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If you could ask your customers any questions, what would you want to know? That’s what we set out to answer in a special panel at the Atlanta Market. On January 15, we hosted a panel for Faire brands, called After Hours, that was all about what retailers want in the modern commerce landscape. To give us deeper insight into the everyday retailer experience, we welcomed Anahata Katkin, founder of personal style boutique Swan Space, and Alisa Barry, founder of pantry and kitchenware company Bella Cucina. Together, they shared how their retail experience has evolved by working with Faire (Swan Space since 2023 and Bella Cucina since 2020)—and the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Meet Alisa and Anahata
Alisa Barry, Bella Cucina
In the early ’90s, Alisa opened a café in Atlanta to share her passion for cooking and eating as an artful ritual. When her loyal customers kept asking to take home her offerings, an artisan food business was born. Bella Cucina Artful Food is an all-natural, artisan product line available in lifestyle gift and specialty food stores around the world.
Anahata Katkin, Swan Space
Anahata started out as a visual artist and co-founded a lifestyle and stationery brand, Papaya. Building on this experience, she expanded into brick-and-mortar shops, led by her interests in mindfulness, art, vintage, and antiques. Swan Space is her third boutique and first Atlanta-based project.
What’s trending
Dry January is more than a passing phase; alcohol-free aperitifs are a rapidly growing category that shows no sign of slowing. At Alisa’s shop, Bella Cucina, she has been surprised by the popularity of non-alcoholic products that shoppers have been buying as part of a “sober-ish” lifestyle. While she began by selling mixers and items for cocktails, one of her best-selling brands is now TÖST, an alcohol-free sparkling wine.
“That’s been a really interesting category that we’ve developed that I really didn’t plan or expect,” Alisa says. “But this is where customer demand comes in. They ask for it, and then I start to research on Faire, see what interesting products are available, and try them out to see what sells.”
Brand discovery
When it comes to brand discovery, Anahata describes Faire as a “bridge” that she uses between markets. While she loves going to the markets to touch and use products, she also relies on the convenience of Faire, utilizing keywords, photography, and even her own Faire history to explore what’s new—and what she may have missed either at the markets or elsewhere.
Alisa, on the other hand, relies more heavily on Faire for her shopping and discovery since her work is so hands-on. “Sometimes I can’t even leave my food,” she says. “So I love the relationships that we develop through DMs with Faire. That’s really helpful.”
But once the two discover a brand, the work isn’t done. That relationship building is key: “I love when people are responsive,” Alisa says. “It’s really nice when we’re communicating [on Faire], almost like texting. Keeping these relationships are really important and continue to be.”
Takeaways:
- Give people direction: Alisa says to focus on collections, like seasonal offerings, bestsellers, starter kits, and more to help avoid decision paralysis. “Tell a story in your store, whether they’re buying a whole line or just want to do a vignette.”
- Communicate: “Be very responsive,” Alisa says. “Especially through direct messages because it’s hard to reach people through phone or email since we’re getting hundreds of emails a day.”
Buying, merchandising, and selling with Faire
Alisa and Anahata both see buying as a bit of an adventure, with a slightly laid-back attitude, thanks to their experience—and to Faire. While Alisa frequently reassesses inventory and adapts to changes, checking what’s sold and reordering as needed to keep shelves looking abundant through Faire’s mobile app, Anahata buys on more of a month-to-month basis, using her intuition—noticing what’s selling and what’s not—for a lot of her buying decisions.
Anahata says, “I used to come to markets and have to buy for a six-month window. I was planning ahead because I thought I wouldn’t see things again and the next market wouldn’t be until July. Now, because of Faire, I can really just go with the inventory that we have. I can reorder more often and restock as I need, which has really been a game changer. We used to plan everything around show launches for product release, and now we have the freedom to launch when we want to on Faire. So in both senses, it seems to save money and time.”
Operations, too, are simplified for both companies through Faire. Alisa appreciates the flexible payment terms to manage her cash flow, while Anahata saves time thanks to our POS integration.
“We’re really organized on the Faire side,” she says. “For me, I struggle with that organization piece. Faire has really helped streamline those relationships and to see, wow, my history with brands is exceptional. We’ve been together a long time. All my accounting is in one place, so that makes a big difference in my world.”
Takeaways:
- Be open to change: “Our business model has been completely transformed by Faire. We have a much easier lifestyle now.” Anahata notes that Faire is useful as a support system to help streamline operations. “Faire has helped us find a more sustainable long-term model,” says Anahata.
- Think about your shoppers’ experience in the store: Anahata improved their photography, focusing more on how things look inside the store.
We hope to see you at the next market! In the meantime, check out the Faire blog to learn more about our many retailers, like Anahata and Alisa, and how they run successful shops.
