Can Locally / Regionally Made Goods Stores Thrive?

[Mazderati]

Think local retailer stocked with locally / regionally made goods: clothing, bed/bath textiles, furniture, whatever. Higher prices but high quality (not a given but assume it). Supporting local / regional jobs. $100 vs. $60 hoodie. Seems like there is resurgent interest in US goods but is there really? Are there enough customers who will truly pay more?

[dan_pdx]

I think the answer is yes, but you need to pick your geography carefully, and have a great retail experience that appeals to dentists with deep pockets. American Giant seems to be doing okay and they have both online and physical retail stores.

[old goat]

Depends on the clientele and the pool of makers. There are--or at least there used to be, haven't been up there in years--galleries in Mendocino that at least survived selling locally made stuff. The clientele is tourist, people who want to bring back something from a vacation, and the place is adjacent to a famous woodworking school so there is a ready supply of exquisite hand made furniture and plenty of other local crafts. That's kind of an unusual situation. In a place like Truckee we've got the tourists and second homeowners and a fair number of painters so there are galleries that survive selling landscape art, although what mostly sells is small, knick-knacky stuff. Outside of tourist areas I don't think many people care where stuff is made or that it reflects something about the place.

[byates1]

I'm in the camp of hace way less but everything is quality.

[BCMtnHound]

I think there is potential, but I also think our consumer culture is a big detriment to widespread success for such local/regional quality products. I remember a lady I was with that was learning artisan furniture craft. Her studies really emphasized the difference between even the youth of Europe and those in NA in how they were taught in the review of a product. Kids in Italy would turn over a chair to see how it was fastened together and even finished in the unseen parts. NA just looked at price and current style/trend match.
I also think relying on the tourist model is fraught with uncertainty/sensitivity, as COVID travel shutdowns taught us in a hard way. Distribution models for small orders of higher end products are also much sensitive to hick-ups in the market, which could make or break smaller producers.

[skaredshtles]

Sadly, I don't think it's possible in the U.S.

[Peruvian]

If your area is know to have a strong local culture, known artisans, craftspeople, etc. than I think it could work. The demand has to be there before the supply is gathered under one roof.

[JimmyCarter]

I don’t see how any shop that can’t cater to millions of people can even afford rent in most places these days.

[dan_pdx]

The Joinery in Portland has been in business for 40 years, selling locally built wooden furniture at eye watering prices (which happen to be the prices required to pay living wages and offer benefits). I don't know if they would be successful if they launched today, but given they've built up a lot of name recognition locally, they seem to be doing fine. I can imagine a corner in their shop dedicated to local products doing quite well. So maybe that's another possibility: co-locate with another business that is going to attract the clientele that's interested in that kind of product

[AdironRider]

Think local retailer stocked with locally / regionally made goods: clothing, bed/bath textiles, furniture, whatever. Higher prices but high quality (not a given but assume it). Supporting local / regional jobs. $100 vs. $60 hoodie. Seems like there is resurgent interest in US goods but is there really? Are there enough customers who will truly pay more?

These places exist in well to do areas, but for 95% of cities and towns around the country, no.

[Timberridge]

In VT you can buy artisinal soaps at the farmers market for $10 a bar. They're there every Sunday so somebody must be buying it.

[fatnslow]

In VT you can buy artisinal soaps at the farmers market for $10 a bar. They're there every Sunday so somebody must be buying it.

My wife....................... don't forget the candles.

[Jax]

I don’t see how any shop that can’t cater to millions of people can even afford rent in most places these days.

+1

[ötzi]

I think you might be able to do a "Made In The USA" store but I can't see a regional iteration working very well unless it's very specialized like a Lobster-themed place in Maine or Maple Syrup in Vermont.

[MarsB]

$100 vs. $60 hoodie.

I would own neither. WTF are you people paying for hoodies?!!

[ötzi]

ya know, like three-four hundred dollah

These were called "the greatest hoodie ever made" by the Times like 10 years ago, htey're made in the USA and they're super burly and awesome but...https://www.american-giant.com/produ...MaAlAnEALw_wcB

[AK47bp]

ya know, like three-four hundred dollah

These were called "the greatest hoodie ever made" by the Times like 10 years ago, htey're made in the USA and they're super burly and awesome but...https://www.american-giant.com/produ...MaAlAnEALw_wcB

Go lightweight on the hoody. Had the classic and sold it, too heavy. The hood was super annoying.

[ötzi]

After like 10 years my heavy one is broken in and great but it took years to get there.

[AK47bp]

After like 10 years my heavy one is broken in and great but it took years to get there.

Other than the heavy hood I really liked it. If they just made the hood a little lighter it’d be the perfect hoody in my opinion.

[tellybele]

When people stop their online shopping addiction and avoid shitco. Until then, I don't think the local stuff will make it.

[gravitylover]

My wife is 5 years into her handmade business. We go to craft fairs all over the place, we've traveled as far as VA and ME and there's no rhyme or reason to when or where it's going to sell well. Even some of the biggest and busiest fairs are busts while some small local events are kickass. There's a handmade incubator in the next town over with a dozen or so crafters in their own space and a coffee shop so we tried that for a week. It was a bust but the businesses that sell trinkets and stuff that's a bunch of foreign bits strung together (or similar) do great. We'll get 10x the number of tire kickers as actual customers and it's almost entirely due to price. People seem to think that you'll work for free and you shouldn't profit off the effort and cost to acquire the materials. They'll look us in the face and tell us that a $60 hat isn't worth more than maybe $20 and it's no wonder we're not busy.

We've started doing a popup at a local ski area and that's building into something worthy of our time. We also started going to local breweries and wineries and setting up the booth for the day on a Saturday or Sunday. those are pretty good because they have a decent turnover and people that are there to spend money. Concerts are also good after people start drinking.

[byates1]

Ball capI just bought was 64$ marked down to 45$

Hood is the brand. Made in usa.

I buy one hat a year

[CarlMega]

Think local retailer stocked with locally / regionally made goods: clothing, bed/bath textiles, furniture, whatever. Higher prices but high quality (not a given but assume it). Supporting local / regional jobs. $100 vs. $60 hoodie. Seems like there is resurgent interest in US goods but is there really? Are there enough customers who will truly pay more?

I think there's a market but running the business (for a profit) long term has a lot of points of failure. I think the Brick and Mortar/store front is the challenging part here. Personally, I'd be minded to online sales and a small demo showroom for a local presence vs. being reliant on foot traffic.

But I find the somewhat recent resurgence of 'artisanal' 'small batch' 'bespoke' 'craft' to be refreshing. Hobbies, passions and activities - fuel this and have cultivated a market. At least in many of the things I'm interested in; but man, you can read the grumpy, stingy naysayers in comments so you know it's somewhat niche.

Personally, I'm at an age where I just need an incentive to give me a reason to patronize them. Scarcity/uniqueness, perceived quality, aesthetics, longevity, taste, feel. It can't be the same ol' for more. On the flip side, the last thing I want in mass mfging is pointless volume - I don't want 3 of something, I want 1 very good thing I feel good about owning.

[schuss]

Yeah exactly, need to either be a very small demo showroom or go marketplace style if there's a few other makers in the area and pool to pay for minimal labor. Or be really amazing at what you do and have some online presence. At least in high end gear I know places like Alpine Luddites have waitlists of a year+

[old goat]

We were in the Black Forest last summer. A ton of shops seem to be thriving selling cuckoo clocks. Those things aren't cheap either.