good morning. coming up on msnbc's "your business," two companies with a new take on the old-school retail model are shaking things up in an industry that's struggling. how one woman is spearheading a business revolution in beloit, wisconsin, and it's bringing thousands of jobs and new blood to the local main street economy. and the first of our elevator pitchers vying to get their items on the shelves of sam's club. let's grow fast and work smart. that's all coming up next on "your business."

hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to growing your business. small business saturday is only a couple of weeks away. and small retailers across the country are gearing up their marketing plans to get customers through their doors. but that's an issue even big retailers have been struggling with. we meet two online companies who say the problem isn't that people aren't shopping, it's that businesses are stuck in the old way of doing things when shopping patterns have changed. they're trying out alternative approaches to retail, and it has both their online and offline sales booming. you've seen the headlines. >> more bad news this week for the $5 trillion retail industry. >> macy's, sears, toys r us have all closed locations. smaller stores are struggling to get customers in the door. seems like a bad time to open a retail shop, right? the founders of this store feel

otherwise. >> we always thought it would come to life in a physical way. >> sheryl kaplan is the founder, starting the company in 2014. it started as a purely e-commerce company, which was bucking the trend of traditional luxury sh luxury shoe sellers. >> we drop knew shoes every monday. we don't drop seasonally. you look at data, you look at reports and say, that's great, that's wonderful for us to know. next year when we do that shoe or this shoe, we'll take that into account. for us, we can do that realtime. >> the company hit a nerve with shoppers, who liked both the styles and the prices they were offering. but the founders knew that something in the formula was missing. >> one thing that e-commerce doesn't do is allow for tangibility. it doesn't allow you to touch, to feel. it doesn't allow you to interact directly with human beings. >> their data showed that first-time buyers were hesitant to take the plunge.

>> we noo knew that buying foot online could be tricky. so we had to remove every hurdle that we could in an effort to try to get men and women to try us for the first time. >> so they opened their first store front in 2016 in the heart of new york's soho neighborhood, with a second boston location in 2017. from the outside, m. gemi may look like a typical store, but the experience is far from typical. >> it's not transactional. you don't walk in and say, i need that shoe, and you're in and out. >> there's no cash register in sight. and you can't walk out with your purchases. this isn't a store. it's a fit shop. instead of shoes for sale, the store carries every style in every size for customers to try on. and then a sales associate orders the shoes for you online. >> the fit shops are truly about trying on the shoe, maybe being a little adventurous, trying on something you might not have bought online but you try it on. what we find as a result is

we've created this super consumer. what that means is they buy more when they come to the store. they return less. they frequent our website more often after. >> founder of home essentials brand parachute also started her company online in 2014. >> we were able to reach a lot of people and overcome those geographic constraints you can't on the internet and collect a lot of information about our customers, not in a creep ey wa but in the really important way. >> but similar to m. gemi, the data showed customers wanted the option of a more hands-on approach. two years after its start, parachute opened a store front underneath its headquarters in santa monica, california. >> this is a category that's super focused on touching products and feeling them. it made a lot of sense to go offline. they spend 45 minutes in the store becoming true brand advocates. you don't get that online. you don't get people on the website for 45 minutes. >> the shop helped people experience the brand in a

tangible way. but ariel never wanted to create a store in the old model of retail. >> in order to build a true lifestyle brand, you have to think beyond selling products, and you have to think about selling experiences. building relationships that go beyond that first purchase is so important. >> so parachute rented space above the store and furnished an insta-worthy, rentable, one-bedroom apartment. >> they sleep between our sheets and use our towels. >> felecia sullivan booked the room for two nights with a friend. she says the stay made her a true parachute believer. >> we walked in here, it felt very truz to their aesthetic. you think, okay, this is what it means to have kind of a parachute lifestyle. you want to buy into everything, not just, you know, the primary item, which were the sheets and the bedding and comforters. >> they also host events in the apartment, often in partnership with other brands in order to get their products in front of new potential customers.

>> what we've seen by having a space for us to host, we've been able to connect with so many people that we would never otherwise have been able to connect with. >> it's a perfect way to showcase the products for people who may not have ever walked into the store. >> people go upstairs and know they're not going to be sold to, but they're reminded of all the beautiful things we make. >> for both m. gemi and parachute, most customers still find them for the first time online. but if things keep going the way they're heading, the old-school, in-person experience with a modern twist is going to continue to be a part of their growth. >> today there's so many brands and so many people trying to sell the same thing, in order to stand out and really connect with customers, you have to do something different. >> one of the important parts of working in retail is not allowing the experience to get stale. you can't allow the experience to become expected. and you really need to create something that people want to be a part of. and being flexible and agile, i think, is the key.

one small town says shop local starts with work local. and to keep their main street vibrant, this town has made an all-out bid to transform its economy from manufacturing to tech. thanks in part to the efforts of some far-sighted planners and one of the wealthiest women in the state. we went to beloit, wisconsin, to find out how that's working. ten years ago, beloit, wisconsin, was in trouble. >> ten years ago we'd go to lunch, and there would be nobody at the restaurants. >> we would come and work on sundays and sit outside and watch no one drive down the streets. >> growing up, if you wanted to do something, you left beloit. >> to understand why, just look around the town. you see powerful smokestacks, brick factory buildings, and imposing store fronts. structures that once symbolized the pride of downtown america. now for most of us, these represent nothing more than long-neglected icons of rust-belt obsolescence.

well, today the town of beloit is scraping off the rust and reconfiguring those hulking old buildings into centers for new tech industry. >> if redo that, that might be the best path, don't you think? >> they're repurposing the buildings and the town to support tech sector jobs that now drive today's economy. >> you have to remake yourself, and that's what we're doing here in beloit. this is never going to be a heavy manufacturing city again. >> diane hendricks is one of the town leaders making this possible. >> we can't fix downtown without jobs. >> as a key actor in the local business community, she wants her energy and her money to do more than rehab a few old buildings. she wants to rehab the town's whole economy. >> not just build the buildings and make it look pretty, but put lives in there. >> she and her late husband ken made billions in the construction supply industry. they then applied their skills

and millions of their own dollars into buying up many of those neglected buildings. today she and the town are bringing in tech industry tenants to replace the long-gone manufacturers. >> the town is transitioning. it's going through a digital transformation. you know, we're literally in the remnants of a factory. and now we have people programming software code. >> troy is part of that transition. as a tech start-up investor, he says the developing beloit economy is itself a kind of start-up. >> we're really creating, i think, a vibrant start-up hub that's going to only increase in prominence. >> we've got new restaurants. we have new businesses. there's 2,000-something employees in this building now. just five, six years ago, there was a couple hundred. >> richard is the founder of acculynx.com. while he could have easily located the business in silicon valley, his strong family ties to beloit and this building in

particular have kept him close to home as an anchor tenant in diane's iron tech incubator. >> i was born at beloit hospital. my dad went to beloit memorial high school. my grandpa worked in this building, actually, for a company called beloit corporation for 42 years. >> being part of the rebirth of this town's economy is a point of pride. >> not everybody wants to move to california or boston or new york. i mean, they're great communities. they're great cities. but it's also nice here in the midwest. >> they didn't just fix it up. they elevated it to chicago high-end office smpace and the companies started coming in. we're actually going to rent 20,000 square feet from them next year. just signed the lease. >> steve eldred is the fourth generation owner of beloit national bank. he says the enthusiasm has energized business owners like himself to expedite and refine earlier renovation plans begun

by his father and others 20 years ago. >> i may own a building across the street. she'll call and say, you need to renovate your building. so then i'll renovate a building or two buildings. then i call her and say, you need to renovate one across the road from me. it becomes very competitive. >> that sounds like somebody i know. his name is steve. we compete a little bit. and it's fun. >> a little bit of that kpe fissitigs is great. it's helped things grow even further. >> rob is the president and ceo of hendricks commercial properties, the real estate arm of diane's sprawling business interests. he says beyond the refurbished buildings, tech tenants also require an updated main street. >> definitely it's not just fixing up an old building. that's the easy part. having the restaurants, having the gift shops, having the hotels is highly important. >> you need to bring the employees and put life within those buildings. and that's the key won't that

has made what we're doing in beloit so successful. >> and we're seeing an increasing business from those people that are coming to work here along with the fact that people are now traveling here. so there's business travelers that come to town. >> jackie's sandwich shop/bookstore/pickle factory may look a little rough around the edges. but she says not only does her business bushel and pecks benefit from the growing new tech economy, but her rehabbed woolworth's location is also what draws those tech businesses into town. >> the relationship actually goes both ways. we benefit the recruitment of those employees that are going to come to work in this community. they need innovation in what they're seeing in their personal lives too. >> i think there's definitely a ripple effect. they identified their problems, understood what they were, and worked together. >> marjory driscoll and her

husband recently began their start-up. >> i'm sure they have some idea, but they probably have no idea how far reaching what they do means. >> and to be a part of bringing it back, i mean, that gives me goose bumps. it can be tough for local businesses to breakthrough all of the noise during the holiday season, so teaming up with other businesses for small business saturday can be a great way to encourage shoppers to shop local. here with some strategies to help you band together with other business owners is ronda abrams, a "usa today" columnist and president and founder of planning shop, a publishing company that creates content about business, planning, and entrepreneurship. it is so good to see you. >> hello, jj. always nice to be with you. >> all right. you have been working with small business owners for many, many years. so you are the expert on this very topic. let's talk about how you get them to work together. >> well, first of all, let's

talk about small business saturday, which is why you brought me here. it is my favorite holiday of the year basically. for almost a decade, about eight years now, it has really become the day that reminds people during the busy holiday season to go out there and shop small. so the saturday after thanksgiving has now become the day to shop small. it's also brought small business owners together, as you've mentioned. one of the great things about small business saturday is the ability for business districts, small businesses in an area to come together to make their area a destination. >> let's talk about some of the events. one suggestion i've heard you say is plan something for children, which i think is brilliant because it's saturday and you want to be with your kids on saturday, right? you're working all week or they don't have school that day, so that gives you a chance to shop while they're doing something else. >> well, it's also the saturday after thanksgiving, so you've all been around one another a

long time. so you're ready to get out of the house and go do something. so neighborhoods that have pulled together and done something for kids can be something as simple as face painting. having donuts, having faivariou different kinds of things. anything will draw parents out to come out and do things with their kids and draw shoppers into your own neighborhood. ooi i'm holding up my little shop small heart. there it is. my heart, shopsmall.com, #shopsmall or #smallbizsaturday. things to make sure you're putting on your social media. >> i love this idea of getting together with other businesses to put together gift packages, and maybe it's that you get something and it's like, you pay for it one place and go to the spa here and the restaurant here and pick up a gift here. so it gets you into many different stores. >> i love getting -- not only does it get you into many different stores, but remember, small retailers are really

always having to come up with creative ways to fight those big online companies that they have to go after. and by pulling together bundles, whether it's within your own store or even creatively among a number of different kinds of businesses in a neighborhood, you might do a nail salon, a spa, or hair salon and a spa. you might do a restaurant with a cooking store to have a variety of different packages together. a bundle of gift certificates that gets people into a number of different stores, gets them shopping together, gets money into all those stores' pockets, and it's something you cannot buy oninloline. >> and finally, a last idea to get people in many stores, a passport program, something you get stamped at each place. >> and you can get that material online at shopsmall.com. i've seen this done. i was in ash larland, oregon, a couple years ago. they had a passport. each of the different businesses that were participating offered a discount, but when you filled

in your whole passport, got a stamp at each store that you went to, then you got a special present. it will might have been a tote bag. >> ronda, i feel like what else is going to come out of your magic hat you have there sitting on your lap. >> i have so much shop small swag. i just love it all. >> it's all going to be falling out of your jacket and stuff as you get up. i love seeing you. one last -- i want to give you one second to give a shoutout to your favorite independent store you're going to be shopping at on small business saturday. >> well, i love them all, but probably a bookstore because independent bookstores are really great. probably going to kepler's and buying a whole bunch of books for the holiday gifts. >> fantastic. all right, ronda. happy small business saturday. have a fabulous season. hopefully we'll see you soon. >> you too. thanks, jj. it is important as a business owner or a decision maker to stay on top of what's going on in your industry and in the world at large.

so here are five easy ways to make sure your company is staying current. one, watch web videos. youtube has exploded with expert user-generated content on just about everything. so if you're trying to figure something out, chances are you'll be able to find the answer. two, look at your own sales trends. are a lot of people buying things they didn't buy before? are they asking for something new? monitor your sales and talk to your customers to identify new trends. three, read trade magazines. it's not enough to just subscribe to the trade magazines. read them. they are dedicated to giving you targeted actionable information. four, track your competitors. check to see if they're investing in new products or services or if there's a place for you to fill a void or do something better. and five, follow industry leaders on social media. you can get up to the minute information on just about everything. use it strategically and follow

the right people to stay ahead of the curve. we're here in sam's club in new jersey to kick off a very special series of our elevator pitch. sam's club is a membership-only retail warehouse club. it's got more than 650 locations across the country and reaches millions of people. our elevator pitchers are going to have the chance to pitch their product to two buyers from sam's club. if the buyers like it, those elevator pitchers are going to be invited to arkansas, where they will have the chance to get their product in a club just like this. let's go meet the first pitcher. d.j., i'm jj. nice to meet you. >> hi, jj. >> what's the name of your company? >> soul pop gourmet popcorn. >> i'm very excited about this. do you go to sam's club? >> i do. i'm a frequent shopper of sam's. >> so what would it mean for you to have soul pop on the aisles here at sam's club? >> it would be a dream come true. >> how long have you been

running this company? >> just one year. >> one year. all right. i'm going to take this from you because i'm going to eat this while you're pitching to sam's club buyers. i think you're going to do a great job. >> thank you. >> i can't wait to taste this. let's see what they think. >> hi. >> >> hello. how are you? >> i'm d.j. >> i'm steven. >> great to meet stpwhru thank you for the opportunity to meet with you to talk about soul pop gore maim popcorn. feel free to indulge as i talk to you about why i think soul pop would be a good fit for sam's club. i am the maker of soul pop popcorn. i love soul food and i love popcorn. how to put the two together and not wreck my family's health was a challenge. one day i went into the kitchen and using only the ingredients i found there i created soul popcorn. popcorn is trending as america's

favorite snack food. silt low in calories and easy to carry on the go. it is currently an $8 billion in the u.s. and estimated to grow through 2021. it is created by a chef and not a chemist. we have chicken and waffles, banana pudding. i hold trade secret patents on the brand and ingredients. we sold to a growing legion of soul poppers. >> your minute is up. i am going to get sick if i eat anymore. not because it is bad but because it is so good. all right, guys. did you get a chance to taste some of it? >> we did, yes. very delicious. i love how unique the flavors are. how did you come up with these flavors? >> he well, i have children who have taste and texture issues. it was an easy way for me to give them soul food without wrecking their health. >> that's great. we are looking for a member that is unique, something you can't

find everywhere. >> popcorn is on trend. flavors are great. i love chicken and waffles that i tasted. just really, really good stuff. >> i'm going to put a plug for the barbecue and the banana pudding. i had all this time to taste them all. moment of truth. you had a chance to taste it and meet d.j. does she get an invite isation to bentonville? >> i would say she does. >> congratulations! >> i love the packaging. i love the nutritional facts. i would love to talk more about it. >> thanks for being here. happy to have you. >> best of luck in arkansas. >> thank you. when we come back, what you need to do to develop and maintain a global marketing strategy. and our brain trust has great guidance on how owners and decisionmakers can effectively manage their time.

every day, on every street, in every town, across america. small businesses show their love to you. with some friendly advice, a genuine smile and a warm welcome they make your town... well, your town. that's why american express is proud to be the founding partner of small business saturday. a day where you get to return that love, because shopping small makes a big difference. so, on november 25th get up, get out, and shop small. how do you manage persistent marketing message anything a global economy? >> managing consistent marketing messaging is bigger than it ever has been. you can't necessarily for your company and your message control

how it is distributed. and you can't control every asset anymore. we used to control collateral and visual merchandising in the stores. it is is digital. the way we continue to do this every day is to be very crystal clear on our brand messaging with all our partners and hierarchy. any time our business, whether it's talked about in stores or on television, what is that hierarchy of messaging? what is our mission, our core beliefs as a company. and creative elements. what is your hierarchy of that and your standards as a brand? >> it is now time for brain trust where we get really smart founders is and business decision makers and ask tough questions and get their real experience with it. we have the founder of mogul rich an informatisharing platfo women. >> we reach over 18 million

women. >> that is amazing. and paul english, founder of lola, travel app for business travelers and founding kayak. that's two out of six companies i just learned. you're a serial entrepreneur. great to see you. since you're both so busy, we're talking about time management. how do you conquer time management. what do you do? >> i try to maximize every moment of the day. for example, working out in the morning. i get up at 6:00. i get to dance class, for example, at 7:00 a.m. i have business colleagues and friends of mine all join in some hands in friendship and collaborations all in one moment. then throughout the day i actually around 3:00 to 5:00 generally tend to start having my energy drain a little bit. so that's around the time frame i start to block in a lot of meetings to reenergize myself and make sure i maximize those moments as well. >> i thought you would say the opposite. you take a little time for yourself. but you said, no, that's when you get it going. >> exactly.

>> you're busy all the time is how you manage time. what about you? >> i tend to be pretty disciplined. i'm on five nonprofit boards, i teach at universities in boston. i'm very structured about my dad. i also color code my calendar. i have four colors for all appointments. one is for global, all my nonprofit work, for permanent ti personal tomb and personal investment, working out, meditation class and trying to make me a better person. >> do either of you use to-do lists? i get satisfaction off crossing something out. >> absolutely. as you scan the to-do list, what might be the most optimal thing to provide the best return at that moment. that's how i do that. it is prioritization to work with time management as well. >> i like your idea of inviting people to classes with you.

instead of going for a drink, go for a hike so you get your exercise and social time. >> something productive that helps both he people. >> do you do the same? >> i use my mail inbox which i'm obsessed with keeping at 10 items or under. >> how do you do that? that's a whole segment. i got to 157 and felt that was is such an accomplishment. >> i'm obsessed. i have one touch e-mail handling. you either delete it, which means this is not that important to me. you do something about it. so if someone asks you for a phone number, instead of looking for it later, do it right then. or delegate it. when you delegate you have to trust the person you delegate to that they are going to do it. don't follow-up with them. just you trust them. and the last one is defer it. i will take care of this later. i try to do it in real-time. >>st that go into a folder? >> i use gmail so i star it.

>> you are my hero. >> i try to get to my inbox every single night. >> oh, my god. who are you people? . okay. you have given me a new goal. i'm going to check in with you in two months from now and give see if i can get to 10 or zero every night. great to see you both. >> thanks. this week's your biz selfie is from hugh balthrop behind sweet magnolia gel plateau. blueberry cheesecake, peppermint bark and brown sugar and bour n bourbon. that sounds so good. take a cervically of you and your business and send it to your @msnbc.com or tweet i

it @msnbcyourbiz. thank you, everyone so much for joining is us. we love hearing from you. if you have any questions or comments or just want to say hi, send an e-mail to your business @msnbc.com. and go to our website openforum.com/yourbusiness. we put up all the segments from today's show and a whole lot more for you. you can find more on our digital and social media platforms as well. we look forward to seeing you until next time. until then, i'm jj ramberg. and remember we make your business our business. every day, on every street, in every town, across america. small businesses show their love to you. with some friendly advice, a genuine smile and a warm welcome they make your town... well, your town.

that's why american express is proud to be the founding partner of small business saturday. a day where you get to return that love, because shopping small makes a big difference. so, on november 25th get up, get out, and shop small. morning, glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. we kick off saturday morning with a look back at the week that was and the week ahead. joining me is "the boston globe"'s annie lynn sky, daily beast laughlin march kay and sun minute kim and francesco chambers. it's a great morning. not because everyone's last name is in the first half of the alphabet. frances francesca, you just came back from