Darin is joined by Katherine Lewin, founder and CEO of Big Night, one of his favorite shops—and one of his biggest sources of dinner party inspiration. She shares her five rules for opening a shop, building community, and creating a brand with purpose. They talk about what it takes to open a physical store, why starting small matters, how storytelling can transform a retail experience, and why the best decisions often come from trusting your gut. If you've ever dreamed of starting your own business or want to host better dinner parties, this one’s for you.
A message from the Independent Hospitality Coalition for those being affected by ICE raids in Los Angeles:
Attention restaurant owners, be prepared. Thank you to everyone who has shared information that has allowed us to plan.
As if restaurant owners and hospitality workers did not have enough to worry about. Our kitchens are what they are because of are immigrant community. ICE is plucking people from our community in the name of law and order, we know the truth.
History will remember this moment.
Un mensaje de la Independent Hospitality Coalition para quienes están siendo afectados por las redadas de ICE en Los Ángeles:
Atención dueños de restaurantes: prepárense. Gracias a todos los que han compartido información que nos ha permitido organizarnos.
Como si los dueños de restaurantes y trabajadores de hospitalidad no tuvieran ya suficientes preocupaciones. Nuestras cocinas son lo que son gracias a nuestra comunidad inmigrante. ICE está arrancando a personas de nuestra comunidad en nombre de la ley y el orden —pero nosotros conocemos la verdad.
La historia recordará este momento.
[00:00:00] Darin Hello, and welcome to Five Rules for the Good Life. I'm your host, Darin Bresnitz. Today, I am joined by one of my favorite small business owners and dinner party inspirations, Katherine Lewin, who's the founder and CEO of Big Night. We chat about her five rules for opening up a shop, how to stay focused, how storytelling is a big part of selling. And at the end of the day, one of the most important things you can do is to trust your gut. Let's get into the rules. Katherine, always a pleasure to see you. Congratulations on the expansion of the original Greenpoint Big Night Shop. How does it feel?
[00:00:38] Katherine Feels amazing. I'm coming to you live from our backyard, which was part of the original space, but now feels even more special. The interior is three times the size. We just have room to spread out. It feels great.
[00:00:52] Darin I love how humble you're being because you're coming from the backyard because the store is so packed on a Thursday afternoon that you actually can't do the interview in there.
[00:00:59] Katherine That's one way to frame it. Darin, that's a reframe that I like. It's all thanks to our customers who are the kind of people who wanna come shop or whatever they might need, whether it's a fancy ingredient or a gift for their sister or a little pick me up on a Thursday afternoon and we love them for it.
[00:01:14] Darin You're there to really support the community. How does it feel to become an integral part of your neighborhood?
[00:01:21] Katherine There's a lot of rewarding feelings about this job, but I would definitely rank it in the top. No one sets out to make a brick and mortar retail store just to do business. For all of us who open actual physical shop, that sense of community and that sense of creating a place for our people, that is why you do it.
[00:01:37] Darin You know, you're almost four years in now to the store.
[00:01:40] Katherine Okay.
[00:01:40] Darin How does it feel to have gone from the original vision to this expanded version and to see it grow?
[00:01:47] Katherine I can't believe it's been four years, first of all. In the beginning, the vision was so, I don't wanna use the word small, but it was really focused because I knew I needed to start small to gain the confidence to execute on this larger vision. And now we've really evolved into a brand that I hope stands for helping people live the good life at home. That's really what I want for people to take away from the shop and the brand and it feels we're making better and better on that promise.
[00:02:16] Darin It's amazing and very inspirational. And that's why I'm so excited to be chatting with you today about the beginning because every successful store had to open its doors for the first time. Yes. So I'd love to hear your five rules for opening a shop with the first rule being about being very focused when you first open those doors.
[00:02:33] Katherine My rule number one, start small. Be confident in your little corner of the world. And also starting small helps protect you from risk. I didn't know anything about opening a brick and mortar physical store other than I had this weird urge to do it. We were coming off of the worst lockdown part of the pandemic. I was craving IRL experiences, just like everybody else. I also was craving shopping experiences. I was tired of living my life online. And I just had the feeling that physical retail was really going to be something that people would be excited about. A. And B. Dinner parties. I just kept thinking about dinner parties. It was 2020 and everyone was cooking so elaborately, but no one was gathering. I became kind of obsessed with, Wow, dinner parties are gonna feel so amazing when it's safe enough for us to gather at home again. So I thought, what if there was a place where people could get everything they needed for dinner parties? That alone is kind of specific prompt, right? When it stopped becoming just a thought and it started becoming, how do I action on this? Mm-hmm. First thing that comes to mind is what's the space going to be, right? It's a physical store. And when I found my space, I saw it's 240 square foot floor plan. And I thought that size is perfect. Everyone else was like, what, I'm sorry. How many that 240 square feet floor plan? Made me feel like. I might not know all the ins and outs of this and I can stock the shelves. I alone can staff the shop if I need to. It was a bite-sized store and that is what paved the way for me to confidently and intentionally grow because I started from a place where I didn't automatically feel like I was biting off more than I could chew.
[00:04:09] Darin And being that size forces you to be very specific, which ties directly into rule number
[00:04:15] Katherine My rule number two, know your value proposition. What specific thing or service are you offering? When you're starting out, you have to be able to quickly tell someone, why does this physical space exist? It exists because I want you to have everything you need for a dinner party all in one place. Listen, a lot of people would walk in and say, well, I never have dinner parties, so like is this store not for me? And then it's your job to expand on that and explain. A dinner party could be 10 of you seated for dinner, or a dinner pretty could be you and a friend having a killer pizza that you got from delivery and a great bottle of wine and fancy wineglasses and then it's your version of a big night. Starting from that very specific value prop of a dinner party shop gives you that niche and that specificity really helps people wrap their head around why they should be interested in the concept.
[00:05:03] Darin What I've always loved about the concept, everything that Big Night touches, you can feel that it's telling a story, which I've been a big believer in when you're looking for success, is about storytelling. And whether that's a TV show or a cookbook, telling a storytelling is really what's gonna drive you. What's rule number three?
[00:05:20] Katherine And rule number three, don't sell, tell. Storytelling is so key to Big Night. When I first opened the store, I literally wrote more product storytelling signage than we had space for on our shelves. Like I could not fit all the signage. I didn't want people to just buy a $38 bottle of olive oil and then get home and be like, why did I spend my $38 on olive oil? I wanted to tell them, here are the makers who made this olive oil in Calabria. Here's how they recommend you enjoy it. Here's how I like to enjoy it, giving people background on these products that makes them feel more connected to that small maker and then also suddenly gives them a new avenue to try an olive oil in a way they haven't before. It's important to me that the store never feels like just a place where transactions happen. People wanna hear about where they're putting their dollars, especially food and personal items on their dinner table are coming from. It's really important to tell those stories to your customers and bring them in on why you as the shop owner or the buyer are so excited about them.
[00:06:21] Darin It really helps when you reach for a bottle of wine, even salt, pepper, anything to know who's behind it, because you can't get so disconnected when almost everything you get is either online or at a chain store. So being able to connect with your customers and tell them stories serves such a great purpose. And the other thing I like about you having a physical store is that they also tell you things. So what's rule number four.
[00:06:44] Katherine Rule number four, listen to your customers. I like to think my secret weapon of having a physical store is I have a constant 24-7 real-time feedback loop with my customers.
[00:06:54] Darin Whether you like it or not.
[00:06:55] Katherine Yeah and everybody who works with me in the shop knows it is so important to listen. It is so important when anyone gives any feedback whether the feedback is hey I tried this product and I found this part of it confusing or the feedback, is hey why don't you carry more butter dishes or the feed back is I see a lot of products from Italy but have you seen this olive oil from Portugal? I'm really interested in it and we actually have a slack channel.
[00:07:19] Darin Hmm
[00:07:20] Katherine If a customer says it out loud and it's about a product, it's going on the Slack channel.
[00:07:23] Darin Oh, that's amazing.
[00:07:24] Katherine I take that information and I think about it when I'm buying everything. We react to what our customers are telling us and asking us for it. Because at the end of the day, the store is for them, whether it's something that they would like to see reflected on the shelves or it's something that they're really excited about. I want them to feel like every time they come back in, we're hearing them.
[00:07:41] Darin I think it's great that you give so much opportunity for the customers to give their feedback. But at the end of the day, there can only be one founder and CEO. What's rule number five?
[00:07:51] Katherine Trust and stand behind your gut instincts and intuition. I mean, this is really more of a life rule for me. Something that people don't often realize is just how much you are opening yourself up and really exposing yourself and your business to the world at large when you have a physical place. Your doors are open. Anybody can come in. Anybody can say anything they want to. They could write a Google review. They can write a Yelp review. They can say something in real life that might not sit quite right, or they might give unsolicited advice. We're all human beings. We're all entitled to our opinions. Absolutely. But I think As a business owner and as a business owner whose store reflects my own personal point of view, I do have to remember that at the end of the day, I have to listen to that point of you. And I have balance that with all the different inputs I receive every day from all different places, not just my customers, but really trust that my instinct is there and my heart and soul are in the right place. And so as long as I can align that and reconcile that with what the customer is asking from me, and it feels like I'm being true to both, I'm on the right track.
[00:08:53] Darin You can absolutely feel your heart and soul in everything you do with Big Night. Congratulations on the expansion. If people want to visit the store in person, shop online, get the cookbook, where can they go?
[00:09:04] Katherine If you're in New York, come by. We have shops in Greenpoint and on the West Village. And if you're not in New york, please stop by our website. You will find it at shopbignight.com. And you can also follow us on Instagram at big night shop.
[00:09:18] Darin Catherine, congratulations. I can't wait to come back to Brooklyn to pop into the newly expanded Greenpoint store. I'm sure it's as incredible as it looks online.
[00:09:28] Katherine Can't wait to have you, Darin. Thanks so much for having me.
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