FROM CRISIS RECOVERY TO EXPONENTIAL GROWTH Partnered with a 30-year specialty retailer in apparel, jewelry, and home décor during one of the most critical moments in its history. With the store forced to close during COVID-19, no e-commerce platform in place, and the business facing the possibility of permanent closure, Running Great Stores helped the owner quickly reimagine the selling model and activate a new path forward. Through decisive strategy, social selling, fresh product positioning, and a more intentional approach to customer engagement, the business sold through 80% of its spring inventory, increased social media engagement by 140%, brought three team members back from furlough, and expanded its reach to new customers. Since then, the business has continued to experience exceptional growth, with a stronger client base, sustained year-over-year revenue increases, and a renewed confidence in its future. Today, Running Great Stores is partnering with the retailer again to build its Retail Playbook™, translating that growth into scalable systems, clear standards, and consistent store execution for the next stage of the business.

SCALING A DTC BRAND INTO A NATIONAL RETAIL PRESENCE Partnered with a high-growth direct-to-consumer brand as it prepared to expand into brick-and-mortar retail at national scale. With limited internal retail infrastructure and expansion plans complicated by the disruption of the pandemic, Running Great Stores helped architect the operating foundation required to move from concept to consistent execution. The engagement included building a comprehensive store opening handbook, developing a detailed Retail Playbook™, and translating the brand’s elevated customer experience into clear standards, scalable processes, and repeatable field execution. Through close partnership with the internal team, Rachel immersed herself in the brand, ensuring the retail channel felt fully aligned with the company’s identity, customer promise, and growth ambitions. The result was a successful expansion from four pop-up locations to 58 stores nationwide, supported by an operating system that continued to guide store openings, daily execution, and customer experience long after the engagement ended.

SCALING RETAIL STRATEGY FOR HIGH GROWTH BRAND Supported Klarna during a period of rapid growth as the company expanded its brand experience into physical retail. Brought in as a seasoned retail partner, Rachel worked alongside the internal team to quickly assess priorities, build scalable processes, and translate an ambitious brick-and-mortar vision into an executable retail strategy. Her ability to integrate seamlessly into a hyper-paced start-up environment, move quickly without sacrificing clarity, and become a trusted extension of the strategy team helped position the business to scale with greater confidence, focus, and operational discipline.

BUILDING A SCALABLE OPERATING SYSTEM FOR MULTI-UNIT GROWTH Partnered with an emerging off-price retailer preparing for multi-unit growth to design a scalable store operating model rooted in consistency, clarity, and operational excellence. Working side by side with Store Managers and District Managers, we identified key pain points, modernized policies and procedures, and translated day-to-day store execution into an easy-to-implement digital Retail Playbook™. This infrastructure not only strengthened store performance and field leadership alignment, but also created the operational foundation needed to support a successful sale of the company. The result was a more consistent customer experience, improved operational discipline, and a clear platform for sustainable sales growth across current and future locations.

BESPOKE LEADERSHIP SYSTEM FOR LUXURY RETAIL GROWTH Partnered with Montana Supply Co, a luxury retail destination, to design a bespoke leadership and client experience system built for scale. This work translated the brand’s high-touch service expectations into clear leadership standards, elevated selling behaviors, coaching rhythms, and daily operating practices that could be consistently executed across the store. By aligning role clarity, service excellence, floor leadership, talent development, and accountability into one cohesive system, the engagement helped create the foundation for stronger leadership, a more intentional client experience, and sustainable luxury retail growth.

CREATING A LUXURY SALON RETAIL EXPERIENCE Partnered with Stile Salon to design a refined operating system that brought greater structure, consistency, and revenue opportunity to the client experience. The work included clarifying service standards, strengthening day-to-day operating rhythms, and creating an in-house retail shop that transformed underutilized salon space into an elevated extension of the brand. By aligning hospitality, product storytelling, visual presentation, and team execution, the engagement helped Stile Salon create a more intentional client journey while unlocking a new retail revenue stream designed to live beautifully within the salon environment.

BUILDING FOUNDER-LED RETAIL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR GROWTH Partnered with Bobbie’s Shoppe to build a Retail Playbook™ that gave the founder and team the infrastructure needed to operate with greater clarity, consistency, and confidence across two distinct brands. The work translated the owner’s vision, service expectations, selling approach, and day-to-day store standards into a practical operating system the team could easily understand and execute. By creating a clear selling model, defined processes, and repeatable rhythms for store leadership and customer experience, the engagement helped move the business from founder-dependent execution to a more scalable, teachable model. The result was a stronger foundation for growth, a more consistent customer experience, and a playbook designed to protect the brand while empowering the team to run the business well.

FROM LONDON TO THE USA - BUILDING A SCALABLE RETAIL OPERATING MODEL Running Great Stores partnered with Poetry and Wrap, two London-based retail brands, to strengthen store operations and support growth across markets.The work included creating a customized Retail Playbook for the brands, right-sizing British store operations, and supporting new store openings in the United States.The result was a clearer operating foundation for store teams, stronger leadership alignment, and more consistent execution across markets — helping the brands protect what made them special while building the structure needed to grow.