Episode 8: The Art of Visual Merchandising in a Small Town Men's Store in West Chester
Join host Terresa Zimmerman as she sits down with Jaime Weisbrot, owner and founder of Phineas Gage, a men's clothing store in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Jaime shares her journey from visual merchandising in big-box retail to opening her own boutique, offering insights on customer service, community involvement, and the challenges of running an independent retail business.
Here are some takeaways from this episode
-Leverage your industry experience when opening your own store
-Focus on creating a unique shopping experience for your target demographic
-Continuously adapt to customer feedback and changing market trends
-Utilize local partnerships and educational institutions for staffing and growth
-Explore various marketing channels to reach your specific customer base
-Invest in a robust POS system to track inventory and customer preferences
-Consider implementing a loyalty program to reward and retain customers
-Working with business consultants, why and how
Featured in this episode:
Phineas Gage
Website https://phineas-gage.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/phineas_gage_wc/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/phineas-gage
Connect with Jaime Weisbrot, owner/founder
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaime-hazley-weisbrot-35a88011/
Other mentions in this episode:
West Chester PA Chamber https://www.instagram.com/greaterwestchester/https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-greater-west-chester-chamber-of-commerce/
Drexel University
https://www.instagram.com/drexeluniv/https://www.linkedin.com/school/drexel-university/
Connect with Us:
Main Street Matters Podcast:
Website: www.mainstreetmatters.co
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mainstreetmatters1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/main-street-matters
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@MainStreetMatters_MSM
Host - Terresa Zimmerman:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terresachristensonzimmerman
Listen to the episode here:
Watch the episode here:
Featured Store:
Full Transcript:
Jaime Weisbrot:
I think the one thing that I enjoy the most out of having my own store is that connection that we have with customers.
Terresa Zimmerman:
When you were at the bigger corporate jobs that you missed being customer facing. So that's fabulous.
Jaime Weisbrot:
When I hire new people and I'm training people, I explain to all of them, you know, we help everyone that comes in the door.
Terresa Zimmerman:
This episode of Main Street Matters is brought to you by Wood Underwear, Marchesi Jin Frati neckwear, and Inspiro Tequila. I'm your host, Terresa Zimmerman. Hello, welcome to Main Street Matters. I am so happy to be here with Jamie Weisbrot. the owner, founder, proprietor, all the things from Phineas Gage, the men's clothing store in Westchester, Pennsylvania. Welcome, Jamie. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. I would love to start out with you just telling us a little bit about Phineas Gage.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Sure. So we are an all men's store in Westchester, Pennsylvania. We're probably about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Philly, if you, for reference, we're contemporary casual men's store. So we carry brands like Johnny O, Mizzina Maine, Fairety, um, dressier brands like Bonobos and Rotting Gun. Uh, I like to say we're like kind of the small store version of the Nordstrom's, you know, um, if you were to compare us to a department store. Yeah. So, and, um, you know, will carry all these brands and some other like nice denim brands, frame, AG, and wood underwear.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Love it. Love the plug. Always love the plug. And how long has Phineas Gage been around? How did it, how did it get started?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Sure, so we're actually celebrating eight years this September. I opened the store in September of 2016. It was the first retail store I've ever opened, but I have a lot of background in retail and in visual merchandising. There's one other men's store in our town that does some dressier clothing, but nothing to compare to many of the women's boutiques in our town. So I just felt like we needed a men's boutique that was a great place for guys to be able to not only shop but like hang out and feel comfortable. Almost like a men's lounge vibe. And you know there wasn't a place for guys that could get their weekend wear, their denims, their casual wear, their golf wear, all in one place. So I just I saw the need for it and I felt like we needed to open something like that here.
Terresa Zimmerman:
I read somewhere, I think it's on your website, that you had always dreamed of opening a men's store. How do you always dream of opening a men's store?
Jaime Weisbrot:
That might just be a little flip on the okay I mean I always wanted to get into men's underwear but that's a whole other story so I so I have always been interested in fashion when I was a kid I'd be you know sketching out designs and on papers and you know always more of like an art interest and fashion interest um and I went to school at Drexel for design and merchandising I realized early on that The actual design process was not for me, like the sewing, the pattern making, that was not something I was interested in, but the business I was definitely interested in. And I had a lot of great mentors that kind of led me along the way. I had an internship with the North Face doing sales, so on the wholesale side, doing their sales. And then after school, college, I worked at Bloomingdale's. I had an amazing manager there that kind of introduced me to clienteling and how to work with customers. You know, that was very interesting. I was in the men's department. I was in the men's polo department. So I learned about a lot about like, you know, teaching guys about fits and, you know, just that knowledge and helping them find styles and putting outfits together. That was always fun. But then I was burnt out from that retail because it's big box retail and it's very different than small business retail. And then I went on and worked at Lacoste doing visual merchandising. So again, in the wholesale side of things, I had the big box stores again. So I was in Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Lauren Taylor, and I had a team of merchandisers that I managed along the East Coast. And we kind of kept tabs on the Lacoste shops and stores. But then we also did the showrooms in New York for the sales meetings. And we traveled around the country and opened up little shopping shops for Lacoste. And again, I was they brought me up to New York for a few years. I lived up there for two years doing that. Then I got burnt out and I was like, this is not fun anymore. You know what I mean? And I missed the interaction that you have with customers because I wasn't really doing that. I was just doing the visual aspect of things. Um, so I moved back here to Westchester and, um, after I got married, I was like, I think this is really what I want to do. You know, I saw this need for, a cute men's clothing store in this cute town that we have. And luckily, people have responded well to it. It's been going great.
Terresa Zimmerman:
I mean, it sounds like you've had a blast in your career. Yeah. I mean, there's so many people I know that, you know, that's their dream.
Jaime Weisbrot:
It was fun. And I was thrilled to, you know, be able to have that opportunity. And I did it for about four years. And, you know, I, but there were times when I was in, you know, Bloomingdale's loading docks and I'm like, why am I here? This isn't fun.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Now you can be in your own back storeroom and say, why am I here? Yeah, exactly.
Jaime Weisbrot:
We're like in the Macy's stock room at, you know, one in the morning. Cause you have to get the floor move done before the store opens. And it was like, so it's not quite as glamorous as the title sounds. But I learned a lot and a big part of what I learned in visual merchandising is that I wanted a men's store that felt more designed with purpose to look like a men's store. You know everything was thought of thought out from the fixtures to the decor. You know I wanted to be feel more like a men's lounge and not like just racks on the wall of clothes. I learned a lot about visual merchandising through them and when you're, you know, merchandising the product that it comes in, how to put things together and, you know, how to lay things out on a table so that they look, this shirt could go with these pants, but then these pants could also go with this shirt and, you know, kind of making outfits for guys.
Terresa Zimmerman:
You've had a wealth of experience and you've, you know, brought some of that visual merchandising to bear for your store. But what of that did you bring? What of that's working? What of that, you know, is special about Phineas Gage that you specifically have made happen?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Okay. Yeah. So a big thing when you come into the shop is for like our bigger brands, I try to keep the merchandise together because, you know, I've learned, through the past and like through just our own store that people sometimes come in for a specific brand so it's kind of easier to try to keep the brands together sometimes with the bigger ones those are the ones you have to keep together so when you come in you know the store is set up that you know in certain sections are different brands and each rack is purposely merchandised so that Again, you might have a shirt, like a woven, a long sleeve button down or short sleeve. Behind that could be a T-shirt and you would wear those together. And then behind that is the shorts that you would wear it with. And then behind that is another shirt you could wear back to those shorts. And it's all, you know, merchandised by colour so that the colours work together. It's not like you have this random black shirt in here next to a red shirt and it, you know, kind of looks like it wasn't thought out. Um, so I brought that in and then again, you know, different folding techniques on the tables or different interesting ways to hang pants. We have this one way that I learned when I was merchandising at lacrosse to like hang pants over a shirt hanger and people just like come in and are like, this is great. Like who would have thought of this?
Terresa Zimmerman:
And I'm like, well, how do you hang pants over a shirt hanger? I feel like I have to show you.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Maybe, maybe. I don't, uh, I don't have any. Do you want me to show you? Sure. Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah. So different. So we just have like a casual pair of pants here. Okay. And you could go either way. You could go this way or you could flip them the other way. Um, and you just, you know, hang the pants over like this. So then when they're hanging on a rack, they're, they're like this. So then the front is sticking out. Um, you know, of the rack, it would be like this. And I use this in our racks that aren't long enough to hang them vertically. Oh, fascinating.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Okay, that's cool.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah, it's something I learned from, you know, one of our managers at uh lacoste so i can't take credit for it but um it does it saves space it also adds like a little bit of like texture or a different element when you see like a whole rack of shirts hanging you know it's kind of hard to differentiate so it's like you put those in and it breaks things up a little bit
Terresa Zimmerman:
Well, and you can make outfits that look, well, not uniform, but you can make outfits along the rack, like you've got in the back that are all on the same hanger. So yeah, I get that. It's very clean and very.
Jaime Weisbrot:
It's inviting. You want it to be interesting. You want people to gravitate toward it. And, you know, we help everyone that comes into the store anyway, but in the event that I'm not there or like, you know, they're shopping on their own, obviously they can do that as well. you know, they can kind of figure out that things are kind of merchandised a certain way. I've had guys explore, compare shopping with us to like granimals. Cause it's like, well, they understand that, you know, they wear this shirt with these pants and jacket or sweater or something. And that's always stuck with me. I thought it was funny.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah. You know, it's true though. And it's not just for men. I mean, it's so helpful when you have an entire outfit together. Can't tell you how many times I've gone into a store and I'm like, Oh my God, that pair of pants with that shirt's really cute. And then I've got nothing to wear with it because it wasn't right there.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah. Exactly. And so and sometimes we'll have customers like we have a local news anchor that comes in and we have a little partnership with him and but he also is a great customer and you know we'll put things together and take pictures of it and text it to him so that he knows you know what to wear together. You know. It's a great service.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yes. Yeah. Right. So what's your what's your favorite thing about having your own store?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Um, I think the freedom to kind of be able to run it how I want to and, you know, use all the past experience that I have and whether it be in training staff or, you know, dealing with customers is, you know, I enjoy being able to kind of put my own spin on things. Um, and obviously the freedom of being like, you know, well, we're not going to be open the day after Christmas because everybody needs a break, you know, and, and we have great customers and, you know, they understand that. And so. Um, yeah, I think that, and I think the one thing that I enjoy the most out of having my own store is that connection that we have with customers. Um, you know, we're a big town, but a small town, you know, and then there's so many connections you make just through conversations. Um, you know, they know my family or they know, we know similar people. I went to high school with their daughter or something like that. It's kind of building those connections is really fun. And then obviously, building outfits for people is a lot of fun. And I really enjoy finding what works for people and then being excited about it, you know?
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah, well, you said when you were at the bigger corporate jobs that they that you missed being customer facing. So that's fabulous.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah. So because it was, you know, when you're doing the visual merchandising in a Bloomingdale's 59th Street, you're not really connecting with the tourists or, you know, the people coming in and out all the time.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah. What do you think your customers would say is special about Phineas Gage?
Jaime Weisbrot:
I think they like the fact that our assortment really kind of covers all of their needs. And a lot of people love to say that they can come here and not drive the 25, 30 minutes to King of Prussia Mall because we carry what they need here. And the customer service, I think, is another big thing. It's a big thing for me, and it's a big thing when I hire new people and I'm training people. I explain to all of them, you know, we help everyone that comes in the door. Sure, there's people that aren't going to want necessarily help, but in some way or another, you know, we know the brands, we know the fits. and we're gonna make sure that we find the best thing for you and the best gift for your son or husband. So I think people would say the customer service too.
Terresa Zimmerman:
You've mentioned training a couple of times. So how do you train people? I mean, how do you find training people?
Jaime Weisbrot:
I would say I don't have like a real set, you know, agenda, but with every new person, I have a store manager right now that's full time and she's amazing. And she's been with me for almost two years now, but there's, you know, we start a little bit at a time. So the first couple of weeks, they're just kind of learning. They're learning about our customer. They're learning about our brands. You know, I encourage everyone in the downtime because everyone knows there's downtime in retail, to go in and research the brands, learn about the fits, learn about the products, learn about the fabrics, and you know, what makes each brand special because each brand has its own story. And that's one of the ways we kind of connect with those brands. So, you know, learning all about the store and the product is usually like the first step. And then obviously the register and stuff like that. And then, you know, just them kind of shadowing myself. and learning how you clientele and how you work with customers and find out what questions to ask and what needs they have. And then because you know the brand, you can give them the right product. You can put them in the fitting room to try a few things that you think might fit or might work. I think one of the biggest turnoffs for customers is when they go in and pick a couple of things and go try them on and nothing fits right. And then they get discouraged and leave because they don't think anything in the store fits. And it's like, well, no, it's not that we just need to pick the right brands, you know, because every brand has a certain fit and style. So so I think a big part of the training is the knowledge, you know, and then obviously learning about working with your customers. If you don't have a lot of retail experience. Going through that whole process,
Terresa Zimmerman:
Do your staff tend to come from local so they also kind of are part of the community already?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Sometimes. I've kind of, you know, sometimes we have some college students. We've done Drexel co-ops before. So we'll have students come in for six months and do it. You know, when we're hiring positions, like a full-time position, you know, we'll post that, but they're usually within like a local town. We're Westchester, we've had some very local people that have worked for us briefly and or for years at a time and you know they know a lot of people as well so it's kind of a range. Right, right.
Terresa Zimmerman:
What other tools or techniques or processes do you have that you rely on to run your business?
Jaime Weisbrot:
So obviously, we have our POS system, which we use. It's called Heartland. And we started with them years ago when they were, I forget the name of them. But it's a retail-based POS system, which was big for us because it was really important for us to be able to track our inventory, how much customers are spending, and what we did last year versus this year, whereas sometimes these other big POS systems can do restaurants or retail but this one felt more focused on retail. So obviously it's a big tool we keep track of our customers and you know we can go back in and look at what sizes they bought in their past transactions or even so much as like Oh, you bought that sweater last year in this color. So you need this color this year, you know, just, and they, and a lot of customers rely on us to do that, especially when they're buying gifts. Um, we just recently started with a loyalty program, which is new for us. So we'll see how that works out. I can't give any feedback quite on that. We just started about a month ago. But that's a good way for us to give back in terms of loyalty points. So once they spend a certain amount, I can go back and say, okay, you spent this much and here's a $50 credit towards your next purchase and use it on anything you want. And, you know, it sends text messages when they get their points or for birthdays, you know, we can offer a discount for that. So we're excited for that. And then we're also using, we do have a website. So we do sell online through Shopify. Um, it's not a big focus of mine cause I so much enjoy that personal interaction, but I feel like in today's economy, it kind of has to be an option for people because, you know, we do have customers locally that will use it and go shop online to pick up in store or, you know, shop online while they're away and then pick it up later or we can ship it to their house. So. It's definitely a good tool for us, but it's just not really a focus.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah, it sounds like it's more of a service aspect.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yes, you know, it's beneficial. But again, my main bread and butter is I want to work face to face with people. And I think that's how you're most successful.
Terresa Zimmerman:
So what prompted you to start the loyalty program now?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Well, they first approached me about it. I think like we were like two years in and at the time I was just like, I don't even think I need that. Like I just, you know, I didn't, it was too much, you know, we're still figuring out all our systems, but now at this point, you know, we've have a lot of loyal customers and it's, you know, I partially, I want to be able to give back to them in a way that makes, you know, is special to those customers that have been with us for so long. So, you know, that was a big part of starting it now is that we have such a bigger customer base and we have so many people that have been with us, you know, for the past eight years. So it's kind of a nice way to be able to recognize that.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah. Sounds like a nice big thank you. Yes, exactly. Yeah. And going into holiday too. Yes.
Jaime Weisbrot:
We'll be able to get their points very quickly.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah. So we talked about what you love. What are your biggest challenges? What maybe don't you love?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Sometimes staffing can be, you know, one of the things I love. I, like I said, I have some great people that have been with me for a while, but sometimes you need those extra hands and, you know, going through that process can always be hard because the store is small and it's a big part of me and people come in and you know, they know me and they know it's, you know, the store that been, so it's almost like you, it's not like you can just hire anybody, you know what I mean? It's a little bit more of a vetting process. So it feels more personal sometimes. Um, but we've been really lucky and have had a really great team of people that have, you know, come through and, worked for the time and moved on. Um, but yeah, so that, that's definitely a part. And then the website too can be a bit of a challenge. Um, like I said, you know, we do our best work face to face. So sometimes when people are shopping online and, you know, expecting more of like a big box experience, you know, with the returns and stuff like that, that could be a little bit more difficult. to handle because we are a small business. So it's not like anybody's covering the expenses for us either.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Right. Yeah. A return is a return is costly. Yeah.
Jaime Weisbrot:
And it's, you know, so sometimes, you know, those can be the more challenging parts of a retail store, but you know.
Terresa Zimmerman:
With the staffing, you mentioned earlier that, um, you have a tie in with Drexel students sometimes. Is that a formal tie into the school? Is that because of your alumni connection?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Um, well, I partially, um, it's actually open to any employer though, that, you know, has, wants to offer, uh, be involved in their co-op program. Um, but that's, I knew about it from going there myself. And, um, I do have, still have a relationship with some of the old professors and stuff. Um, I'm actually on one of their boards. you know, for the fashion program. But yeah, it's really open to, you know, any business that wants to kind of take advantage of it. So I really enjoy it because we've had some really great students come through. And it's nice to know, you know, this is field they're interested in and this is a path they're interested in so they're already knowledgeable on the field of you know fashion and retail but you know you can kind of really dive into it more and they're eager to help. They're also really great on the computer. They help a lot with our marketing, you know, using the different apps and, you know, social media and kind of keeping us a little bit more up to date on, I think they were born with all of that implanted in their brains.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Exactly.
Jaime Weisbrot:
It came through the, you know, it's been really nice experience and we've been really lucky with a lot of great, um, co-op program co-ops to come through.
Terresa Zimmerman:
That's cool. So what else, uh, what other kinds of roles do you play in your community? I mean, it sounds like how, well, first of all, how is, how far is Drexel from you?
Jaime Weisbrot:
We're about, uh, like it's in Philly, so 45 minutes to an hour. So a lot of them, you know, they might be originally from the area or surrounding suburbs, you know, so they could live at home doing their co-op because it's six months, um, that they're working. And, you know, they could work up to five days a week. That's just the co-op program. We usually do more part time. But so we are involved with that and, you know, try to get people to come out and work with us that way. Other community events, I mean, we do a lot of like pop-up shops for different charity events, fashion shows, where we'll bring a portion of the product to an event and have a table and set up and rolling racks, and then we donate a portion of our proceeds back. um to the to the charity or the cause um and those are always fun and you know we have a good time doing it gets us out of the store we meet new people and it's nice to you know be involved in those things.
Terresa Zimmerman:
How do you decide what of those to get involved with? Is there a filtering process or kind of it's it's an easy decision because you're clear?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah, a couple of them we've done every year. So we're kind of loyal to going back and you know, they're enjoyable events. Typically, there's not a lot of men's stores. So we're kind of, you know, we tend to get high demand or, you know, because there's not a lot of men's stores that will get involved in the fashion show. I will say for me to be most profitable, sometimes it depends on the time of year, because if it's around the holiday season, people are going to shop more for men versus, you know, some, some events, you know, they're just not really thinking about what their husband needs or at that time.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Right. Easier to say no. Thank you too.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah, you know, or we've done them and maybe they just didn't work for us. Or, you know, I'd rather donate a gift card to their raffle or something like that. So, you know, you definitely have to weigh the pros and cons on it because we're happy to participate in a way we can. But sometimes, you know, if it's an all day thing, taking the product out of the store and staffing to events, the store and the event can can add up. So you have to kind of be smart about where you're doing it, what time of year you're doing it, and then, you know, would it be better if we just made a donation, you know, for a raffle?
Terresa Zimmerman:
I wanted to ask you about the name, Phineas Gage. I think you have a little story on your website, but maybe you can talk to us about it.
Jaime Weisbrot:
So yes, the story we kind of made a little story on there as well, but it's not a hundred percent incorrect. It's just when I was first looking up names for the store, I wanted to try to tie it back into Westchester's heritage. It's, you know, very old town and there's a lot of history here and his name popped up on this website and I read that he was like the first tavern rights owner in Westchester and I was like oh that's so cool and I'm asked my husband time my husband about his name he goes yeah he's the guy with the rod that went through his head and then I did a little more research and true to the internet it was incorrect The Westchester tie-in was incorrect. It was a different Phineas that had the first tavern rights. But at that time I was like, I really like his name and I love the story of, you know, having the rod go through his head and he's the first study of the left lobe of your brain and how it affects your personality. So we tweaked it a little bit and said, you know, leave here with a great new personality and some great new clothes. uh love you know and we wanted to work the the rod into the logo and um you know so i guess you could say it was a happy mistake how we kind of came so westchester has co-opted him as as westchester pa has co-opted him as theirs or at least in your store which westchester is he from do you remember i'm a westchester he's from up north in vermont where i mean it was the guy's name was phineas eachus
Terresa Zimmerman:
Oh, gotcha. Phineas Gage.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah, but I was like, Phineas, he just doesn't really run off the tongue as well as Phineas Gage does.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah, no, I love that. Yeah. So how do you decide what's next? How do you how do you stay on trend for your customers and, you know, the people you serve?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah, a lot of it's listening to customers, you know, finding brands that they might be asking for and seeing if that could be like a good fit for us. What brands are starting to kind of, if they've changed their product or they've changed their fit, you know, guys are very loyal customers. So when they know something fits, they want that same thing in multiple colors because it's just as easy for them. So when that starts to change, you know, if the brand has decided to go to a different manufacturer, sometimes there's no change, but sometimes there is a change and then you start to hear it from the customers. Oh, I don't like that anymore. It's starting to do this and the product isn't going so great. So a lot of it's just listening to what our customers are saying. Um, you know, you can also see it in our numbers, you know, if something's not selling or something, one brand is having a higher returns and, um, you know, we kind of are just keeping aware of that. It's in conversation every month, you know, we go over what, what's working, what's not working. And, but yeah, I think also being aware of what customers are asking for trying to bring you know, new brands in and people try new styles. So kind of always evolving.
Terresa Zimmerman:
And how do you decide to bring new brands in versus kind of your tried and true? How do you do that? How do you find them?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Sometimes it's looking for what we're missing, you know, it could be a price point that we're missing, it could be a style that we're missing. And then, you know, again, talking to our customers about, you know, what, what, where they're getting it, you know, what brands they're seeing and then going back and going in and kind of doing the research ourselves and seeing them and then going to these trade shows and seeing the product in person. Sometimes you could just be walking by a booth and say, Oh, that looks good. Let's, you know, let's check it out. Um, you know, we might not buy it, but you might. So it's, you know, just kind of, looking at where we have holes and where we could kind of grow certain businesses or grow different classifications and how can we do that, you know, whether it be like sports apparel or our dressier stuff, our suiting and sport coats.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yeah, so it's great that your customers are coming in with those ideas for you.
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yes. We'll have a lot of people come in and be like, Oh, have you heard of this brand? You should carry this brand or have you heard of this one? So, um, you know, we don't can't do everything, you know, I can't carry every brand, but, um, you know, people, if I consistently am hearing it, you know, it's kind of like, well, maybe you should look into it because they're going to go somewhere else.
Terresa Zimmerman:
No, for sure. For sure. You've got to pay attention. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Well, and if you think about the next few years, you've been in business for eight years now, Jamie, that's an amazing accomplishment. What are you looking forward to in the next eight years and how are you prepping for it now?
Jaime Weisbrot:
I think we're looking to just keep expanding our customer base and still reaching people. marketing to men is very different than a marketing to women and you know trying to figure out how are we reaching them you know a lot of times it's through the wives and girlfriends and then sometimes it's through events or it could be but I think our best thing is reaching people through word-of-mouth because you know past they pass on their exciting new store they found but um That's kind of just a ongoing challenge is kind of still reaching people outside of Westchester to And then getting guys to come in because I'm sure you know guys aren't always want to shop, so getting them into the store is a challenge sometimes. But also on the other end of that, you know, apparel challenges is, you know, finding new brands and in the price points that work for our customers. is definitely something we're always looking into doing and looking to kind of just so that you know not all the denim is over $200. We'd like to find you know brands that are still quality but not you know quite as a high price point. So those are just some of the challenges. The other one is I'd like to get more into custom suiting. It's not something we've done a lot with but we've been in talks with a brand about or a company about doing, you know, a custom suiting event and seeing how that would work for us. You know, there we do have a lot of people that still wear suits. There's a big courthouse in our town and a lot of lawyers here. So, you know, kind of tapping more into that customer base would be nice because some people are very loyal to wherever they get their custom shirts and suits from. So seeing how that could possibly tie into our business would be nice.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Wow. Cool. Yeah. That's a, that's a great departure extension, I guess I should say a great extension from where you are. Yeah. When you talk about marketing to men being different from women, um, I mean, I think I can get it, but maybe you want to specify a little bit about how you see it's different.
Jaime Weisbrot:
You can't really like group them all together. You can't be like, you know Oh, they found us on Instagram because not all guys go on Instagram, you know, we're not gonna go on tick-tock So I think that's our customer base But you know, is it through? The golf courses is it through paper, you know old magazine, you know Sorry, I lost the name of the ads sorry is it through I magazine ads? Is it through newspaper? You know, how are they finding us other than word of mouth? And so I just feel like I'm still constantly trying to figure that out. I'm, I have five brothers, and obviously my husband, so I have a lot of feedback that they'll give me, you know, oh, you should be doing this, you should be doing this. And oh, my gosh, yes. So, but I think, I do think one of the best ways to market to guys is through, you know, word of mouth or, you know, being able to kind of connect, find a connection in the networking, I guess would be a better word of saying it.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Right, right. And so aside from aside from your immediate family, where I'm sure you get a ton of input, input, you know, like with most of us, maybe some of it not always asked for, but how else are you gathering or planning to gather that input? I mean, are you doing surveys? Are you asking your customers or is there anything more kind of concrete you're doing around that?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Not quite. I probably should be doing more, but Not yet. Not yet. We're still trying to kind of just we're just more testing the waters, you know, deciding to maybe advertise with a bigger publication such as Philly Mag or Mainline Today, which are big magazine, you know, um, or just doing more events, donating to more golf outings or, um, you know, kind of just testing the waters that way, I guess, and seeing, you know, what kind of we're, we're hearing, Oh, where'd you see us? If you're new, you know, do you do advertising currently? We do, there's a local magazine. We, you, we do it in, um, you know, we've done other local magazines. I've never done the big ones before. They're just, quite the investment. And then obviously, we have our social media that kind of we work on every day. And again, my manager is younger, and she's great at, you know, quickly getting things up there. And so that seems to still reach a lot of people as well.
Terresa Zimmerman:
That's great. Um, I, I wanted to, you talked about your ties with Drexel and, and, um, I'm jumping around a bit here, sorry, but it's something I didn't want to leave without asking you, um, your ties with Drexel and some professors still, I mean, do you tap into them for advice or where else do you go to for advice or, you know, even just a sounding board? Cause you know, sometimes running your own company, you don't really have. You know, you can talk to your you can talk to your younger staff about what to do on social media. But what about your business?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Yeah, not I mean, I guess I probably should tap into my Drexel professors more. But I think actually, it's more Westchester has a great community of business owners. A lot of them have been there forever. And although a lot of them are women based retailers, it's still good to talk about what's kind of working for them, sharing information about, you know, again, this loyalty program. I know a couple of the other retailers in town are using it and are really happy with it. So having that relationship outside of our town, you know, I do work with a consultant. um, who we work with, like they give us our reports at the end of the month, we go over, you know, every class and how we should be, how much we should be spending. And, you know, that is very helpful to me because although I own a business, I don't love the numbers aspect of it. Um, you know, and just having something concrete to look at, but the consultant, she's also become a great, mentor and being able to talk to her about, you know, what we're seeing in the store and what, you know, what is she seeing? Cause she's in Boston, you know, what is she seeing with her other businesses that she works with? So, you know, what are you, what are the, what kind of prices should we be paying for these programs? And, you know, she's definitely a really good source for me, particularly because I don't have a business partner. Again, I don't have somebody to kind of, push things back and forth with, you know, so she, she probably does more than what she's supposed to, but she's been a great relationship to me. Sounds like it's helpful.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Yes. Yeah, good, good, good. Well, is there anything that we haven't covered off that you wanted to cover off?
Jaime Weisbrot:
I think the biggest thing for me, takeaway from like Phineas Gage that I want people to know is that, you know, not only do we sell great quality products, but our customer service is something that we really pride ourselves on and it's something That was important for me from the beginning, you know, with opening the store was going into a retail store and being helped. and not just wandering aimlessly around by yourself. You know, I find so much of that when I go into these bigger stores where you're just like, I need some help and there's no one to help you. You know, I want that to be a very different experience in our store, you know, and that's the reason I want people to keep coming back is because of the relationships they form with not just myself, but just everyone in the store as well.
Terresa Zimmerman:
Sounds like that's your passion for sure. Yeah, cool. Well, I have one more question for you, and that is, I ask everybody, why does Main Street matter?
Jaime Weisbrot:
Main Street matters because it keeps our town running and alive and it makes such a big difference in the real estate of our area. Like we are such a destination for people in this area is just thriving with people that want to live out here or move out here. You know, we have a college nearby, but, but that doesn't run the town, you know, the stores and the people run the town and people like to stroll through Westchester and go into the boutiques and going into the restaurants. And, you know, I hear it all the time. People are just so excited that we're still here, you know, because restaurants and stores don't always make it in these smaller towns and. you know, that makes me proud to be able to kind of still be there and still helping people. So, you know, it's funny, my dad is from this area originally. And he told me that, you know, back when the mall that was near here first opened, it just killed all of the business in Westchester, and all of these small boutiques closed. And now recently, that whole mall is shut down and all of these little boutiques in Westchester are just doing so much better and thriving. And we're constantly seeing new stores and new restaurants popping up. And it's just exciting to see and to be a part of that change and kind of reinventing the town.
Terresa Zimmerman:
That's amazing. I love to hear that. Love, love, love. Yeah. Thank you so much for being on, Jamie. Thank you, Theresa. It's so good to have you on. Thank you for tuning in to Main Street Matters. I hope you found today's episode insightful and inspiring. I'd love it if you would share Main Street Matters with fellow retail owners or anyone else who loves Main Street. And please subscribe so you know when the next episode drops.
