To attract shoppers offline, these Utah retailers are turning stores into an ‘experience’

The emerald green Christmas tree in the entrance of Gigi Pip’s Kaysville storefront offers an uncharacteristic pop of color in the women’s hat store.

It is vibrant and loud — the antithesis of the store’s otherwise muted, minimal design aesthetic.

The store, and the hats on the shelves, are an extension of Gigi Pip founder/co-owner Ginger Parrish’s own style, but also a strategic design choice: Neutral and basic, a blank canvas onto which shoppers can project their own identities, personalities and style choices. Personalization happens at the Band Bar, where customers can style their hats with charms, leather bands or bandannas.

“You really can’t do that online, where you can work with your hands to create a hat that is true to you,” Parrish said. “You can just kind of change it so you make it your own. And just watching the confidence that that brings to people, … you can’t compare it to anything else.”

Consumer spending is stronger than ever, according to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF). Holiday shopping is expected to break records this year, and retail sales are growing more quickly than they did pre-pandemic.

The way we shop, however, is shifting. Consumers are looking for more ways to engage with brands, NRF said, and the retailers that thrive will be the ones who can reach consumers in unique and varied ways. Retailers like Gigi Pip must offer more than inventory.

“We’re creating an experience for them,” said Megan Bailey, Gigi Pip’s marketing director. “A lot of people are craving having a unique experience.”

Cashier to cart

Nationally, most shoppers still prefer shopping in physical stores. E-commerce (online shopping) is growing, but a large majority, roughly 80%, of retail revenue happens in stores, according to NRF.

But the role stores play in the shopping experience is evolving. Successful retailers see e-commerce not as a competition, but as a complement to in-person shopping. More than half of retailers offer, or plan to offer, the ability to ship products from their stores, according to NRF, and nearly two-thirds of retailers offer shoppers the ability to buy online and pick up in-store.

“The role of the store is evolving to support buying across all channels,” NRF says.

Retail at Gigi Pip’s three Utah stores — 571 Deseret Drive in Kaysville, Fashion Place in Murray, and at 360 W. 300 South in Salt Lake City (across the street from Pioneer Park) — accounts for about 15% of the Gigi Pip’s revenue. The rest comes from online sales and wholesale.

That’s fine with Jon Parrish, Ginger’s husband and Gigi Pip’s co-owner.

“Sometimes I look at our retail stores as more of a marketing initiative than a revenue channel,” he said.

In other words: In-store experiences get people in the door, even if they don’t leave with a hat. If they try on a hat in-store and buy it later online, that’s still a sale.

“I’m OK with that,” Jon said.

Like Gigi Pip, Tecovas, a designer cowboy boot retailer, started as an entirely online brand in 2018 before opening its first showroom in Austin, Texas.

It turned out that customers loved the ability to try on boots before buying them, said Justin Warner, manager of the Tecovas store at Salt Lake City’s City Creek Center, which opened in October. The Austin flagship store remains Tecovas’ busiest, but the brand now operates more than 30 retail locations, and more than half of all sales now happen in stores.

“Boots… you’ve got to try them on, you’ve got to look at them,” Warner said. “We’re here to help. We get calls every day like, ‘Hey, I want something but I’m not 100% sure it fits.’ Come into the store, we’ll take care of you. We’ll make sure it works.”

But like the Parrishes, Warner said he doesn’t mind if a shopper leaves his store empty-handed. If Warner did his job and provided the right “experience,” that interaction might still turn into an online sale or a new social media follower.

A shopping experience

Stepping into the Tecovas store in City Creek Center is like stepping into a scene — or maybe a backstage dressing room — of a Western movie. Cowhide and leather furniture offer seats for customers trying on boots or just looking for a moment to relax.

The store’s centerpiece is the throne-like wooden bench with metal stirrups in front. It’s the boot polishing station, and it’s available for anyone to try. Warner and his team are all trained to condition and polish any kind of leather on any kind of boot, and they’re eager to do it.

“We hop them up there, get them a water, we go through the whole deal,” Warner said.

Other Tecovas stores offer beer or whiskey from behind a register that looks like a saloon. They can’t do that in Utah, Warner said, but still keep the fridge stocked with sparkling water for a similar experience.

The store also has a debosser — essentially a leather stamp — to customize the other leather products Tevocas sells, such as belts and wallets. Or, for the full cowboy experience, you can brand your boots or your belts with a real branding iron.

It’s all part of the experience, Warner said, and experiences sell. Or, at least, they create brand loyalty.

“Our whole goal is for people to be happy,” Warner said. “To walk out and, you know, spread the word for us.”

Customization and repair are catching on as ways for a retailer to stand out. Upstairs from Tecovas, Coach’s City Creek store offers repairs, leather treatment and customization. Customers can “embellish” new or already-owned bags with patches, jewels and monograms.

At Gigi Pip, the Band Bar lets customers style their hats to their liking. Every Gigi Pip store also has an industrial steamer on-site to alter a hat’s shape for a more precise fit. At the Kaysville store’s grand opening in late November, the steamer sat by the door and shot off steam “every five minutes,” Jon Parrish said, to create a full sensory experience.

“We’ve been talking a lot about moments and how to create moments in the store,” Jon said. “Like, what do you smell when you first go in the store? What do you see?”

Ginger Parrish said she also imagines the store as a gathering space, she said. She hosts bachelorette parties, birthday parties, girl’s nights. Such events generate sales, Ginger said, but, most importantly, they’re “fun” and empowering.

“Human connection, that people experience, for me is where my heart is,” Ginger said. “Confidence is our mission, right? Instilling confidence in women. And being able to do that face-to-face is kind of a dying art.”

Holiday shopping how-to

Black Friday weekend — the five days after Thanksgiving when many retailers offer sales to encourage holiday shopping — defied expectations.

“Heading into Black Friday weekend, we expected to see a pullback in consumer spending,” said Zions Bank economist Robert Spendlove. Inflation has cooled down in 2023, but prices haven’t yet dropped.

Still, people are shopping again. A record-breaking 200 million people shopped over Black Friday weekend, according to NRF data, surpassing NRF’s projections by more than 18 million shoppers.

“We continue to be surprised by the level of consumer spending,” Spendlove said.

It’s good news for the economy, Spendlove said, as consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the entire economy.

“Even if [consumers] are grumpy, which they are, they continue to spend,” he said. “That’s what will keep the economy moving.”

Less than half of Black Friday weekend sales — roughly 44% — happened online. And the top-selling category was clothing and accessories.

Most holiday shoppers had already started shopping by Black Friday weekend. Nearly half were halfway done, Spendlove said.

But for shoppers who still have gifts to buy, Spendlove offered this advice: Make a budget and stick to it.

“Think ahead about what you’re going to buy before you leave the house,” Spendlove said. “Really be focused when you’re going out and doing your holiday shopping.”

And if you really want to make the biggest impact with your spending, shop local, Spendlove said.

“Money spent at local retailers, [especially] at smaller mom-and-pop stores, really returns in our community,” he said.

Shannon Sollitt is a Report for America corps member covering business accountability and sustainability for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.