readers whose eyes I think were opened to the reality many local businesses face — as well as from businesses. While I had a hunch Koch spoke for others, I didn’t realize how many until I began hearing from them.
“As Greg said, we keep going, even when it doesn’t make sense to,” one told me. “We love being a part of downtown, and we have a lot of continued support from the residents that live/work downtown. … We just need others to also support us!”
Then, I started seeing more businesses, within downtown and outside of it, sharing the column with their own perspectives.
“HELP! We’re in trouble. Myself and other small businesses are really struggling, and we have been — over the last year — our sales have dropped dramatically,” one wrote.
“We need community support and we need help to keep going! I’m not realistically sure how much longer I can hang on with the slow traffic of downtown. Please think of us when you are needing a gift for a family member, a blouse for a work event, a summer dress or even a pair of sunglasses. We’re here for you, and we will be for as long we can be.”
This is not the sort of way I want to grow my readership.
But, like the best kind of story, this one seemingly evolved as the week went on. Late Friday, I talked with Koch, who earlier that day had met with fellow downtown retailers for their biweekly roundtable. When I attended two weeks ago, I heard from many who said traffic in June was so light there were days they weren’t sure why they stayed open.
Two weeks later, “I would say there was a very positive uptick in traffic across all the stores downtown,” Koch told me. “Everyone said they’ve experienced really, really strong days — this week in particular.”
As 605 Running Co. came off a July 4 weekend sale, “we’ve been able to carry that (momentum), and we’re seeing strong days,” he continued. “That’s a classic Sioux Falls story. Challenge the community and they sort of rise up. It’s humbling. It’s amazing to say that because of this so many people are shopping.”
First, thank you.
To those of you who read about these businesses’ struggles and decided not to just offer sympathy but actual support, you are making a difference.
To my colleagues in the media who picked up this narrative and further amplified the story, thank you for showing the power of journalism to do community good.
And most critically, to those businesses that were willing to have the tough conversations and share with the community your need for support, that’s what I think really drove the message home.
“This feels a lot like the reaction to COVID in terms of the support for small businesses,” Koch told me. “This is the vibe we’re getting from the community, but that wasn’t that long ago. So why the drop?”
I have some ideas, including what one reader gave voice to in a comment I saw.
“I am so sorry to read about your business struggles,” she said to a business owner. “I wish my paycheck stretched like it used to.”
I don’t think it’s coincidental that in the same week I wrote that column, we ran a story that donations at Feeding South Dakota are down and demand is up. Or that the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society reported being at or beyond capacity. Or that the flight to value is showing itself in everything from record sales at reduced-price retailers to weeklong deal events at Walmart, Target and soon Amazon.
The message that feels right for our community is to shop local as you’re able to, and to remember that even a small purchase matters.
”You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to support the businesses you love,” said Sara Jamison, the owner of Terra Shepherd Boutique & Apothecary, in a Dakota News Now report last week. “The small purchases, even if it’s a $10 to $15 purchase, that makes such a difference.”
That’s true, said Koch, who described for me the demoralizing feeling that comes in a day with zero sales.
“That $15 at least can cover my cost of being here,” he said, adding that while he heard many comments about e-commerce taking away local business, “every local store is online, so I don’t think that’s a piece of the conversation.”
Back at the recurring retailers’ meeting, “the big conversation is what can we do to maintain that momentum?” Koch said.
There’s a good chance coming up at the downtown Summer Shop & Stroll, a new name for the popular Crazy Days event July 19-21. Find details on special offers here.
I know other retail centers and individual businesses also run semiannual or Crazy Days sales in the area, including The Bridges at 57th and at Lake Lorraine, which will offer it that same weekend in July.
I do believe the desire to support local is there from many across the community and beyond. For instance, Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. drew hundreds of respondents last week to a call for “secret shoppers” as a way to help retailers improve their guest experience.
“We’re only as good as the data we get, and by implementing a program like that, we can focus on the rest of our business we need to focus on,” Koch said. “It’s not a ‘woe is me’ (thing). We’re totally open to coaching and willing to work hard to make that experience the best it possibly can be for our customers.”
As fate would have it, the week ended on an especially high note for his business, which learned that it was named one of 63 top running stores in the nation for a second consecutive year from an annual conference called The Running Event. It received 15,000 nominations for the honor, and almost 300 unique stores were nominated.
It includes an analysis of pay and benefits as well as a secret shopper visit, “so it’s pretty comprehensive,” Koch said. “Our community had to submit the nomination … and to be selected a couple years in a row speaks volumes to our effort of continually getting better.”
Business owner or not, we’re all a work in progress. And one sales surge doesn’t make a positive trend line, but it’s a step forward. Collectively, I do believe we can continue cultivating the sort of community where local commerce is valued enough that people spend with intentionality. And it never hurts to be reminded of what’s at stake if we don’t.
On that note, take a look at the first piece our sister site Pigeon605 produced last week in partnership with Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. I guarantee you will find something that you didn’t know is waiting for you the next time you head downtown.
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