5 Reasons Why Vermont Marshmallow Co. Doesn't Have a Storefront (and Doesn't Want One)
I LOVE BRICK AND MORTARS! AND I NEVER EVER WANT ONE!
There's a "common misconception" that finds its way to me pretty regularly as a small specialty food business owner, and it goes something like: "don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a storefront one day!" I honestly don't know why, but it's hard for folks to imagine a handcrafted food business model that doesn't eventually culminate in a brick and mortar. But that was literally NEVER part of the vision for the Vermont Marshmallow Co.
So let's talk about it! Here are the five real reasons we're an e-commerce-first, wholesale-loving, event-doing, storefront-free small business. And why that's not a consolation prize. It's the whole point.
1. Flexibility for me and my team.
I set out to build a business that supports the lives we actually want to live--not one that contorts us to the hours dictated by a retail storefront.
2. Keeping costs down keeps prices fair and wages high.
Because we operate our commercial kitchen outside of high-foot-traffic, high-rent areas, we can keep our overhead genuinely low. Lower rent = lower prices for you + real profit margin to invest in my team. My team gets living wages, 6.5 paid weeks off, 3-day weekends, healthcare reimbursement, and a retirement plan. That's not an accident. That's a business model decision.
3. Playing into my actual strengths as a business owner.
Y'all, I am an introvert. Being a shopkeeper is the COOLEST job that is also absolutely NOT FOR ME. The thought of holding court every single day? Exhausting. What I love is building real relationships through e-commerce, cultivating wholesale partnerships, and showing up intentionally at strategic in-person events. I get to do all of that WITHOUT the added pressure of performing a version of myself I'm not.
4. We're not chasing growth for growth's sake.
Adding a brick and mortar isn't just "adding a location." It's essentially launching a brand new business inside your existing business: new staff, new hours, new overhead, new operational complexity. I'm not interested in making my life harder just to be able to say we have more. That's not the goal here.
5. We're genuinely happy with what we've built.
We have thriving e-commerce, a growing wholesale channel, and events we love doing. All three have real room to grow and real room to improve. Our focus right now is going deeper: maximizing and refining what already exists and works--not spreading thin across a new channel we never wanted in the first place.
A storefront was never the dream. This is the dream: a small, mighty, values-driven gourmet marshmallow company that ships nationwide, sits on shelves at shops we love, and shows up in person when it really counts.
If you've been following along, you know: we wouldn't have it any other way. ♥