Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Nicholson
Hi Rebecca, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Of course, I absolutely love to cook and entertain at home. This is my hobby, my therapy, my passion all in one. I wake up thinking about what to make for dinner before I’ve eaten breakfast, vacations are planned around restaurants I want to dine in and street food I need to try, and all my most significant memories are earmarked by the meal shared upon that occasion. Around 10 years ago, I lived for just one summer in a town with an independent kitchen store in it. I worked a corporate business gig in automotive supply chain management at the time, and my escape and creative inspiration came from visiting this little shop. At the end of that summer, and for the next 8 years, opening up a kitchen store became the answer to the question “If you could do anything, what would you do?” that all us corporate folks tossed at each other as we looked for purpose in our work. In late 2022, my husband and I determined that we were in a position to take the risk and go for it! We began work on the store in earnest in January 2023, I quit my corporate job in August 2023, and we opened the store doors on November 4, 2023.
Looking back, I took a lot of inspiration to actually execute my dream from my parents and my family, who are all small business owners in small towns who have built incredibly successful careers and made lasting impacts on the lives of people in their communities while doing what they love. This is the lifestyle that I grew up in, and being so closely embedded and intertwined with the local community has always felt like a more natural and meaningful fit to me compared to working a corporate gig. It also made opening up my own shop feel more accessible – more doable – than it might have otherwise felt.
I have absolutely no retail experience, but I do have a supply chain business degree from Wayne State University, an Executive MBA from Michigan State University, and 12+ years experience working in corporate automotive purchasing and supplier quality. Given that, I am quite comfortable working with vendors to secure the best products and outcomes for our store and managing the back-end business. Of course, I have a lot of opportunities to learn and grow in front of house, merchandising, product assortment, and beyond, and I am learning new lessons every day through experience, observing other independent retail stores in my community and nationwide, building relationships and networks where I can tap into advice and support along our journey.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Initially, the biggest challenge was the learning curve of the industry – learning the lingo, gaining the product knowledge, learning the right assortment mix. I recognized about four months in that if I was going to execute this concept at the scale and premium-level positioning that I desired, I would need some help from within the industry. Thankfully, I had tremendous support in working with a consultant who has helped open dozens of independent kitchen stores across the country, and owns her own store in Pittsburgh, PA. I often look back and cannot help but laugh at myself for ever thinking I would launch this business without the help my consultant!
Our store location was also in an 8-month-long historic building renovation project that was executing at the same time, so I was not only managing the business readiness but also working within the limitations of an active construction project alongside our building’s property owners. We didn’t get into the space for the first time until three weeks prior and didn’t get our final city approval on the building until two days before our very well-publicized grand opening event! But with incredible support from the city, our property owners, my consultant, our staff, and my family and friends we pulled it off and had over 500 people through our 1,000 square foot space at our Grand Opening day.
Having now had our doors open over a year, I can say that there were times in our first year of business where I was very worried – whether it was a severe sales slowdown in the summer, or not bringing in product for an upcoming holiday early enough and sitting on excess inventory that didn’t sell, or not having enough of a seasonal item and having disappointed customers, as examples – but in retrospect those are all just learnings that I can now apply into the future. They were not existential challenges. I truly think the business learning of 2024, for me, has been our city’s seasonality cycles and how I can pull levers to adjust alongside.
Outside of the business, my husband experienced a severe medical event that had him hospitalized for a week after we had been open only 6 months. He has since been in extensive therapy, and is making a strong recovery, but especially at the beginning of last summer when it happened it was a very challenging time to simultaneously be there for him and keep the store operating without disruption. I already knew we had an incredible support system in our family and friends network and in the staff at the store, but that was made so acutely evident in the midst of this crisis and we are both so grateful for all the love, support, and care we received.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about East Elm Kitchen Co.?
At East Elm Kitchen Co., we believe our most significant, memorable moments happen around the table over a shared meal with our loved ones. Whether you are hosting a family occasion, cooking up a dinner party for friends, or you are simply getting another weeknight meal on the table for your family, we will equip you with the kitchen products and confidence you need to cook and entertain like any pro in your own home kitchen. Located in Old Village Plymouth, Michigan, our meticulously renovated, historical building serves as a foodie haven providing you with the highest quality home-kitchen products across a range of culinary dimensions, including cookware, bakeware, cutlery, tabletop, barware, coffee tools, and local artisan-made dry goods. It is our aim that you receive a personalized experience addressing solutions unique to your specific needs every time you walk through the door, as we recognize quality kitchenware is an investment and everyone has individualized requirements. We also offer next-day knife sharpening services, and hands-on and demonstration-based cooking classes led by professionally-trained, experienced chef instructors.
I opened the store with the strong intention that it would feel like an open, elegant, breathable oasis for our customers to walk into and feel as though they have escaped the craziness for just a few moments of their day. From the displays, to the layout, to the music, we have worked hard to make it look and feel simple and welcoming. Which is not easy! When customers cross the threshold and visibly sigh, commenting that they just love coming into the store, it is the biggest compliment and assurance that what we are doing is unique and special to our customers. We are also intentional about ensuring we are a kitchen store, and are not venturing into décor, gift, or other housewares. This helps us maintain and communicate a strong, unapologetic identity to our customers, which is crucial as we establish our brand in the community.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
“Experiential retail.” That is my strategy – my motto – for our store to remain relevant and compete in a world of rising prices, the permanence of online shopping, and an increased desire from people to make a meaningful and lasting impact in their communities. I am always looking for how we can create experiences at East Elm, as I find that folks truly value creating experiences, learning new things, and making memories alongside the tangible things they decide they need to purchase and bring home for their kitchens. I am very intentional in creating free value for our customers, via free demonstrations or food samplings every Saturday in-store, including recipes in our monthly email newsletter with meaningful ties and stories from within our East Elm team, and hosting big splashy vendor-themed events in store around once per quarter where a vendor representative will be in the store to showcase its product, allow customers to get hands-on with product, answer questions, and be a resource for helping customers problem-solve their kitchen needs. Of course, we then also have paid experiences via our 2x-3x monthly cooking classes and we just launched a new members-only cookbook club called Culinary Collective Membership. Culinary Collective Members come together quarterly in a “book club” setting at the store, discussing that quarter’s read while enjoying chef-prepared small bites, taking home a little swag bag, and at the end of the year East Elm will donate 5% of all membership dues to a local food security/food bank organization in our community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://eastelmkitchenco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastelm.kitchenco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1GNM4f6jRU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
