The Right Way to Open a Retail Store

0:00I feel like when you're in a leadership position, you have the obligation to keep yourself up to date with learning, with what's going on and just also surrounding yourself. with people from other industries. Thanks for tuning in to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and building a business. I'm your host, Schwang Esther-Sham. Providing your customers with good, high quality products can be tough and finding a way to make it affordable can be even tougher. So here to help you uncover some of the best resourcing, marketing, and retail practices is Vicky Scalia. She's the co-founder and co-CEO of Lintervel, a footwear brand with over 15 stores across Canada and a loyal online following.

0:49Vicky, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you, Shweng. So glad you're joining us, Vicky. I would love to start at the beginning of your journey. You found that there was something missing between fast fashion and designer shoes. So why was it so important for you and your partner, Sam, to create Lintervel and actually fill that space in between. Absolutely. So yeah, it started a few years ago, just, you know, for myself personally, as a woman, when I looked for, you know, fashion items, shoes, I just felt that there was somewhat of a need in the market or a gap in the market, if you wish.

1:26And it was either, you know, very fast fashion shoes that really didn't last or the quality wasn't at par. Or if I was looking for high quality shoes, it was a question of having to spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars. So that's when we came up with Linterval. We felt there was a need in the market and we wanted to create fashion forward shoes and that would be affordable, right? So the idea really behind the name Linterval and in between a high end and a low end and to put out fashion forward shoes that are basically sustainably sourced and ethically produced and always at an affordable price.

2:08So that's how we got started. A lot of founders probably are in the similar mindset where they want to provide great value. What tips do you have when you're trying to tackle something that is of great quality, but also maintaining the affordability as well? So what we try to do is really work directly with our factories and our partners. So the shoes are locally designed here in Montreal. We're a Montreal-based brand. And the shoes, Den, we produced them in Spain, in Italy, and in Brazil. And we really work very closely with our partners and our factories. So we eliminate what we like to think is the middle person to be able to sort of cut the cost in terms of the sourcing and really be able to pass them then to our customers.

2:53And that's how we are able to be quick in following the trends, being able to offer the latest trends and then to also be able to offer them at an affordable price by eliminating some of those additional costs that most of the times just get passed on to the consumer. So being a direct-to-consumer brand, our focus is really being quick on the fashion items, but then directly sourcing and eliminating as much as possible any additional costs when it comes to the production. And it's a model that has been working so well for so many direct-to-consumer brands, one that transferred the value to customers.

3:36One of the hurdles maybe for a lot of founders is feeling intimidated reaching out to producers and manufacturers and actually negotiating and making sure that they have a great start to their relationship. What tips do you have on that regard? So the brand is young, right? So we established and founded Linterval back in 2015. So I often laugh that the brand is young, but we're not young, right? So we come with a lot of years of experience. and that mainly has to do with my partner who's also my husband. I mean, we've been together for several years and we've got the kids, we've got the business, we've got the dogs, we've got this whole package together and his experience also in the footwear.

4:18I mean, he's been there for like 25 years in the industry. So he has some very important key relationships in which he's able to work and then, you know, being in the industry for so long, that helps him leverage his experience, you know, and utilize the right factories for the right products. So it really has to do with his years of experience in the footwear industry. Speaking to that, both Sam and yourself had extensive corporate careers, and you're not the typical entrepreneur who are earlier on their career. So there must have been a lot more mental hurdles to also overcome, to leave behind that was successful, secure.

4:57At what point did it make sense for you to actually take that risk and take that leap of faith? I think it had to do with where we were in our life. So yes, Sam did come from corporate world and also had international experience at a great scale, whether it be in Europe, whether it be in Asia. And it was something that always he held close to his, I guess, heart and dream is to start his own brand. And it's something that he's always wanted. And as I mentioned earlier, there's kids. So once the kids got a little bit older and they started school, we said, okay, this is the moment. It's sort of like the now or never.

5:31And that's when we decided to kick off the brand. And yeah, I mean, for sure it was scary. Anybody leaves anything where there's security and there's comfort. But ultimately, when you believe in something, and more importantly, when you believe in yourself, then that's when you're just ready to go for it. And we've never looked back since then. We've also had founders who are both life and business partners. So I got to ask you, when did you realize that Sam and yourself could actually be business partners as well and that, you know, your skills also complemented on a professional level. Whether we realized it or not, I think it's once we were in it.

6:10That's when I think we realized how different we were in terms of business partners. And we also learned to respect each other for our differences and also be able to, as much as, you know, we have will disagree on certain topics or certain matters. Ultimately, we have a shared vision is what we really do, right? And then that's what really connects us fundamentally is believing in our brand, believing in what we're doing and what we're building. I think that's where the greatest connection comes at. And then as opposed to trying to work each other's differences is sort of give each other the space to excel in what he does well.

6:50And then I'll excel in what I do better, and then just compliment each other. Because truth be told is we're very different in terms of our management, in terms of our visions, in terms of our operations, but we ultimately connect and are able to move forward with that. So respect, communication have been fundamentals in helping us as, I would say, business partners. And it's an ongoing process. You know, even today, after starting the business eight years into it, I think we learn every day and remaining humble through the process is also part of the key, is what I'd like to think. I find it very interesting for Sam because he was in the footwear industry for so long, which challenged him to actually go against past employers, established brands.

7:38So what advice do you have for someone who's in an industry already, but they want to go out on their own and start something new? I think the key to that is creating something that's different, right? I mean, you don't want to go and compete face forward with a giant of whatever industry that might be. It's really filling up a space, a niche is what I would like to call it, or solving a problem. So if you feel that you can offer something different and that there's really a need for it, then I believe that's the direction that you need to take. Because trying to reinvent a wheel and trying to create what's already there and existing is not exactly setting yourself up for success.

8:15So it's looking at your competitive advantages, right, and saying, what are my attributes and what are my differentiating factors? and what can I come and bring in this particular space that's different? And really, that's what we tried to do when we brought Fort Lynn Terval. It was all about the quality. It was all about the affordability. And I continue saying in terms of the sourcing of our leathers, right? So we work with vegetable tanned leather and as opposed to using chrome tanned leather. And that has a whole effect and impact on the environment. During the whole process, as we were doing our research and creating the brand, And our children kept us accountable to it.

8:52They're like, you're ruining the planet. And I was like, excuse me? And they're like, you're just filling landfills and waste. And I was like, okay. And so they really kept us accountable. And from the beginning set to do it differently and felt this obligation towards the environment, the planet, and towards our future generations. And that kept us from day one very accountable for our actions and how we would set to do things. And then additionally, in our production with the factories, the work conditions, the labor conditions, that whole ethical production. So this was quite a while ago when we started.

9:29And nowadays, it's becoming a lot more, I would say, much more forthcoming. And it's become a very bigger trend. But back in the days, and when we started it, it was like, okay, how are we going to do things? And how are we going to do them different and have a positive impact? and create a company where the impact and the values allow us to be proud of what we do. So I think those were sort of our guiding principles as we created our brand and created our company and created Linterval. It's great to hear that you had that immediate feedback from your children. So you're building a brand with your next generation for the next generation as well.

10:10I love that you also mentioned you work directly with manufacturers in countries like Spain, Brazil, and Italy, which gives really great quality and value to our customers, but I'm sure it adds a lot of complexities. So any tips there working with international partners? Well, there's definitely the experience that comes with it. I'm also of Italian origin, so that maybe just helps me a little bit to sort of connect. And I'm someone who loves languages. So I do speak Italian, I do speak Spanish, I also speak French. So it does help us to connect differently, understanding the culture and understanding people's ways of business.

10:47But ultimately, I think it comes down to having a relationship where there's respect, there's trust and building something together. And you also align yourself and surround yourself with people whom you share the same values with, whether it be in business, with your relationships, with the teams that you're building. You really end up surrounding yourself with people whom you share the same values. So definitely understanding the difference of culture because it's definitely there and different set ways of doing businesses. But I'm also a lot about the clarity and in the transactions. And I often like to work with an approach, which is the win-win.

11:27We're all here to win, right? So I need to set you up so you can win and you need to set me up so that we can win and then we can together grow the brand and grow the business. And then on the more bureaucratic admin side, I know that working internationally comes with taxes, duties and legal restrictions. Any advice there for the kind of more dry and intimidating side of international business? Surrounding yourself with the right experts. I think getting the right advice and asking the questions. Because what I've realized is as a founder, as an entrepreneur, you cannot be an expert at everything, right?

12:04And a lot of times we'll feel, you know, a little bit with that imposter syndrome saying, oh, but like, I don't know this level of expertise. And maybe I shouldn't ask. And just being able to come forward and asking the questions. And it's okay to ask those questions and get the information and surround yourself with the right experts that will give you the right advice. So anything to do with imports, with the duties, really having the right level of expert around you definitely helps you set you up for success. Thank you for sharing your tips on international partnerships. And we're going to get into the retail expansion for Lintervel with Vicky Scalia very soon.

12:43I want to take a moment to thank you, the listeners, for tuning into the show. Please follow Shopify Masters wherever you're listening, and it would mean the world to our team and myself if you left a review with your thoughts on the show or today's episode. Thank you so much. So we mentioned at the top of the show that there's more than 15 stores all across Canada, and we know that with retail, it comes with a heavy financial investment. Tell us about the experience of going into retail and opening up that first store. So the first store, yeah, that was quite the experience going into brick and mortar.

13:24I do believe that definitely in order to offer a real experience, I do believe very much in the whole omni channel, right? So the brick and mortar customer experience in store and then being able to translate it online and digitally and being able to offer a seamless frictionless experience nowadays, I think is really important. but we're talking 2015 when we first opened our first store and that was in the plateau it was like the hipster neighborhood and we picked a little store in that area and we figured this would be a great space for us to be able to incubate our first concept our first store test our products and see if there was really uh it resonated with the customers in terms of what we were trying to offer, once again, affordable fashion footwear, you know, see if it would really resonate with customers.

14:16So we signed up our first store, it was actually in 2014. And it was actually quite scary. I'm not going to lie about it. Because this is like the real commitment. It's sort of that leap of faith of like, can we succeed? And can this work? And you know, you have all these fears and hesitations. But luckily, I think this is where Sam kicks in really well. He's like the visionary. He's got the whole vision. And he's like, oh, this is only the beginning. And I was like, practically crying the day we signed the first lease. I was like, oh my goodness, this is real. And I remember opening the first store and customers were walking in and it was local Montrealers.

14:54And, you know, and then slowly but surely people started to understand the value proposition behind the brand. And they were like, oh, we've never heard of this. But, you know, one by one, we started converting our customers and, and they just kept flocking back season after season and bringing girlfriends and friends and they're like best kept Montreal secret. And that's how the brand started. It was really a lot of word of mouth and working through like the, you know, art scene and working a lot with stylists and like on movie sets and just getting the word out there and customers just kept coming back.

15:27And, and that's how we started to grow the brand. And, you know, we locally started in a plateau in Montreal. And then we started hitting the major malls across, I would say, Montreal, Quebec, as well. And then the real test of time was, can you take it out of province, right? Like, can this brand resonate out of Montreal? Like, it's just just a local Montreal brand. And that's when we decided to take a step out and move into the GTA into the Toronto area. We opened more brick and mortar stores. And initially, we started in Ottawa at the Rideau Centre. And then from there, we took it over to Toronto Eaton Centre, Sherway Garden Square One.

16:07And it was a great success because customers were like, okay, we needed this in the market. I didn't know where to buy fashion affordable shoes that are actually quality. They're comfortable. I'm using them season after season. And then they just kept coming back once again. So that's how the whole brick and mortar started. And then we obviously developed our whole online platform, particularly with COVID. That was a whole other level, if you wish. Yeah. You mentioned Rideau Centre in Ottawa, Eaton Centre in Toronto. These are some iconic malls and locations. And obviously, all of the locations are iconic in their own way.

16:47What goes on behind the scenes? What is the checklist? when you're opening a new location like that? That's a great question. So we're definitely looking for a customer. And what's been great about Linterval, so that's another thing that I probably should mention, is when Linterval started, we're looking for the initial customer profile, if you wish. She's a very millennial, jency, very connected kind of girl where she loves to curate her own closet and doesn't necessarily want to follow all the must-haves of fashion, but she likes to curate, select and put her pieces and be unique in her own way, express her own style.

17:26And this is whom we design for, right? But what's incredible and what we started to notice with our collection and with our shoes is that the customer really doesn't have an age. Our customer at Linterval, she's typically, well, you know, anywhere between 18 to 78 years old. I often will say that because when it comes to fashion, it's a question of passion. So you love the shoe, you love to express yourself, this is how you like to wear it. And there's really no age to it when it comes to fashion. And funny story is that even last year, you know, when it was budget day, we historically were able to make the news with Minister Chrystia Freeland, like she chose Linterval shoes on budget day.

18:11So when it comes to finding the right store, we are typically looking for a customer who is fashion driven. Usually our data is pointing where our customer is at, right? So today, we have so much analytics, so much data that we're able to see, okay, which city is our customer hovering around? So we're looking for urban, we're looking for connected. We're looking for fashion forward, demographic customer, and typically that's where we will drive openings of stores. That's so cool to hear. And for context, in Canada, we have a unique tradition where our finance minister selects a new pair of shoes on budget day.

18:56So it's so nice to hear that Christia Freeland selected Lintravel shoes on the most recent budget day. I'm sure that it comes with a lot of human resource, hiring the right staff to represent the brand to new customers. What advice do you have finding great talent to join the team? Love that question, because I think that part of our success is our talent, right? So I often will say at Linterval, we are passionate about our products, people, the environment in our community. Those are our major pillars. And without our people, there would be no interval. And so we tremendously invest ourselves when it comes to developing our teams and to finding and retaining the right talent.

19:42and we're very vertically integrated within our brand and within our company Sam and I we're very present there's a lot of one-on-one and a lot of team meetings in which I personally will involve myself in directly with our staff particularly with our management team I think it's imperative and it's crucial because they are our brand ambassador and I'm like customer will walk into a store they don't know who Lintervalle is or they don't know who designed a shoe or But if you're able to communicate that information and give the customer the most exceptional service and experience they've ever had, it's about that.

20:21Customer service in store is just one of the touch points. Then there's socials or online store, phone calls, emails. How do you make sure that so many touch points stay consistent for the brand? There are continuous ongoing efforts when it comes to that. It's having a 360 vision is what I like to call it, and to be able to deliver at all those fronts. And it's continuously having a very clear vision, a very clear positioning of the brand itself, and then being able to deliver at that front is what we try to do. And so there's, you know, continuous training, there's continuous communication, there's continuous delivering of a clear vision and mandate in terms of the brand itself of Linterval.

21:07that's how we try to deliver at that front because today consumers are everywhere and we have to be able to connect with them wherever they are and deliver the same quality and experience wherever they are. I know that you've been through so much with the business and yet you've actually added on to your workload by adding school on top of running a business. So I gotta ask you why this lifelong learning, this part of returning to school was so important to you? I love the question because it's something I'm really humbled that I was able to go through it. So it was sort of a bucket list thing that I've wanted to do.

21:47So I went through in a during COVID when we had to sort of shut down all the stores and we had all these government regulations and I found myself grounded for the first time, wasn't able to travel. And, and then it sort of had this moment of saying, you know what, I've always wanted to do an executive EMBA and I did the program locally here in Montreal. So it's a hybrid program between McGill and ASHA say so it's an English and French program with the two universities that came together. So it was something that was on my bucket list forever on a very personal level. And then I was like, you know what, it's my now or never moment.

22:22I'm not traveling. You know, the whole world has come to a halt. And let me see and it was almost a two year program. And so I decided to enroll and also did it not only for myself to really push myself. I feel like when you're in a leadership position, you have the obligation to sort of keep yourself up to date with learning with what's going on and just also surrounding yourself with people from other industries. Like we were 45 executives from 45 different industries and 45 different experiences that really came all together in an incredible setting, learning, challenging ourselves and being able to see things in a different way.

23:05So that was part of my motivation to push myself and do it. And also as a mother, I really wanted to give my kids the example and say, hey, you know what, if your mom at 46 years old is going back to school, yeah, like, you better figure things out for yourself. And also for the company, I wanted to set the example to our staff and to our teams and say, you know what, doesn't mean as a, you know, co-CEO that I'm going to have the answers all the time and have all the knowledge that I need all the time. So humbling enough to be able to go back to school and put myself through that whole learning process.

23:41And it was definitely challenging. I still don't know how I pull through it. Sometimes like I actually had convocation a few months ago. So finally graduated and, you know, gave in my whole thesis and all. And then I look back and I was like, wow, who's that girl who did that? Like, I want to meet her, you know. I'm like, I still can't wrap my head around that I pushed through and went ahead with it. But it was definitely an incredible experience, one that I'm very grateful that I did, because I will have to say that without the support and love of my family around me, I was not going to happen.

24:16And so, yeah, it was an incredible experience and one that I hope that will remain as an example at, you know, multiple levels, like for my family, for my children and for my teams around me to say, you know what, push yourself and push your boundaries and challenge yourself because really that's what it's about. You know, to stay in the status quo is not going to get you where you need to be. It's amazing to hear. And congratulations on your recent graduation. Yes, thank you. It was quite something, Shuang. I had the whole family and my children that were there on graduation day. So that was like an incredible moment, including my mom.

24:58So it was just, it was beautiful. Like I took it all in. And you also got to meet so many amazing fellow executives. And I'm sure that experience shared together is also something that you get to have those friendships beyond the years. Absolutely, because the way the program was set up is that, once again, we came in as 45 executives from 45 different industries. And so the learnings were just a whole other level in terms of everything, right? So I left the program saying 45 new friends, but 45 new advisors. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story, sharing the journey of Lintervel. We look forward to seeing how the brand grows.

25:42Thank you. Real pleasure. That's Vicki Scalia, co-founder and co-CEO of Lintervel. If you enjoyed today's conversation, please subscribe to Shopify Masters. Our show is produced by Kogo Zoger and Megan Coyle. Our engineers are Miku Betlam and Matt Shorts. Benjamin Gottlieb is our supervising producer and I'm Shuang Estershan. We will catch you next time on Shopify Masters.