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Speaker 1: I don't know if it's just me.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure everyone else has noticed, but recently, and especially

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Speaker 2: I guess in the last few years or post COVID,

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Speaker 2: but even more so recently in the last twelve months.

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Speaker 2: I open my Facebook and every day there is a

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Speaker 2: different business announcing, you know, that they're closing or partially

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Speaker 2: closing or closing their retail stores. And I'm just noticing

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Speaker 2: this theme, especially in the Australian retail landscape, that more

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Speaker 2: and more businesses are closing or having to close part

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Speaker 2: of their business.

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Speaker 1: And I know I've already.

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Speaker 2: Spoken about this before, like we did a big episode

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Speaker 2: on was it Jean's West I think It's Jean's West,

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Speaker 2: and how they announced that they were shutting a heap

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Speaker 2: of their stores.

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Speaker 1: We dove into that and did a big episode.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to bring it back again because just in

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Speaker 2: the last week alone, I've I've seen two brands popping

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Speaker 2: up on my Facebook feed and in articles announcing you

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Speaker 2: company updates that they're either closing or closing stores. The

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Speaker 2: first one I actually saw just quite literally last night,

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Speaker 2: and it's the shoe brand Famous Footwear let me actually

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Speaker 2: open up there. It showed up on my Facebook, but

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Speaker 2: it was also on their Instagram. So Famous Footwear has

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Speaker 2: announced that they're closing, and this is what the Instagram

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Speaker 2: carousel says. A message to our customers, it's with sadness,

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Speaker 2: we announce the end of our journey. Famous Footwear will

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Speaker 2: be closing permanently, with our online store open until the

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Speaker 2: thirty first of December this year. So really not long

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Speaker 2: at all. We've loved helping you find your famous fit

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Speaker 2: for more than twenty five years. We're truly grateful for

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Speaker 2: the loyalty and support from our community over the years.

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Speaker 2: Then they're doing a closing down sale. They've said their

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Speaker 2: remaining physical stores will close throughout early twenty twenty six,

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Speaker 2: and their online store is open until the thirty first

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Speaker 2: of December this year.

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Speaker 1: This is so sad, And just about a.

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Speaker 2: Week ago I also saw an article come up with

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Speaker 2: an interview with the owners from Stacks, which is an

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Speaker 2: activewear brand that was quite viral in like I feel

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Speaker 2: like in COVID Times or just before COVID Times.

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Speaker 1: I think they might have done.

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Speaker 2: An interview with a Daily Telegraph, but I'm not subscribed,

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Speaker 2: so I can't click on it. I could be wrong there,

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Speaker 2: but it says activewear brand Stacks forced into rapid downsize

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Speaker 2: sell Lamborghini.

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Speaker 1: But I can't read that one.

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Speaker 2: But there's also a news dot com dot a U

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Speaker 2: article that says a young, married couple who own a

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Speaker 2: cult Ossie brand are scaling back, closing for locations and

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Speaker 2: ditching luxuries to secure their future. The husband and wife

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Speaker 2: duo behind a popular Ossie athlesure brand have opened up

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Speaker 2: about the decision to close the majority of its retail stores,

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Speaker 2: saying they underestimated the tough economic environment. After quietly shutting

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Speaker 2: several of its stores, the duo have announced they will

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Speaker 2: shut another four this week as the brand pivots back

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Speaker 2: to its online roots. This is anews dot com dot

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Speaker 2: AU article, so I'm not sure how.

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Speaker 1: Accurate it is, but that's what it says. So those

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Speaker 1: are two that have just popped up for me in

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Speaker 1: the last week. And every time I see it, like.

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Speaker 2: I see articles like this or posts popping up on Instagram,

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Speaker 2: I just think fuck.

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Speaker 1: Like I just think fuck. This is so sad.

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Speaker 2: And I've said this, you know, a lot of times

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Speaker 2: on my podcast. This is a reality for most businesses.

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Speaker 2: I so vividly remember saying like I don't know, maybe

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Speaker 2: in an episode a year ago, like one day every

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Speaker 2: business is going to I don't want to say have

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Speaker 2: its down because that sounds really bad, but the reality

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Speaker 2: of going into business and taking such a huge risk

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Speaker 2: to you know, put your all into something. I mean,

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Speaker 2: nothing lasts forever, right, literally nothing. It's very rare that

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Speaker 2: you'll hear of a company that has been around for

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Speaker 2: hundreds of years.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: For a business to even get to five years is

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Speaker 2: a huge feat, you know. And so then I look

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Speaker 2: at brands like Famous Footwear who are closing after twenty

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Speaker 2: five years, and it's so tricky because on one hand,

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Speaker 2: that's so amazing for a business to you know, last

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Speaker 2: for twenty five years. I'll be the first to say

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Speaker 2: I say it all the time here on the pod.

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Speaker 2: Running a business is like the hardest thing that you'll

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Speaker 2: ever do. I mean there's a lot harder, but it

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Speaker 2: is not easy to run a business. It's not easy

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Speaker 2: to start up a business, let alone grow it and

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Speaker 2: then sustain it, especially with how much the world and

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Speaker 2: you know, the retail environment and online shopping has changed

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Speaker 2: over the last literally twenty five years. So I look

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Speaker 2: at brands like Famous Footwear and like they haven't said

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Speaker 2: the reason for their closure. It could be a multitude

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Speaker 2: of things. It could be they've simply had enough and

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Speaker 2: they want to shut up shop. It could be for

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Speaker 2: financial reasons.

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Speaker 1: Who knows. That's really none of our business.

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Speaker 2: But I see these posts and I'm like, well, first

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Speaker 2: of all, that's bloody amazing that they have, you know,

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Speaker 2: had a business that's been successful for twenty five years.

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Speaker 2: I put up a story last night, Saint congrats on

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Speaker 2: twenty five years. Even though it's so sad to see

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Speaker 2: another Australian business closing, we also have to celebrate because

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Speaker 2: twenty five years in business is you know, a tough

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Speaker 2: feat and something absolutely worth celebrating. But at the same time,

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Speaker 2: it's a sobering reality for the rest of us business

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Speaker 2: owners when we see businesses closing or choosing to close

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Speaker 2: stores and having to pivot to keep the rest of

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Speaker 2: the business running. It's a sobering reality that at some

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Speaker 2: point in our journey, whether it's twenty five years in,

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Speaker 2: whether it's three years in, whether you're one of the

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Speaker 2: very lucky ones and your business outlives you and it's

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Speaker 2: one hundred years in, at one point sooner or later,

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Speaker 2: businesses are going to have to pivot or shut up shop,

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Speaker 2: and that's such a hard pill to swallow. But I

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Speaker 2: think as owners we have to be realistic and remember

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Speaker 2: the old saying that nothing literally lasts forever, and that applies.

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Speaker 1: To business too. But I won't lie.

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Speaker 2: When I see these posts number one, I always think no,

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Speaker 2: and like, I want to I want to try and help.

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Speaker 1: I want to be like, what's going on.

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Speaker 2: Even though you know, some businesses don't need help when

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Speaker 2: it comes to them closing. Maybe they've just had enough,

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Speaker 2: or they're moving on to the next chapter.

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Speaker 1: I have no idea.

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Speaker 2: It's just a sobering reality that you know, we are

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Speaker 2: all gonna have to face. And it makes me think

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Speaker 2: of fate, and you know, I feel like I'm still

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Speaker 2: just getting stuffed with fate.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, I'm like, okay, like.

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Speaker 2: I'm eight years in and we're doing really well at

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Speaker 2: the moment, but the world is so unpredictable, especially retail,

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Speaker 2: and I really feel for all the brands that you know,

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Speaker 2: especially in the last twelve months, that have announced that

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Speaker 2: they're having to close stores and move back to online

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Speaker 2: because retail especially has changed so much since Covid really

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Speaker 2: like online shopping has absolutely taken over, and it's.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely where it's at.

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Speaker 2: I wish it was the other way, and I really thought,

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Speaker 2: and I still have hope that one day everyone's going

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Speaker 2: to want more of that in person experience. But I

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Speaker 2: think genuinely, online shopping has just become so convenient and

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Speaker 2: it would definitely play a huge part in why we

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Speaker 2: have seen so many retailers closing down stores over the

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Speaker 2: last few years is because online has just absolutely boomed.

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Speaker 2: I even talk about at work pretty often sales periods,

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Speaker 2: and I talk about how Boxing Day has lost its magic.

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Speaker 2: I remember when we were younger and Boxing Day was

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Speaker 2: the sale day of the whole year, and I'm sure

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Speaker 2: you remember too, like it was such a big exciting

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Speaker 2: thing and you would go with your family to Westfield

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Speaker 2: on Boxing Day and shop the crazy Boxing Day sales

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Speaker 2: and there was hundreds of people everywhere and people running

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Speaker 2: into the stores. That doesn't exist anymore because of Black Friday.

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Speaker 2: So even that in itself has changed so much. And

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Speaker 2: now Black Friday is obviously this massive like online digital

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Speaker 2: sale and Cyber Monday, and we've got this whole sales

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Speaker 2: weekend now, which again I think has impacted that magic

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Speaker 2: of what used to be Boxing day sales, Like I

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Speaker 2: just remember Boxing Day and going to Westfield and fighting

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Speaker 2: the crowds, and that I feel like that magic is

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Speaker 2: gone because our online world has evolved so so much

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Speaker 2: much that it has impacted retail. And I think also

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Speaker 2: we've just all become so lazy as shoppers and consumers

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Speaker 2: and me too, like I rarely ever go to a

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Speaker 2: shopping center these days, like once in a blue moon,

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Speaker 2: because I love the convenience of shopping on my phone.

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Speaker 2: I even love ordering something on Amazon today and having

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Speaker 2: it show up tomorrow. Because of how fast the digital

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Speaker 2: and online e commerce world has become, it has impacted retail.

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Speaker 2: And I know there will be a lot of people

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Speaker 2: listening that will be thinking no, But I love shopping

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Speaker 2: in store, like I love going in and talking to

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Speaker 2: people and I'm right there with you. And that's why

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Speaker 2: I feel so passionately about retail and our five retail

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Speaker 2: stores that we have at Fate, because I do think

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Speaker 2: like the more that we move into this online world

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Speaker 2: that's inevitable and unavoidable, we are losing that in person connection.

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Speaker 2: And that's why I get so in my fields when

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Speaker 2: I see you know, these brands announcing that they're closing

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Speaker 2: stores or closing their business altogether. I'm like, no, let's

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Speaker 2: work together and figure it out. But the reality of

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Speaker 2: it is it's bloody tough doing retail. It's funny that

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Speaker 2: I'm recording this episode right now as well, because one

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Speaker 2: thing that I've noticed within our Fate community, I mean always,

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Speaker 2: but even just like in the last couple of weeks,

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Speaker 2: is we have been getting asked left, right and center

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Speaker 2: when are we opening our next door? And we get

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Speaker 2: asked daily, when are you coming to Tasmania? When are

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Speaker 2: you opening a store in Adelaide? Like we did go

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Speaker 2: down that whole journey of almost opening a store in

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Speaker 2: Adelaide and it fell through at the start of this year.

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Speaker 2: But even in the last week in our Fate Society

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Speaker 2: Facebook group, we get so many requests come to Towoomba,

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Speaker 2: like everyone's saying, o bard all these you know places

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Speaker 2: that we don't have Fate stores.

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Speaker 1: And I literally just did a post.

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Speaker 2: In our Fate Society group last night just to give

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Speaker 2: everyone a big company update and retail update, and I

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Speaker 2: guess I spoke about this similar sort of stuff where

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Speaker 2: I wanted to let everyone know, like when not opening

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Speaker 2: any new stores right now for a multitude of reasons,

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Speaker 2: but one of the biggest ones being it's so uncertain

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Speaker 2: when it comes to retail and our fate stores do amazingly,

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Speaker 2: but not gonna lie.

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Speaker 1: We have our quiet periods. And as a founder, you know,

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Speaker 1: when you've got.

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Speaker 2: All these stores, you've got all these teams employed in

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Speaker 2: these stores, you're in long term leases with super high rents,

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Speaker 2: and then you're having quiet weeks or quiet months, which

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Speaker 2: is normal, like retail goes up and down, especially in

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Speaker 2: the middle of the year, but when you do have

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Speaker 2: these quiet periods, it does like put that sense of

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Speaker 2: doubt in your mind of like, oh my god, what

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Speaker 2: is going on, Like it is scary, and then the

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Speaker 2: thought of, you know, opening another store, if you're going

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Speaker 2: through a quiet period with another store or multiple stores,

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Speaker 2: it's absolutely terrifying. It also makes me curious, like I

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Speaker 2: wonder how the big shopping centers feel about this, because

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Speaker 2: surely they notice, you know, if we notice when we're

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Speaker 2: scrolling on our feeds that businesses are closing up their stores,

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Speaker 2: surely the centers are feeling it with like the foot

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Speaker 2: traffic levels and when you're in a shopping center, you

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Speaker 2: have to like report your sales to the center each month.

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Speaker 2: Like I wonder how they feel, because I'd say there

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Speaker 2: are a lot of factors that would go into a

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Speaker 2: retailer having to close down stores. There's so many reasons,

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Speaker 2: but I'd say, like a massive one other than obviously

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Speaker 2: the economy, would be the extremely high rent.

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Speaker 1: And I feel like it's some point.

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Speaker 2: Gotta be careful what I say on here, because I've

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Speaker 2: got a few leases in shopping centers, but I feel

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Speaker 2: like at some point something's got to give. Like the

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Speaker 2: rent that businesses get charged is crazy, like hundreds and

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Speaker 2: thousands of dollars a year for a tiny little shop,

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Speaker 2: And like I get that's the way that it is

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Speaker 2: and that's how much they charge, but especially for smaller businesses,

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Speaker 2: like it's just not sustainable. And if you walk through

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Speaker 2: any local shopping center, like you'll see there's so many

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Speaker 2: stores with their doors closed. I feel like something's got

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Speaker 2: to take or give at some point. Not something's got

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Speaker 2: to take, something's got to give at some point. I

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Speaker 2: feel like I need to like start my own independent

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Speaker 2: shopping center business and open it up and not charge

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Speaker 2: as much. So that businesses can have the opportunity to

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Speaker 2: come in and grow. And you know, wages are rising,

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Speaker 2: Retail wages are rising, rents are rising, but businesses are

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Speaker 2: kind of keeping their prices the same or if you

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Speaker 2: bump up your prices a little, then you don't want

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Speaker 2: to upset your customers. Like, it's just really tough for

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Speaker 2: people to do retail, and it is far more expensive

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Speaker 2: to run a retail store than it is to have

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Speaker 2: your online store. So I can completely understand why Stacks

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Speaker 2: is pivoting and going back to the roots of online, because, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you don't have that massive overhead of the rents and

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Speaker 2: the retail teams. Instead, you can just have your HQ

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Speaker 2: and your online store. Yeah, you'll have to have rent

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Speaker 2: for a warehouse or whatever, but having stores just puts

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Speaker 2: those overheads up by a mile and the bills, like

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Speaker 2: the electricity that comes with having a shopping center store.

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Speaker 2: It's just absolutely through the roof. So when I saw that,

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Speaker 2: and I saw people talking on TikTok and stuff like

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Speaker 2: it's bloody sucks. But I take my hat off to them,

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Speaker 2: you know, for coming out and saying like this is

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Speaker 2: what we're doing, because this is what you have to

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Speaker 2: do when you're in business when things aren't going right,

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Speaker 2: you have to be able to pivot and make changes

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Speaker 2: to try to keep everything afloat.

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Speaker 1: And it's scary when you've got.

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Speaker 2: You know, a team that you need to keep in

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Speaker 2: jobs and support, it's really tough. So time I see

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Speaker 2: you know, a business and making an announcement like Stacks

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Speaker 2: and like famous Footwear, it just really hits home for

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Speaker 2: me and I'm like, fuck, this is inevitable, you know,

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Speaker 2: for all businesses at some stage in their business journey.

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Speaker 2: I think one of the things that's also upsetting too

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Speaker 2: is when I see businesses announcing their closure. I even

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Speaker 2: think back to yogurt Land, which was like before Yochi

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Speaker 2: And I don't know if yogat Land was just a

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Speaker 2: Newcastle thing, but obviously when COVID hit, their whole business

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Speaker 2: changed because you couldn't go and do like self serve

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Speaker 2: ice cream or yogurt sorry yogurt. And I don't know

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Speaker 2: if it was just a Newcastle business, but I remember

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Speaker 2: yogat Land did this post. I don't know, I think

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Speaker 2: maybe it wasn't just Newcastle, but I remember jumping into

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Speaker 2: the comments of their post being like yogat Land is closing,

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Speaker 2: and it's always sad to see the support from the

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Speaker 2: community in the comments, Like I'm just looking at the

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Speaker 2: Famous Footwear post from yesterday. It was the best of

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Speaker 2: times working with the Famous team, so many amazing memories.

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Speaker 2: So sad you guys to me were the only brand

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Speaker 2: at the time that I found size five heels, boots, etc.

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Speaker 2: For my small feet. People just saying, oh no, oh

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Speaker 2: my goodness, love my time working for Famous.

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Speaker 1: We'll never forget it. So sad to hear, so sorry

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Speaker 1: to hear this. Oh my gosh, what no, so sad.

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Speaker 2: You know, I feel like I see these posts and

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Speaker 2: then I see the sadness and support from the community,

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Speaker 2: and I.

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Speaker 1: Don't know what it is.

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Speaker 2: I feel so passionate, like I feel like, no, like

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Speaker 2: how can we turn this around? Because we have the

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Speaker 2: same sort of community at Fate, where you know, we

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Speaker 2: are just constantly feeling the support from our community, and

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Speaker 2: I see it within the comments of these posts. But

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Speaker 2: then I see this sadness and reality of business and

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Speaker 2: people closing up for whatever reason, and I just think

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Speaker 2: there's got to be something that we can do about this.

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Speaker 2: Like even when I did the whole episode about Jean's

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Speaker 2: West in them closing stores, I'm like, Jean's West, like,

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Speaker 2: you need to pivot and do something amazing, which, by

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Speaker 2: the way, I think they recently did a campaign produces.

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Speaker 2: Xander sent it to me and I was like, oh,

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Speaker 2: sligh Jeans West. There's so much power in community and

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Speaker 2: it's so tough for retailers, and we live in this

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Speaker 2: economy where everything is uncertain and the cost of living

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Speaker 2: is obviously rising. But then I feel like there's so

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Speaker 2: much support out there, and I feel like Ossie's in particular,

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Speaker 2: they want to support small businesses, like I feel like

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Speaker 2: we have that within our Australian community.

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Speaker 1: People want to support the local.

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Speaker 2: Business and so I just get so devastated when I see,

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Speaker 2: you know, people closing down or closing stores and having

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Speaker 2: to pivot, because I know that the power and support

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Speaker 2: of the community is there, but retail is just absolutely

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Speaker 2: tough out there. So what are my lessons to come

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Speaker 2: out of this? I think it's important for us business

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Speaker 2: owners and founders to be realistic and understand that things

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Speaker 2: like this happening, as shocking as they are, it's a

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Speaker 2: part of business. It's inevitable. Like at some point in

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Speaker 2: my lifetime, I'm probably going to have to make decisions

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Speaker 2: with Fate whether to close down stores or close down altogether.

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Speaker 2: Like it's very highly likely that that's going to happen

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Speaker 2: to me, because, like I said in the beginning of

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Speaker 2: this episode, you know, for a business to last more

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Speaker 2: than a lifetime, it's unheard of. You know, it's impressive

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Speaker 2: when you hear of a business that's last for one

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Speaker 2: hundred years. So I think it's important for us to

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Speaker 2: be mindful and be aware and not ever have the

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Speaker 2: mindset of like, oh, that'll never happen to me, because

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Speaker 2: we're killing it at the moment. You know, the world

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Speaker 2: is a very unpredictable place, and being in business is

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Speaker 2: unpredictable at all times.

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Speaker 1: I think it's important for us to be.

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Speaker 2: Aware of that and know our numbers and be mindful

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Speaker 2: with the decisions that we make. In my post I

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Speaker 2: did last night in Fate Society, I was open and

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Speaker 2: honest with our community and said, you know, Fate is

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Speaker 2: a solo owned and founded business, and by that I

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Speaker 2: mean like we don't have any investors or anything like that.

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Speaker 2: When you see a brand that's like popping up a

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Speaker 2: lot of stores, like all at once. Generally it means

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Speaker 2: that they'll have gotten outside investment or they have like

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Speaker 2: a board of people within their business that help.

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Speaker 1: To scale it.

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Speaker 2: But when it's just me, I have to be so

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Speaker 2: mindful and careful of every decision that I make, because

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Speaker 2: I could make one decision that could fully flip Fate

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Speaker 2: on its head in the wrong way. And so moving forward,

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00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,199
Speaker 2: and what I've been doing this year is focusing on

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Speaker 2: the foundations of Fate, which I've done another episode about.

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Speaker 2: We haven't opened any new stores this year, and this

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Speaker 2: is the first year in like three years where we

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Speaker 2: haven't opened a new store, and I think that's been

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Speaker 2: one of the best things for us because we've been

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Speaker 2: able to focus on everything that we've got make sure

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Speaker 2: it's solid and strong. Even to this day, we're still

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Speaker 2: figuring out what more creative marketing things can we do

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Speaker 2: to make our stores busier.

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Speaker 1: Just because you have a.

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Speaker 2: Certain amount of stores doesn't mean that it's all well

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Speaker 2: and good, Like you're constantly going to be working on.

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Speaker 1: How can we bring more people in the door.

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Speaker 2: And when I see these announcements happening of businesses closing

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Speaker 2: their stores, it makes me think of fate in our stores,

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Speaker 2: and I'm like, all right, I need to work even harder,

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Speaker 2: you know, to ensure that I don't find myself in

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Speaker 2: that position, even though one day it's an absolute guarantee.

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Speaker 2: Because that's just life and business. What can I do

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Speaker 2: now in the thick of my journey to increase foot

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Speaker 2: traffic and bring more people in stores? And you know,

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Speaker 2: see ourselves having really busy weeks and really busy months.

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Speaker 2: It's honestly never ending. I also think another lesson to

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Speaker 2: come out of seeing these announcements is the importance of

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Speaker 2: being able to pivot. I feel like when you're in business,

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Speaker 2: that has to be one of your biggest strengths is

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Speaker 2: when stuff isn't going the way that you planned and hoped.

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Speaker 2: As hard as that is, and I can imagine how

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Speaker 2: personal that would feel like even though business is business,

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Speaker 2: when it's your business, it feels personal. But having that

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Speaker 2: ability to be able to pivot even if things aren't

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Speaker 2: going the way that you had hoped, because again, like

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Speaker 2: that's just life, I think it's a really powerful thing.

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Speaker 2: And you know, I take my hat off to the

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Speaker 2: owners of stacks who have come out and said, yep,

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Speaker 2: like this is what we're doing. We're closing down stores

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Speaker 2: and going back to focusing online because that's what business

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Speaker 2: is all about as well. Even if it wasn't in

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Speaker 2: their plan to do that, I think it takes a

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Speaker 2: lot of guts to be able to go yep, this

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Speaker 2: is what we're doing in order to keep ourselves going.

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Speaker 2: So the lesson in that is just being able to pivot.

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Speaker 2: And let's be honest, when you're in business, pivoting is

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00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:09,520
Speaker 2: part of our every day. If you're not in business yourself,

404
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 2: get out there and support a local business because I

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00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,360
Speaker 2: feel so passionately, you know, when I see these posts

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Speaker 2: popping up, and if you're in business yourself, and if

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Speaker 2: you're especially in retail, but any business honestly, from service

408
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,919
Speaker 2: based businesses to e comm it's wild out there at

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Speaker 2: the moment. It's unpredictable. The world is an unpredictable place

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00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 2: at the moment, and the Australian economy is questionable. But

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Speaker 2: hold on tight and don't be afraid to pivot when

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Speaker 2: things aren't going your way.

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Speaker 1: All we can do is try our best and.

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Speaker 2: Work really hard on our marketing and all other things involved.

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Speaker 2: Always be aware of your numbers and everything that's going

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Speaker 2: on again. I know I talk about this all the

417
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Speaker 2: time in the pod. It's important to know your numbers

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Speaker 2: when you're in business. And yeah, I take my had

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Speaker 2: off to Famous Footwear for twenty five years. I'd love

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Speaker 2: to get them on the pod and ask them tell

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00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 2: us about your journey, because twenty five years is absolutely amazing, Xander,

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00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 2: we might have to make that happen. But yeah, it's

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Speaker 2: really tough out there. So if in any way you

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00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,919
Speaker 2: can go out there and support a local business, go

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Speaker 2: visit their store or place an online order with them,

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Speaker 2: because yeah, business is tough even on a good day,

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Speaker 2: let alone when shit is absolutely hitting the fan. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: this has been a bonus episode of Big Business and

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Speaker 2: I will be back next week with a main