Shows / Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
Lucas and Luna take a walking tour of American small business, stopping at a bakery in Portland that survived a rent hike by forming a worker cooperative, a bookstore in rural Mississippi that became a community anchor, and a hardware store in Ohio that outlasted three big-box competitors by leaning into hyperlocal service. Each episode starts with a single Main Street business — its founding story, its numbers (revenue, foot traffic, employee count), and one specific challenge it faced. Lucas…
Episodes
Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community CommerceHow a Local Hardware Store Beat Home Depot with a Promise to Fix Anything
Lucas and Luna visit Sherman Hardware in Providence, Rhode Island — a 97-year-old family-run store that has held its ground against Home Depot and Lowe's…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookstore Used a Rare-First Model to Beat Amazon
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small independent bookstore in Portland, Maine, called The Novel Neighbor, survived and thrived against Amazon by…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookstore Used a Rare-First Model to Beat Amazon
In Episode 111 of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the story of The Last Word, an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Butcher Used a Meat Club to Beat the Supermarkets
In Episode 110, Lucas and Luna break down the story of a neighborhood butcher in Portland who launched a 'Meat Club' membership — a weekly curated…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Dry Cleaner Uses a Lost-Ticket Pledge to Beat the Chains
Lucas and Luna visit Main Street Cleaners, a 40-year-old family-run dry cleaner in Minneapolis that built a fiercely loyal customer base by guaranteeing it…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookstore Used a Rare-First Model to Beat Amazon
In this episode of Small Business Success, Lucas and Luna break down how an independent bookstore in Portland, The Wandering Shelf, shifted its inventory model…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Ice Cream Shop Used a Flavor Vault to Beat the Summer Rush
In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit Molly's Scoops, a two-shop ice cream brand in Portland, Oregon, that cracked the seasonal demand problem with a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Book Club Brewery Built a Community Hub
Episode 106 of Small Business Success with Fexingo tells the story of Third Space Brewing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Co-founder Sam Brown turned a hobby homebrew…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Barber Used a No-Show Fee to Beat the Gig Apps
Episode 105 of Small Business Success with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore how a two-chair barbershop in Portland, Oregon, fought back against booking app…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Baker Used a Surplus Market to Beat Food Waste
In this episode, Lucas and Luna look at how a small bakery in Portland, Oregon, turned its daily unsold pastries into a revenue stream by partnering with a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Toy Store Used a Play-Membership to Beat Big Box
Lucas and Luna explore how a small independent toy store in Portland, Oregon, survived and thrived against Amazon and big-box competitors by launching a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Flower Shop Used a Subscription to Beat the Gig Apps
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small flower shop in Portland, Oregon, called Petal & Stem, used a weekly subscription model to stabilize revenue…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Photo Studio Used a Rent-the-Props Model to Beat the Chains
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a local portrait photography studio in Portland, Oregon turned a shrinking market into a thriving business by…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Mattress Store Used a 24-Hour Test to Beat the Chains
In this 100th episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how a small independent mattress store in Portland, Oregon, used a radical…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Cheese Shop Used a Mystery Box to Beat the Supermarkets
Episode 99 of Small Business Success with Fexingo dives into the story of The Curd Nerd, a 400-square-foot cheese shop in Portland, Oregon, that used a weekly…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Spa Used a Rainy Day Refund to Smooth Demand
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how a small-town spa in Asheville, North Carolina, smoothed out its…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Pie Shop Used a No-Tipping Model to Retain Staff
This episode dives into the story of a local pie shop in Portland, Oregon, that scrapped tipping and raised prices by 15 percent to pay staff a living wage…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Dog Groomer Used a Scent-Free Policy to Build Trust
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna look at how a small dog grooming shop in Portland, Oregon, called The Snip & Sniff…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Consignment Shop Used a Pricing Pledge to Beat thredUP
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how a local consignment shop in Portland, Oregon, used a radical pricing pledge…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Tailor Used a Rental Model to Fix Fast Fashion
Episode 94 of Small Business Success with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Nora Chen, owner of Stitch & Save Tailoring in Portland, Oregon…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Coffee Shop Used a Community Board to Build a Third Place
Episode 93 of Small Business Success explores how a local coffee shop in Portland, Oregon, turned a simple community corkboard into a powerful tool for…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Hardware Store Used Workshops to Beat Home Depot
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small hardware store in Portland, Oregon—Cedar & Oak Hardware—used free weekend workshops to not only survive but…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Pet Store Used a Loyalty Subscription to Beat Chewy
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small independent pet store in Portland, Oregon—Happy Paws Pet Supply—used a simple monthly subscription model to…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bike Shop Used a Repair Membership to Beat Amazon
When a bike shop in Portland, Oregon faced margin compression from Amazon and big-box sporting goods, owner Maria Torres didn't slash prices or build a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Plant Shop Used a Stylist Service to Beat Big Box
In episode 89 of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how a local plant shop in Portland turned a simple idea into a revenue booster…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Hardware Store Used Workshops to Beat Home Depot
In this episode of Small Business Success, Lucas and Luna explore how a small hardware store in Portland, Oregon, turned a simple workshop program into a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookstore Used a Wine Bar to Beat the Chains
Lucas and Luna tell the story of The Printed Vine, an independent bookstore in Portland, Maine, that turned a wine bar into its biggest competitive advantage…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Tool Library Beat Amazon and Built Community
Lucas and Luna visit Portland's Northeast Tool Library, a member-run lending library that has weathered supply chain shocks and Amazon competition by…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Dry Cleaner Used a Lost-Ticket Policy to Build Loyalty
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small dry cleaner in Portland, Oregon turned a logistical headache—lost claim tickets—into a customer loyalty…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Diner Used a Weather Bet to Beat Slow Seasons
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna break down how Main Street Diner in Portland, Maine, turned a quirky weather bet into a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Restaurant Used Waitlist Data to Cut No-Shows
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how a neighbourhood Italian restaurant in Portland used its waitlist data to…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Tax Prep Firm Built a Year-Round Client Engine
Episode 82 of Small Business Success with Fexingo looks at how a seasonal tax preparation office in Missoula, Montana transformed itself into a year-round…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Florist Used a Subscription Model to Smooth Seasonal Revenue
Episode 81 of Small Business Success with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore how a small flower shop in Portland, Oregon turned the boom-and-bust cycle of…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookshop Used a Book Club Kit to Beat Amazon
In this episode, we explore how The Tattered Quill, a small independent bookshop in Portland, Oregon, created a book club subscription kit that generated…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookstore Used a Book Club Kit to Beat Amazon
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a Brooklyn independent bookstore, The Lit Table, fought back against Amazon's dominance by creating a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Gym Used a Free-Childcare Bet to Beat Planet Fitness
Episode 78 of Small Business Success with Fexingo dives into one of the smartest retention plays we've seen on Main Street this year: a mom-and-pop gym in…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Camera Store Built a Film Revival Membership
Episode 77 of Small Business Success with Fexingo tells the story of Portland's Vintage View Camera, a 60-year-old independent camera shop that was on…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Pizza Shop Used a Secret Menu to Beat the Chains
In Episode 76, Lucas and Luna visit Luigi's Slice House in Portland, Maine, a small pizzeria that grew revenue 32 percent year-over-year by building a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bakery Used a Flour Shortage to Build a Better Business
In April 2022, when a regional flour mill shut down and wholesale prices jumped 40 percent, most bakeries panicked. But Flour & Stone, a 12-person bakery in…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Realtor Used Neighbourhood Video Tours to Dominate Zillow
Episode 74 of Small Business Success with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna break down how a solo real estate agent in Portland, Oregon — Mike Chen — turned a $500…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookshop Beat Amazon With a Kids Storytime Card
In episode 73 of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising local win: an independent children's bookshop in Portland that…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Coffee Shop Used a Tip Jar Strategy to Build Community
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small independent coffee shop in Portland, Oregon, turned a simple tip jar into a powerful community-building…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Hardware Store Used Workshops to Beat Home Depot
Episode 71 of Small Business Success with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna visit Portland's Old Portland Hardware, a family-run store that turned free weekend…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Soap Maker Used a Community Shop to Beat Etsy
Lucas and Luna visit The Suds Studio, a small-batch soap shop in Portland, Oregon, that went from $12,000 a year on Etsy to $340,000 a year with a physical…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Ice Cream Shop Used a Flavor Vote to Double Sales
This episode tells the story of Scoop & Co., a small ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon, that turned a simple idea into a community phenomenon. Owner Jenna…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Print Shop Used Art Prints to Survive E-Books
Episode 68 of Small Business Success with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna visit The Paper Crane, a small print shop in Portland, Oregon that transformed itself when…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Laundromat Used Shared Schedules to Save Community
Small businesses on Main Street are getting creative to survive the remote-work shift, but one laundromat in Portland, Oregon, took an unusual approach: it…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Pet Store Used a Puppy Social to Beat Big Box Retailers
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Paws & Claws, a local pet store in Portland, Oregon, that turned…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookseller Built a Co-Working Membership That Works
Lucas and Luna visit The Gutter Press, a used bookstore in Portland, Maine, that turned a third of its floor space into a co-working membership. Owner Jenna…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Barber Used Memberships to Beat the Chain Salons
Episode 64 of Small Business Success with Fexingo looks at how a single-chair barbershop in Portland, Oregon, used a membership model to compete against…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Farm Stand Used Signage to Hold a Corner
Episode 63 of Small Business Success with Fexingo tells the story of Smith's Corner Farm Stand, a tiny roadside seller in Vermont that turned a…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Dry Cleaner Used Smart Pricing to Survive the Remote Work Shift
Lucas and Luna dive into the story of GreenSpin Cleaners, a family-run dry cleaner in downtown Minneapolis that lost 60% of its business when office workers…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Toy Store Used Vintage Models to Beat Big Box Retailers
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how a family-owned toy store in Portland, Maine, turned an aging inventory of…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bike Shop Built a Repair Membership That Beat Walmart
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna visit Spoke & Wheel, a small bike shop in Portland, Oregon, that took on the big-box…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Florist Used a Corporate Account Strategy to Triple Revenue
In this episode of Small Business Success with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Bloom & Vine, a small florist in Portland, Oregon, that grew from…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bookstore Used a Loyalty Rebellion Against Amazon
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the story of a small independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon that didn't just survive Amazon — it fought back…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Taco Shop Used a Cookbook to Build a Brand Beyond the Burrito
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the story of Taqueria El Fuego, a three-location taco shop in Austin, Texas, that turned a self-published cookbook…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Cleaner Built a Subscription That Doubled Revenue
When Maria Santos took over her parents' struggling dry-cleaning business in Portland, Oregon, she faced a crisis: revenue had declined 40 percent in five…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Plant Nursery Built a Subscription That Survived Winter
Episode 55 of Small Business Success with Fexingo tells the story of How a Local Plant Nursery Built a Subscription That Survived Winter. Lucas and Luna break…
- Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce
How a Local Bakery Used a Sliding Scale to Feed Everyone
In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit The Daily Loaf, a small bakery in Portland, Oregon, that implemented a sliding-scale pricing model two years ago. Owner…