ADVERTISEMENT

    Tigertree Back to Brick-and-Mortar with New Clintonville Storefront

    When Tigertree announced last July it would be closing its retail storefront and moving to a strictly online format, Co-Founder Josh Quinn said there would be a return to brick-and-mortar someday. Someday has now come a lot sooner than expected.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Tigertree has landed a new home at 3284 N. High St. in Clintonville, taking over the former home of Lacquer Gallery.

    Initially when looking for what would come next after their exit from the Short North, Quinn was wrestling with office space versus warehouse when the realization of losing connections with customers not being in a retail storefront format really hit him.

    “I wasn’t ready to give that up yet,” he says.

    Even if it’s not technically open at the moment, Quinn found he needed that physical location to anchor Tigertree’s e-commerce focus.

    “At my heart I’m a brick-and-mortar retailer,” he says.

    It was a short list of neighborhoods when Tigertree went looking for a new location, and the spot in Clintonville was a perfect fit for the retailer’s future plans.

    “We do have a lot of experience of operating in a space that has very intentional separations,” Quinn says.

    Totaling about 2,000 square feet, the Clintonville location spans two storefronts with a large opening in between.

    Tigertree’s retail will stay focused on the art of the gift. With the new space, they’ll bring in more gift, home and card brands. Quinn says never say never, but apparel is not part of the plan for now. Although it made up about half of their revenue, Quinn says people always tended to see them as more of a gift store.

    What will be new is a more educational spin to the space, with opportunities both in-person and online.

    “We are working on some courses and the first one is going to be all around gift giving,” Quinn says. “We are really passionate about helping people give better gifts.”

    He aims to give shoppers the tools and strategies to get better at gift giving. Events like CWIP – Conversations With Interesting People – will also make a comeback.

    It will be a quick transition from Short North to Clintonville. Tigertree will be operational in the new space for e-commerce pickup by the end of March.

    Summer will likely bring the return of limited, in-person shopping. Quinn says until the crisis with the pandemic has passed, he’s not comfortable with Tigertree being open in a traditional sense, but is looking at ways to safely bring in shoppers, primarily with low-capacity numbers or through appointment-only shopping.

    Now, and even then, Quinn believes that e-commerce will continue to be the driving force of Tigertree moving forward. Clintonville and other plans will lend themselves to a better in-person / online crossover, though.

    The new shop will offer easier parking and curbside pickup options, as well as a parking lot where they can run orders out to people. Cross pickup will also be available between Tigertree and the other retail concept Quinn owns with his wife Niki, kid-centric Cub Shrub, 1257 Grandview Ave., in Grandview.

    Quinn is grateful for the support both businesses have seen over the last year and sees some reason for optimism on the horizon.

    “My belief is that high-experience brick-and-mortar retail and experience-driven businesses are going to do really, really well for the second half of 2021 and for the foreseeable future after that because there’s so much pent up demand,” Quinn says.

    While many businesses are not out of the woods with COVID struggles, he hopes people are ready to step up and continue to support local retail and restaurants once businesses are fully open again.

    For more information, visit shoptigertree.com.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Subscribe

    More to Explore:

    A Guide to Clintonville’s Brewery Scene

    With three brewery taprooms in Clintonville, all opened within...

    Shop Talk: Lilly and Jayde A Dream Realized

    A stage four cancer diagnosis often means the end,...

    Long-Running Grocery Store Transferring Ownership

    A popular grocery store in Clintonville is coming under...

    Tigertree and Cub Shrub Set to Fill Former Rag-O-Rama Space

    Tigertree and Cub Shrub are joining forces and moving...

    Eco-Chic at the Nexus of Style and Wage Justice

    HER Denim, a minority- and female-owned social enterprise led...
    Susan Post
    Susan Post
    Susan is the editor of The Metropreneur and associate editor of Columbus Underground, and also covers small business and entrepreneurial news and the food scene in Central Ohio.Susan holds a degree in Communication with a minor in Professional Writing from The Ohio State University. She sits on the board of the Central Ohio Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and loves coffee, whiskey, cooking and spending time with friends and family.
    ADVERTISEMENT