REDLANDS’ UPTOWN GIRLS: A NEW BUSINESS MODEL

Common wisdom tells us that competition is what drives the American business model. Andrew Carnegie remarked, “…while the law of competition may be sometimes hard
for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.”  However, a group of Redlands business owners does not subscribe to Carnegie’s observation nor do they buy into the long-held notion that competition fuels business success. Uptown Girls, a coalition of women business owners in the downtown Redlands area, believes that cooperation grows their individual enterprises and strengthens their impact on the community.

Four diverse enterprises banded together in 2004 in a booth at Marie Callendar’s to form their own business organization, separate from the Downtown Redlands
Business Association, and Uptown Girls was born. Their signature events, called Girl’s Night Out, drew customers from all over the Inland Empire to travel luxuriously in limousines from store to store where they enjoyed refreshments, each other’s company, and shopping.

The brainchild of Terri Sharpe (Peek Inside), Nancy Ternasky (Paper Partners and Something Blue), Kris Woods (Thyme Out), and Brenda Day (CrateTivity and That Jewelry Lady) the business model of Uptown Girls Continues to evolve. Faced with a recession economy they realized that shoppers need options for saving money, desire alternatives to the merchandise offered
by big box stores, and want a fun shopping experience free of guilt. The four are also strongly committed to the support of local business and ways to combat corporate greed. To achieve all these aims, they are “joining forces again to promote teamwork, sharing, and caring” while “striving to support our local community and economy,” says spokesperson Nancy Ternasky.

On March 10^th and 11^th at 10AM their newest incarnation will be unveiled at 40 W. Stuart Avenue in Redlands, the original home of Peek Inside. For the second weekend of each month doors will open to reveal a completely remodeled space filled with reclaimed, restored, and reborn Home and Garden Décor. New items will be found
among those that are slightly used, repainted or left in their original state. Many of the offerings are one-of-a-kind. Succulent-filled galvanized buckets nestle among the hand-painted furniture, unique art and lamps, decorative
wrought iron décor, and bubbling fountains. Saturday’s Grand Opening will be followed on Sunday by a discount day. Remember, though, that something you saw
on Saturday may well be gone when Sunday’s discounts roll around! But don’t despair, the second weekend of the following month (and every month’s second weekend
thereafter) will offer new and unique treasures.