What's This Place? Behind the Clicks and Mortar with Miranda Black

Michelle Genttner and Luis Martins sold their restaurant, bought a grocery and turned it into Toronto's first Zero Waste grocery store.  But what is Zero Waste...it sounds intimidating.  Is it just a PR term or will Unboxed Market revolutionize how we shop? Let's go inside and find out. Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you  to help me stick arou...

At 23,  Sarah Dougall bought a building and started a jewellery store...and she was pregnant when she did it.  Now, 20 years later, she shares her business wisdom with What's This Place Podcast.  It's an incredible story of retail perseverance. How has she made so many people look...both online and in real life?  What is this place? Let's go inside and find out. Enjoying the podcast...

Catherine Choi had her life all planned out: she was going to be a kindergarten teacher.  But first she flew to Korea to teach English...and that’s where she met Hyun Suk Choi, who wanted to open a restaurant. Fate put these two together to create one of Toronto's most unique and cherished paper goods and gift stores.  Who are Catherine and Hyun Suk Choi and what is Hanji Gifts?  Let's g...

Steve white and Tracy Acker were running an artists retreat...y'know, where you find your inner self.  One summer, they found an abandoned store at the end of a dead end road near the retreat and decided to follow their own "inner-calling" advice and open a cafe with cookies, pies, and a "what you sit on is for sale" concept. Now they're upgrading to a single 13,000 s...

Andrew Livingston was climbing the corporate ladder while simultaneously hosting a golf show on TV. It was a pretty sweet life!...until the one-two punch of the dot com crash and 9/11. He lost both gigs and found himself unemployed.  Andrew did what every consummate entrepreneur does: he researched, made plans, failed and grew. Who is Andrew Livingston and what is Neat. Space. Edited? Let's g...

Sharon Smyl had a stable job making good money. She got the entrepreneurial bug and gave up all that security to open a bricks and mortar store at the peak of the Retail Apocalypse. She's seven years into it now.  She even opened a second store...right before the pandemic hit. And she has plans to open more stores! Where does Sharon Smyl's business optimism come from? And how can all ret...

Imagine opening a bricks and mortar store after the pandemic started? Your potential customers have disappeared from the streets. Walk-by-traffic is gone. Wage subsidies and rent relief aren't available to someone who opened up after March, 2020.  But Mira Vuletic had a dream to open a Zero Waste cafe and boutique...and the pandemic was not about to stop her.  Who is Mira Vuletic and what is...

Go behind the Bricks and Mortar with Miranda Black and find out what it takes to survive and thrive owning a local store. Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you  to help me stick around. Can you share the episode on social media, or write a  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review in Apple podcasts?!  I would be so grateful.