Couple trades corporate life for resale-shop venture
Although many people grow weary of fighting traffic and dealing with the stress of the corporate world, most just deal with it, only dreaming of retiring, downsizing or starting a business.
Doug and Lissa Cupp of Bellbrook in Greene County decided to start a business while vacationing in Florida in February 2016.
“We have our own stories, Lissa and I,” Doug Cupp said. “I went to college at Wright State, and even while in school, I was thinking of someday having my own company.”
Lissa Cupp, who moved to Dayton in 2000 for a job, has a marketing background and has worked for several major companies in the city. Eventually she found herself commuting to Columbus and Indianapolis to move up to senior-level positions.
“I was working in project management and operations for Kroger in Blue Ash,” Doug Cupp said. “We really wanted to give up the corporate commute and do something in Dayton.”
While they were visiting his aunt and uncle in Florida, an idea came to them.
“We still have a couple of college tuitions we are paying,” he said. “So doing something completely entrepreneurial was a little bit intimidating.”
Lissa Cupp and her husband’s aunt went shopping in Florida, which is known for its wealth of resale shops. The pair went to three, and Lissa Cupp was inspired.
“We went into one store that was big, bright and organized,” she said. “It just felt different. They had an entire rack with a designer brand that I love. I turned to Doug’s aunt and told her that Dayton, Ohio, needs to have something like this.”
The women met their husbands that evening for dinner and were convinced the men would tell them their idea had no merit. But both Doug Cupp and his uncle, Dean Imbrogno, a doctor and successful Dayton businessman (he owns MedWork Occupational Health Care) thought it was a great idea, and Imbrogno encouraged the couple to “jump in with both feet.”
“Dean thought we should quit our jobs and do this,” Lissa Cupp said. “It was such a compelling idea, and we thought the Dayton market needed it. So that Monday, I started calling franchise companies and started exploring.”
The Cupps found Winmark, the owner of Plato’s Closet, Once Upon a Child and Play it Again Sports, which are focused resale stores. Winmark has 80 Style Encore branded stores across the country focusing on women’s fashion.
In the year before the couple opened their Style Encore store, they had to decide on a location.
“We identified a couple of possibilities,” Doug Cupp said. “We initially were looking at the Dayton Mall area but couldn’t find a location we wanted and were looking for around 3,600 square feet. We ended up at Cross Pointe Center, and we love it.”
He said the number of people passing by the store in the popular Centerville strip mall has been “unbelievable” since they opened to take items for purchase in February.
“We have good visibility when people drive around, day and night,” he said.
The franchise gives the couple guidance for their buildout, paint colors, racks and signs.
“It takes about eight weeks to fill up a store,” Lissa Cupp said. “Every item you see at the store came in one bag at a time.”