Ten Years. Still Simple.
Saturday, October 10, The Simple Man turns 10. Before we throw a party, a little story about how this whole thing started.
The Hole in the Market
Years ago I traveled a lot for work. The one thing that kept me sane on those trips was finding cool men's shops in whatever city I landed in. I started looking forward to the trip because of the shops, not the meetings.
Somewhere along the way I realized Omaha didn't have one like that. And I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I once heard that if you can't quit thinking about something, that's what you should be doing. So I did.
Six Guys, Six Kinds of Simple
I have six really close friends, some since junior high, some since high school. They are all completely different, and every one of them is a Simple Man in his own way.
That became the plan. Figure out what makes each of them tick, curate for that, and the shop ends up with something for just about every guy out there.
The First Year Was Lean
I'll be honest. I liquidated my savings to open the doors. We started with gifts only, because that's all the budget allowed. Clothing came shortly after, and today we sit at about 50/50 gifts and clothing.
We built the first shop ourselves, with a lot of help from those six friends. Several of them were still there the night before we opened, painting the final coat. Not glamorous. Very Simple.
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| Where it all started, 2016. | |
The Scary Move
After 18 months in business, we moved to Countryside Village. That meant tripling our inventory and our rent. I lost a lot of sleep over that decision.
It was also the best one I've made. Risky, and so worth it.
Good Company
From the start, people got it. Customers turned into regulars, regulars turned into friends. One of those early friends is Michael Andersen, who we featured on this blog years ago. Yesterday we were standing in the shop chatting while I unpacked new fall gear, and it hit me how far that relationship has come.
That's what I'm proudest of. Not the square footage or the inventory. The Good Company we keep.
Thank You, Village
To the people who inspired this place and still do. To everyone who has pitched in around the shop over the years. To every customer who walked in, picked something up and came back.
It takes a village, and ours, in the Village, is second to none.
Come Party With Us
Saturday
October 10 | 3 to 7 PM
The Simple Man, Countryside Village, Omaha
- 20% off everything. Automatic, no code, in the shop and online all day Saturday. It stacks on sale merch too.
- Hot dogs and beer, on us
- Cocktails for purchase from our friends next door at Inkwell
- Grab bag giveaways for early arrivals
- Bring an ironing board to use as your table. It's a street festival tradition we borrowed from Belgium, and yes, we'll be copying it shamelessly.
Come hungry, come thirsty, bring your friends. Leave with something that's a keeper.
It's Simple.