Retail Is: Podcast

Bobby Wright, Wright Industries, joins us for a talk that features big ideas, future projects, local history lessons, and some positive messages in this difficult time.

Chris Shelton, Co-Owner of Cure Coffeehouse, joins us to talk about the rewards, challenges, and pitfalls one experiences when co-owning a business. We also get into how you can get through a crisis while still maintaining a vision of expansion and growth.

We have a great chat with Brad and Amy Hart, Hauser's Jewelers, about how they feel being awarded the Retail Alliance Retailer of the Year 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award. We discuss what went into the decision to award them, their endurance in business (they have been around for 122 years!), reputation, product quality, and community involvement.

We sit down and chat with the multi-talented Jenny Crittenden. Jenny is an integral part of the Gloucester and Virginia business, tourism & arts community, wearing multiple hats including Executive Director of Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust; representing small brick and mortar retail in Governor of Virginia’s Private Business Taskforce for Reopening Virginia; Chair of Legislative Committee of the Retail Alliance Board of Directors, and more!

Parking lot line dancing? Yes, please! Kylie sits down with Cindy Norge, CB Studios (formally Country Bootleggers Dance Studio), to talk about how she got started, her growth to different styles of dance, online classes in response to COVID-19, and of course, her popular parking lot line dancing.

"Get out there and give back to the community. We've had our tailors the last two weeks making masks and we're going to donate them to CHKD. We're all in this together. We have to look out for each other."

-Phil Scotti, Philip Michael Fashion for Men

Phil joins us for this week's Retail Is Podcast to talk about how he has responded to COVID-19, his dedication to supporting his community, his commitment to his staff, and a little about how he got into the fashion industry.

Lori Janke, Clothes Mentor/Once Upon A Child Newport News, joins us to talk about the impact COVID-19 has had on her and other retail business owners.

Brenda Tusing, The Royal Chocolate, joins us to talk about the effect Coronavirus has had on their business and the retail industry as a whole. 

We have a Zoom call with Jennifer Harris, owner of Cottage LunaSea, about her response to the Coronavirus, and how she is using this experience to learn and grow as a business owner. 

We sit down with Jim Abicht, owner of The Christmas Store, to talk about what it's like to run and market a niche store all year round.