retail : Innovation + Job News

The historic Colonial and Euclid Arcades in downtown Cleveland suffered from 40 percent vacancy last year, yet this year they added a slew of new shops and have gone from half-empty to nearly completely full.

Renamed the 5th Street Arcades, the once-moribund properties have been turned around by Dick Pace of Cumberland Development, who has breathed new life into the spaces by luring entrepreneurial tenants with fresh concepts and excitement about downtown.

"Step by step, we're getting there," says Pace, who has focused on locally themed retail that serves downtown residents and office workers. "Each month, there's something new going on. Our tenants cross-market and help each other."

Last year, a retail grant competition netted Soulcraft Furniture Gallery, which opened earlier this year, and Pour Cleveland, which will open by November 1st.

Several of the businesses in the 5th Street Arcades will soon add outdoor seating, including Pour, Sushi 86 and a yet unnamed food tenant that Pace is working with.

Additional businesses that will open this fall include Herron Starr Apparel (a shoe store), The Tea Lab (a tea shop run by Bob Holcepl of City Roast), The Olive and the Grape, and a take-out vendor called C'mon Let's Eat (CLE).

Finally, Sushi 86 is expanding to create space for banquets and cooking classes, and Alphonso's, a men's and women's accessories shop, will open later this year.

"Tenants are drawn here because this is becoming known as a retail area, an area for shopping," Pace says. "That says a lot about downtown and what's happening."


Source: Dick Pace
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Cincinnati business owners in the Corryville neighborhood are eyeing big opportunities on Short Vine.

Bogart’s, the street's music venue, has already renovated its bathrooms and dressing rooms, and added a smoking patio with a fire pit behind the building. There are plans to add another bar, renovate the upstairs bar for VIPs and hire a mixologist. Bogart’s was also recently acquired by Live Nation, which has made ticketing easier for concertgoers.  
 
“We’re getting more artists than ever before. They’re thrilled by the changes made to the building and can’t wait to come back,” says Karen Foley, Bogart’s general manager.

In 2013, 14 buildings on Short Vine, including Bogart’s, will receive money from the Cincinnati Neighborhood Business District Association for façade improvements. And by the end of 2015, the street will be completely transformed, with new businesses (including Taste of Belgium, Caribe Carryout, Mio's Pizzeria and The 86 Club), a new Kroger Marketplace, new developments and finished streetscapes.

In the next three years, Uptown Rental Properties will add about 1,000 new residential bedrooms on Short Vine, says Dan Schimberg of Uptown Rental. And on Sept. 24, its newest property, Views on Vine, a five-story apartment complex complete with clock tower, will open.
 
“It’s been fun to see what has already happened, but we’re only in the beginning stages of what will be created,” says Schimberg.
 
Beginning in December, Short Vine will see new streetscapes, bringing a bit of nostalgia to the area. Short Vine will look like it did in the 1800s—think cobblestone streets, rolling curbs and antique streetlamps. Changes will be made to parking as well, including efforts to preserve on-street parking, and additional parking for the public and residents. Sidewalks will also be widened for outdoor dining.
 
“It’s great to see the enthusiasm of the business owners over the progress on Short Vine,” says Foley. “The best thing is that Short Vine will now be part of the college experience at UC.”
 
Short Vine will be hosting several events during the next few months, including a Welcome Back Weekend for students on Aug. 30 and a block party on Oct. 12, which will include shutting down the whole street for outdoor music, street vending and a rock wall. Corryville held its first farmers market this summer, and it will continue to operate every third Sunday through October.
 

By Caitlin Koenig

The old cardboard document storage box is getting a makeover, complete with ergonomic design, through the work of a Cincinnati startup.

Blegalbloss founder and president Will Scott has created a line of office products that make document storage, organization and use easier.

The company's signature product, BOXIE, is an ergonomic, lockable file box. The tough, rip-resistant boxes have a handle that is curved and slanted to make the box easy to pick up and carry. The box also has a locking feature, is made from 65 percent recycled materials, and is 100 percent recyclable.

Scott previously owned a record management company, and had worked in the financial service industry in sales and accounting.

"When I was in the record management industry, I had some time to think about how people use these storage items, and had a little black book of ideas," Scott says. "Looking at the boxes themselves, I realize they hadn't changed in nearly 100 years." That's when he went to work and began making the boxes better through design.

"I went about the task to redesign these sorts of things, and to make them stronger," he says. "It wasn't until I watched someone carrying the box that I realized that had been designed totally wrong."

Blegalbloss (pronounced Blee-guhl-bloss) was launched in early 2011, and the BOXIE was first delivered in January. In addition to boxes, the company sells Roo brand document organizers and DominoTwin office supply organizers. The products are sold through 2,700 retailers. The company's goal is to be in 4,000 retail stores by year's end and 10,000 by 2014, Scott says. Blegalbloss is working to expand the brand globally, and launch other products. Among Blegalbloss retailers are Amazon, eBay and Office Depot.

Since most of the innovation is in the products' design, their costs are competitive with traditional storage boxes, Scott says. His company currently has about 45 patents pending and 10 already issued.

"We've built a better mousetrap," Scott says. "We're selling this at the same pricing (as competitors) in the marketplace, with better value and features."


By Feoshia H. Davis

Today, it seems that every retailer has a loyalty card leading to wallets stuffed with plastic and the potential for confusion. Cincinnati startup LOC Enterprises hopes to replace all those cards with the launch of its LOC Card.
 
The LOC Card is the first truly universal loyalty card that will not only allow consumers to stop carrying around handfuls of cards, but it will also allow them to manage all of their loyalty programs on one website.
 
While holiday shopping for his now 12-year-old son in 2011, LOC’s CEO and founder Jack Kennamer realized the problems of loyalty cards.
 
“I was standing in line at a sporting goods store, and I heard the cashier ask customer after customer if they had the store’s loyalty card,” Kennamer says. “Most people didn’t want one, but one lady decided to sign up for it, and I could see the guy behind her huffing and puffing while she filled out the registration form. And when the guy in front of me was asked if he had the store’s card, he held up his keychain and said ‘No room for you.’ I figured there had to be a better way.”
 
After that experience, Kennamer spent hours researching loyalty cards and programs, and found that there wasn’t a “universal” loyalty card.
 
“Consumers love to feel special and get free stuff and discounts, but it’s getting to the point where they have to work so hard to participate in loyalty programs,” he says.
 
Kennamer’s company developed a 100-percent consumer-centric card that allows consumers to tailor how they want to engage with each retailer. For example, a consumer may want to interact with Kroger one way and Best Buy another, so they can pick and choose which retailers with which to share their email address.
 
When a consumer signs up for the LOC Card, they’ll set up an account online, and anytime they go to a retailer that accepts the card, they swipe it once and they’re enrolled in that loyalty program. LOC’s website manages all of the loyalty programs for the consumer, so there’s only one email address and password instead of 100.
 
LOC is working with the companies that handle the analytic side of loyalty programs to better service consumers. The company is also building relationships with individual merchants and getting great feedback about the LOC Card.
 
The LOC Card isn’t just tailored to large businesses, though. “The problem small businesses have is they don’t stand a chance because they’re so far down the totem pole when it comes to loyalty,” says Kennamer. “With the LOC Card, you swipe your card at the retailer once and you’re signed up for their loyalty program. After that, it’s up to the consumer to come back, and the retailer can reach out and give the consumer personalized offers to start repeat behaviors.”
 
The LOC Card isn’t available to consumers yet, but you can pre-register on LOC’s website.
 

Writer: Caitlin Koenig
Follow Caitlin on Twitter

It was April of 2001 and dot-coms were imploding like far-away stars in Deep Space 9. But not for Marc Resnik. He had a dream. Sort of.
 
“It wasn’t a dream, just an idea in my head,” said Resnik. “I literally woke up laughing with an unusual idea for a business.”
 
After “throwing” some ideas around with the family, Resnik said he went downstairs and registered the domain ThrowThings.com for his Ravenna-based company.
 
The business model combines the concept of “throwing” with a number of loosely related departments. “Things To Throw” has toys and games, like baseball and such. The “Throw Your Voice” category features ventriloquist dummies (big sellers, apparently), puppets and marionettes. The most popular section, in terms of overall revenue, is the “Throw Your Name Around” category which offers customized promotional products. There’s also “Throw Backs,” “Throw A Party,” “ThrowThings Things” (this is not a typo) and, of course, “Throw Up.” You can even “Throw Your Money Away.” We’re not kidding. For $3.50 plus shipping and handling, the buyer gets a certificate verifying that he did, indeed, throw his money away.
 
Resnik says the five full-time staff company continues to evolve and grow and enjoyed consistent year-over-year growth until the economic downturn in 2008.
 
“With the downturn in the economy we took a hit but have been back on the growth track since then,” he said. “When things slowed down the company used the time to refocus, to become more efficient, and to complete some of the things on our ‘We really should do this but there just doesn’t seem to be time’ list.”

“Unlike most businesses, ours is relatively scalable in that we have the ability to increase business levels based on our [existing] staff. Because of this we are always looking for people that could be a strong addition but we are never pressured to bring someone in.”