Superior Merchandise Co.
Superior Merchandise Co., a coffee and design shop in downtown Troy, sets a high bar for Capital Region businesses when it comes to quality, culture, and community. Far from bringing owners Felicity Jones and Mike Romig down, COVID-19 has spurred them to new levels, as Superior Merchandise expands its offerings, finds new ways of connecting with its community, and looks to support other local businesses in the process. In Felicity’s own words, “Winners are made in the off season.”
Practical Challenges
Of course, their success hasn’t come without a little sweat. “I had a really bad week last week,” Felicity acknowledges. “It wasn’t anything in particular, just a lot of non-stopness happening, and I broke down a little bit. You can only hold it together for so long.”
“This is supposed to be our busy season, the time when we’re flourishing and making up for slow winter months. RPI students are still supposed to be here. The patio is supposed to be open, adding an extra 40+ seats for us. So, it’s definitely been hard.
“Switching to take-out only and completely changing our day-to-day process has been a challenge. We still want the quality of our product to shine because that’s what makes us so special, and it has been hard to figure out how to maintain that.
“If someone places an order for ASAP and we make their drink right away, but then they are running late and their latte sits out for 25 minutes, we have to ask ourselves, ‘should we remake their latte and lose that money or give them a drink that might not be as high quality as we’d normally serve them?’
“This quote from back when I played basketball –– ‘Winners are made in the off season.’ –– keeps coming to mind. I know a lot of people are probably using this time to slow down and take it easy, but that’s not really the kind of person I am.”
What’s Working
The Superior Merchandise team has more than risen to these challenges. While “being as conservative as possible” with their spending, they are still putting funds into relevant programs.
“Investing in the grocery section of the shop has been big for us, and we’re committed to buying inventory from local producers. We’re trying to be a channel to help other small businesses and farms, so we’re not just buying the cheapest groceries even if this does mean our margins are slim.
“Beer and wine to-go sales have also been a saving grace, so that’s something we’ve been continually investing in every week. Right now, it feels like the Wild West. Rules are out the window and we’re just trying to make it through to the other side. It’s going to be such a bummer when the SLA goes back to normal and we can’t sell wine to-go anymore.
“Our online sales and our web traffic have also been up in a big way since social distancing kicked in. We didn’t have a lot of extra time to invest in an online shop before, but we now have our full menu, all the grocery, all the beer, all the wine, and all the merch listed online.”
Strength in Community
Despite social distancing, community has been just as important as new programs and online sales in keeping Superior Merchandise alive.
Felicity describes “seeing our community constantly and consistently showing up for us and vocalizing how important we are to our neighborhood” as one of the most motivating and inspiring experiences so far. “People have been so generous, supporting us through virtual gratuity and our local maker grab-bags.
“My face flushes when I open my emails and see that someone just sent us $50 in virtual gratuity simply for being here. $50 is a lot of money, and for them to think of us feels really special. Sometimes I think, how long can this go on? People can’t keep supporting local this strongly for so many weeks, but it hasn’t let up.
Looking Forward
For businesses, uncertainty is one of COVID-19’s most challenging side effects. In asking Felicity whether there’s anything she hasn’t yet found a solution for, “not knowing” was top of her list.
How long will social distancing restrictions last? Will this new normal be survivable? These questions are scary, and “we’ll see” is an unsatisfying, unhelpful answer. That said, what we are seeing so far demonstrates the ability of small businesses to pivot. Resourcefulness, compasion, and a commitment to quality have proven effective drivers for Superior Merchandise as they navigate this uncharted terrain.
Moreover, Superior Merch stands as proof that Coronavirus has not killed community. “Our team has been super supportive, taking on new roles and responsibilities and rolling with the punches. Customers are being overly sweet and thoughtful and conscious and kind. One of our regulars heard that I’d had a bad week and brought me daffodils the other day. I started balling. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
It is this very sense of kinship and rallying together that draws so many of us to food as a connection point, even with social distancing restrictions.
Here are just a few more tidbits from our conversation with Felicity:
1. One thing that makes you smile every day: Drinking my morning coffee on the back patio and seeing what has popped up in the garden boxes overnight.
2. One thing that makes you want to pull your hair out: Constantly thinking about what our next trick is is extremely exhausting. You know people get really excited about something one week and then it’s worn out by the end of the week and you got to have the next thing in order to keep that money flow coming in.
3. Your drink of choice for Zoom happy hours: Wild Arc Farms piquette or any natural wine from 22 Second Street.
4. Favorite way to get outside: Walking the dogs and searching for blooming magnolias.
5. Name another local business you're particularly eager to support: Sunhee’s! Jinah’s drive and just her constant positive energy are super infectious. She is always coming up with new ideas, not just to benefit her own business, but also to benefit our neighborhood and community.
