Business Spotlight: Curated Heat
Curated Heat | Vintage Clothing Shop St. Pete, FL
Curated Heat is a vintage clothing and resale shop located in the heart of Downtown St. Petersburg, FL. I had the opportunity to interview one of the shop’s owners who gave me more perspective on what it took to open a new business in St. Pete. Below you will see the discussion between The Marketer and Jordan Harris from Curated Heat.
How did Curated Heat start?
Harris told me that when he was younger he worked for his uncle. He would drive around other employees in a company vehicle and find himself in different parts of Central Florida with nothing to do. During his downtime, he would find small thrift shops. Here is where the passion started for vintage and used clothing.
The rest of the Curated Heat team came together naturally over time. Harris would start to attend in-person pop-up events where he sold the clothing he found in thrift stores. Quickly he discovered how lucrative thrifting could be so he started doubling down on his efforts to find vintage clothing. “We started going out every day, we picked a direction and headed that way,” Harris told me.
What do you see in terms of market growth for the Vintage Clothing industry?
“The market has grown insanely”. Harris went on to speak about how big the recyclability aspect of reused clothing is. In a city as eco-friendly as St. Pete this has only helped business. Harris believes that over time the market will steadily grow due to the parallel of growing recycling habits. He also noticed a spark in popularity after multiple celebrities started wearing vintage clothing. Specifically, he spoke about old shirts from the band Grateful Dead and their resurgence in the market.
What went into picking your store-front location?
For those who don’t know, you can find Curated Heat on the corner of Central Ave and 25th St S in St. Pete, FL. This location is a very popular location and is actively growing more each year. Apart from their online following, their store brings in foot traffic of people who have never heard of them before. Clearly, this is a huge plus for their business by growing new customers each day. Harris said, “We knew we were set on a location on Central Ave”. However, they did not account for how much their block of central has changed and grown since moving in. Harris says this was just luck.
Harris explained he started the Curated Heat (@curatedheat) Instagram account. He attributes the majority of their social media success to engagement and reaching out to local influencers in the community. Harris goes on to explain he believes a common issue is that most businesses neglect their local community when it comes to social media. Curated Heat currently has over 30,000 followers across all social media platforms.
Most business owners know how invaluable it is to have a large social media following of your ideal customers. Once you climb that hill, your inboxes fill with dozens of requests per day. I tell my clients the key to a good social media strategy is engagement. Here’s a helpful article I wrote about digital marketing.
“The best way to get people to care about you is to show genuine interest in them” – Dale Carnegie
Apart from engagement, Harris also spoke about the boosted posts they promote on Instagram. Continuous advertising helps the machine learning of the algorithm find the right people for what you are promoting. Having the engagement helps build stronger relationships while at the same time boosting post gathers more attention to the brand. Over time with avid and consistent social media strategies, any business can grow a strong following of only their ideal customers. This following can be monetized and become a valuable asset for the business.
How important was your Local SEO strategy?
For those of you who don’t know, Curated Heat has over 100 5 star reviews on Google. This is huge for local competition. When someone in St. Pete searches for “vintage clothing shop” Curated Heat will show first, which allows them another stream of new customers. Any shop with less than 100 5 star reviews will not be shown before Curated Heat. How did Curated Heat get all these reviews? They simply asked their customers.
Harris goes on to tell me “Authenticity is important for us. We told our customers to leave us an honest review, didn’t matter if it was a 5 star or 1 star, as long as it was honest”
In conclusion
Harris and I spoke on how Curated Heat started and where it is at now. With their following, local SEO, and storefront location, they are able to keep customers coming consistently from various channels. Harris said they are quickly outgrowing their current storefront and plan to find a larger location soon. They have built a unique customer base that is here to stay and even had a few internet celebrities become friends of the shop including TFue, JoogSquad, & Edwn.
I reached out to Curated Heat for an interview to spotlight their story of growing a successful business in the middle of a pandemic and how they did it.
Unknowingly, they implemented the 3 key marketing components of growing any business that I speak about often. Networking, outreach, and content. I discuss these components with each of my clients to help them grow their clientele, credibility, and referral network. No matter how the world or the internet changes, these 3 marketing tactics will always be effective and able to grow any business.
If you are struggling with growing your own business maybe it’s time to contact The Marketer
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