CASA GRANDE — The term “brick and mortar” store was rarely used prior to the internet age. With the explosion of online retailers such as Amazon and eBay, retailers big and small have had to adjust to new selling environments. They are now using online tools to drive sales and to draw customer interest.
Store Manager Hillel Lichtenstein of Grande Shops, located near the Fry’s on Florence Boulevard, said the modern retail environment embraces social media with a real-time shopping experience. The store hosts over 300 vendors who sell a variety of items including collectibles, crafts, jams, clothes, furniture and jewelry.
“Here at Grande Shops it’s a middle point and it’s a marketplace for local vendors,” Lichtenstein said.
“Whether you do art, whether you do sourdough bread at your house, whether you do crochet or even if you want to get your hands on some bargains, this is the place to come. It’s like a brick and mortar version of eBay. You create your booth where you can meet tons of people coming in who potentially are looking for what you have to sell.”
When PinalCentral visited the store, a raft of items were on sale from vintage backstage passes of rock performers Kiss, Def Leppard, Metallica and Elton John to a large range of Star Wars figurines, furniture and soaps. The store is maze-like in configuration with stalls decked out with a variety of products to be viewed at every turn.
Lichtenstein said the appealing part of the store that he enjoys is that something new and different is always appearing on the shelves of the vendors at Grande Shops.
“This is a place that people choose to visit. You’re not coming in here out of necessity but you want to have this experience and vendors change all the time and there’s new stuff all the time. Even if you came in two weeks ago you are gonna see something new and people just love it. People come out here to simply browse or they want to relax in an air-conditioned big strip mall and this is a place to do so.”
Lichtenstein said many of his vendors are using Instagram to create customer interest about their products and are benefiting from the practice, with sellers seeing an influx of buyers.
“Many vendors choose to have their Instagram handle in their booths and that’s really cool because what happens is people see their cool stuff on Instagram, they come in, people see their Instagram here and they see what other cool stuff they do. It’s a great meeting point.”
On the bricks and mortar angle, Lichtenstein said the Grande Shops vendor model provides an affordable opportunity for smaller sellers to gain a real-life selling space, which is simply unattainable for many in the big box store world.
“Even in the brick and mortar world it’s hard for a local vendor to get a spot over at the big box stores and many stores are overwhelmed with potential vendors,” said Lichtenstein.
“Here you just rent your little booth, you do something that people like and people return. For example we have a lady here who does sourdough bread. People are literally coming in here every day and asking does she have any bread back in stock? People love her bread — as soon as it comes in it goes.”
Another success story, according to Lichtenstein, was a booth seller who made Chinese food and now has gone on to opening their own store thanks to what he says is an ideal entrepreneurial environment.
“If someone has a great idea and wants to be an entrepreneur and they want to kind of test the waters, then we are the right space to do that because if you do something great, it’s gonna take off here. I believe a lady that did some Chinese food and she ended up opening her own store. That’s our mission, to give people the opportunity to go into the business they want to be in.”
Lichtenstein said the store is open seven days a week (10 to 7 Monday to Saturday, 10 to 5 Sunday) and is happy to talk with any potential vendor who may be interested in selling. For more information visit Grande Shops Facebook page.
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