In this episode, Michelle and Susan recap their experience at the ASD Las Vegas trade show, sharing what makes it different from traditional markets and why it can be a valuable supplemental resource for retailers. They also explore creativity beyond the store through The Artist’s Way, and dive into a mix of thoughtful and unexpected questions that reveal real merchandising lessons, personal stories, and behind-the-scenes retail insights.

Ask Michelle and Susan for Shelf Talk! Michelle and Susan will be co-hosting an episode every month! We’re diving into all things design, display, and merchandising—and we want to hear from you! Got a question? Submit it by going to theretailwhorepodcast.com, clicking on SHELF TALK, and we’ll answer it in an upcoming episode. Let’s talk shop and bring your ideas to life!

What's Inside:

1. 1. Key insights from the ASD Las Vegas trade show and how it fits into a retail buying strategy
2. 2. A conversation on creativity in retail inspired by The Artist’s Way
3. 3. Honest merchandising lessons, mistakes, and real behind-the-scenes stories

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Jamie Carl is the Owner + Founder of Serge + Jane in Mpls, MN, a Lifestyle Boutique featuring Men's, Women's, Kids, Pets, Vinyl, Home + Gifts in a 3 story shop (4 including an open air rooftop where they host fashion shows, trunk shows, pop-ups + always a DJ + dance party). She spent 15 years at Target Corporation across Merchandising, Buying, and Marketing before leading the Internal Events Team, producing everything from Board Meetings to 10,000 person National Team Meetings with guest speakers, musicians, and fashion shows. She later stepped away to focus on family while fine-tuning her vision for the shop. In this episode, Jamie shares how she translated large-scale event expertise into immersive in-store experiences.

Misty Stachel is the founder and owner of 85 Local, a boutique that blends locally made goods with unique, high-quality finds while supporting small businesses. With a strong focus on curation, merchandising, and community, she creates an elevated and inspiring shopping experience through events, vendor partnerships, and thoughtful displays. In this episode, Misty shares how she leverages local makers and trends to drive engagement and customer loyalty.

Emily Butler is the co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Karson Butler Hospitality Co. and the visionary behind the historic Ah Louis Store in San Luis Obispo. She has reimagined the 150+ year old shop into a hospitality-driven retail experience, blending curated gifting with community initiatives like The Bell Society and Mahjong Social Club. With nearly two decades in event design and brand strategy, she brings a unique lens to modern retail. In this episode, Emily shares how hospitality and storytelling can transform retail into a space for connection.

In this episode, Jamie, Misty, and Emily break down how modern retailers are evolving beyond traditional selling into experience-driven spaces that build community, increase foot traffic, and create long-term customer loyalty through events, merchandising, and intentional in-store strategy.

What’s Inside:

• How retailers are using Mahjong and events to drive foot traffic, community, and repeat visits
• The real economics behind workshops, classes, and in-store experiences (and where profit actually comes from)
• Practical ways to start small with experiential retail—from setup and staffing to product strategy and partnerships

Mentioned In This Episode:

Oh My Mahjong
Mini Mahr
Bo & Mei

Jamie Carl

Facebook
Sergeandjane.com
Serge and Jane on Instagram

Mahjong Montage - wholesale tiles + gaming pieces, decor, apparel and more
Gumball Poodle - socks
Soiree Sisters - napkins + gifts

Misty Stachel

85 Local on Instagram
85 Local on Facebook

Emily Butler

Instagram
Ah Louis Store
Karson Butler Hospitality Co.

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Meghan Wagner is the owner of The Go Girl Shoppe, a unique retail store located in Mebane, NC. She began her entrepreneurial journey in 2012 with a mobile shop on wheels, offering a curated selection of home décor and gifts. In 2014, she opened a brick-and-mortar location in Raleigh, NC, and after 8 successful years, relocated to a larger store in Mebane in 2019. As a local to Mebane, Megan wanted to bring a little happiness to the corner of downtown, with a shop that constantly evolves with new décor and seasonal items.

The Go Girl Shoppe prides itself on offering one-of-a-kind pieces that bring a smile to customers’ faces and foster a sense of community. Megan believes in the importance of relationships and connections, ensuring that every customer feels like they are walking into a place where they belong. Whether you're entering as a stranger or a longtime customer, Megan and her team are dedicated to making everyone feel like family.

In this episode, Meghan shares how she built a thriving retail business rooted in connection, creativity, and customer experience—along with the real behind-the-scenes of running a store through every season.

We are incredibly grateful for everyone who listens to and shares this podcast! If you’ve found value in our episodes and want to help us keep creating, we’ve made it easy through Buy Me a Coffee. Any contributions from $5 up to $200 help cover the real costs of podcasting—editing, hosting fees, and everything else that goes into bringing you quality content. It's a way for you to invest in the conversations and topics that matter to you. Head to buymeacoffee.com/retailwhorb, and as always, thank you for your continued support!

What’s inside:

• How to create a loyal customer base through genuine relationships and community-building
• Smart merchandising, buying strategies, and adapting to trends while knowing your customer
• Creative ways to drive sales through in-store experiences, events, and storytelling

Mentioned In This Episode:

Episode 206: Creating Connection and Community through Retail with Meghan
Instagram
Facebook
Go Girl Shoppe

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Tori Dahl’s passion for scent began when she was a little girl growing up on three acres in the Texas hill country. In the spring, Mountain Laurel would bloom with fragrant purple blossoms. On Saturday mornings she would wake to the sound of her father mowing the lawn and open her window to breathe in the scent of freshly cut grass mixed with Mountain Laurel. Years later, that scent still triggers memories of comfort and home.

Smell and emotion are stored in our brains as one memory. This is why fragrance has the powerful ability to influence our mood and well being.

With a background in business, design, and home decor, Tori understands the importance of curating beautiful spaces not only through art and furnishings but also through fragrance. In 2019 she began developing a line of home fragrances and perfume. Her collection is built around custom blended signature scents made with carefully selected ingredients. Each fragrance is thoughtfully named to reflect the emotion or feeling it evokes.

The signature fragrances Love, Clarity, Refuge, Shine, Serenity, Escape, and Tranquility are available in wax melts, linen and room sprays, reed diffusers, and perfume.

With every breath, her hope is to help people reconnect with meaningful memories while creating a beautiful atmosphere within their homes.

In this episode, Tori shares the story behind her fragrance brand and the inspiration that came from childhood memories, creativity, and a passion for designing meaningful spaces. She discusses the process of creating signature scents and how fragrance can shape the emotional experience of a home.

We are doing our first-ever open call! You can submit your store or favorite store to be on the podcast because every store has a story behind it! Go to theretailwhorepodcast.com, click on SUBMIT YOUR STORE, fill out an easy form and we’ll see you on the mic!

What’s Inside This Episode

• Why scent and memory are so strongly connected in the brain
• The process behind creating custom signature fragrances
• How fragrance can transform the mood and atmosphere of a home

Mentioned In This Episode:
Instagram
The Dahl Farmhouse Website

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Emily Webb is the owner of Emily's Garden. She is 69 years old and lives three miles from a town of 154 people in the northern Sierras of California. She comes from a family of artists and designers who are all good with their hands. She started Emily's Garden in 1981 as a manufacturing company in her laundry room, beginning with a scented hot pad. Over the years she grew, acquiring sales reps and show rooms across the country. The scented hot pads quickly gave way to personal care, with fabric microwavable products like aromatherapy neck wraps, booties and eye pillows sold to high end hotel spas and gift shops like the Pebble Beach Resort, Ritz Carlton and Fairmont.

In the early 2000's she created custom designs and private labeling for stores and national catalogs like Smith & Hawken, Red Envelope and The Wedding Channel, shipping large volume orders from a 150 year old building in Taylorsville with a team of seven. In 2009 she stepped away from mass production and opened a 270 sq ft. retail store in Quincy, CA. She loved it even though she made almost no money. She sold beauty. She sold pretty. She sold nature. Her window displays became known throughout town and after she left, Main St. never felt the same.

At 67 she was burnt out from a lifetime of go, go, go. She closed her store and retired. Today she keeps a small display in the Made in Plumas County store and an active website, spending her time hiking and foraging with her dog, working in her garden and creating flower arrangements from the flowers she grows.

In this episode she shares how she built a national wholesale brand from her laundry room, why she chose creativity over scale when mass production no longer felt aligned, and what burnout, reinvention and retirement look like when you choose beauty, nature and quality of life over constant growth.

We are incredibly grateful for everyone who listens to and shares this podcast! If you’ve found value in our episodes and want to help us keep creating, we’ve made it easy through Buy Me a Coffee. Any contributions from $5 up to $200 help cover the real costs of podcasting—editing, hosting fees, and everything else that goes into bringing you quality content. It's a way for you to invest in the conversations and topics that matter to you. Head to buymeacoffee.com/retailwhorb, and as always, thank you for your continued support!

What’s inside:

• Growing from handmade beginnings to national wholesale accounts
• Staying true to your retail identity instead of chasing trends
• Redefining success through simplicity, creativity and quality of life

Mentioned In This Episode:
Pinterest
Facebook
Emily Garden Website

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In this episode I recap a busy show season, share lessons from designing and buying for multiple showrooms and stores, and explain how reports, floor plans, and thoughtful merchandise windows can revive retail sales and creativity. I also talk about testing categories, moving away from what doesn't work, building seasonal delivery windows, and tips for keeping stores fresh and inspiring.

We are doing our first-ever open call! You can submit your store or favorite store to be on the podcast because every store has a story behind it! Go to theretailwhorepodcast.com, click on SUBMIT YOUR STORE, fill out an easy form and we’ll see you on the mic!

What's inside

• How using sales reports transformed buying choices and revealed what to stop or grow.
• Practical merchandising moves: four big store flips a year, cross-merchandising, and delivery windows to keep inventory fresh.
• Trend highlights and product ideas: bright fruit and Mediterranean vibes, food-themed kids' items, men's gift growth, and giftable personal care.

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In this episode, we’re fresh off the Gift Show and gearing up for ASD as we unpack why “treasure hunt” buying might be the smartest margin move independent retailers can make right now. From under-the-radar vendors to bold color trends and food-inspired merchandising, we’re sharing what excited us most on the show floor and how to turn it into sales.

We also dive into why bright, joyful product is everywhere, how heritage ornament buying differs from trend-driven holiday, and how thoughtful storytelling, yes even with pasta and ribbon, creates moments customers remember and buy from.

Ask Michelle and Susan for Shelf Talk! Michelle and Susan will be co-hosting an episode every month! We’re diving into all things design, display, and merchandising—and we want to hear from you! Got a question? Submit it by going to theretailwhorepodcast.com, clicking on SHELF TALK, and we’ll answer it in an upcoming episode. Let’s talk shop and bring your ideas to life!

What’s Inside:

• ASD as Hidden Margin Goldmine. Why this show flies under the radar, what categories are surprisingly strong including fashion, beauty, licensed, and regional, and how treasure hunt sourcing can increase profitability.
• Trend Takeaways from the Floor. Chartreuse, lilac, cabana stripes, Mediterranean vibes, sardines, citrus, farm to table displays, pressed florals, and bold joyful color everywhere.
• Storytelling That Converts. From charcuterie inspired displays and tomato vine candles to ribbon bars and heritage ornament strategy, how to merchandise with intention, not just product.

We also talk about Dallas being up, independent retail momentum, education at trade shows, and why wrapping paper and ribbon might be your most underrated marketing tool.

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Stephanie Beringhele is a mom of two amazing kids, the creator and host of Retail Revelations Inside the Deal, and the VIP Buyer Relations Director at ASD Market Week. She builds and leads high-impact programs that connect retailers with the most on-trend wholesale products from around the globe because great merchandising should not be boring or overpriced.

In this episode, Michelle sits down with Stephanie to unpack how buyers and small retailers can find unexpected profit, merchandise smarter, and use trade shows like ASD Market Week as a strategic advantage. Stephanie shares real-world tactics for sourcing high-margin on-trend products, practical ways to merchandise high and low assortments, and how to navigate international sourcing and tariffs without getting overwhelmed.

We are incredibly grateful for everyone who listens to and shares this podcast! If you’ve found value in our episodes and want to help us keep creating, we’ve made it easy through Buy Me a Coffee. Any contributions from $5 up to $200 help cover the real costs of podcasting—editing, hosting fees, and everything else that goes into bringing you quality content. It's a way for you to invest in the conversations and topics that matter to you. Head to buymeacoffee.com/retailwhorb, and as always, thank you for your continued support!

What’s inside:

• How to hunt for high-margin pet rock finds, where to look on the show floor, and why the unlikely booths often pay off the most
• Practical merchandising tips to fuse low-cost and premium items for bigger markups and a stronger store story
• How ASD’s neighborhoods, matchmaking, and buying tours help independents navigate international sourcing, container versus small-batch options, and tariff challenges

Mentioned In This Episode:
Instagram

Support the show