Now that Sweet Baton Rouge is moving into Electric Depot, the old Entergy site turned mixed-use development in Mid City, store owner Meredith Waguespack is ready to usher in a new era for her evolving brand.
As first reported in Daily Report, the custom T-shirt retailer will occupy a 920-square-foot suite in Building B, which also houses BŌRU, a Japanese restaurant; Sweet Society, an Asian-inspired dessert shop; City Roots, a coffee concept by Community Coffee’s Matt Saurage; and Achroma, a photography studio and art gallery.
News of the planned move comes nearly 10 years after Waguespack first launched Southern Football Tees, an LSU- and college football apparel line that later merged into the Sweet Baton Rouge brand.
“As we’ve grown with our brand, we’ve been hearing that people would like to shop with us with more extended hours or on the weekends, so it’s something we’ve been strongly considering,” Waguespack says. “Through the flagship store, I want to offer our presence to more people since we’re kind of hidden now.”
Ultimately, Waguespack believes the addition of a flagship location will help her reach her goal of growing Sweet Baton Rouge into a destination retailer. Here’s how:
Division of operations
The new store will allow Waguespack to separate her online operations from the storefront business. Once complete, the store will have will a line of exclusive, in-store-only products in addition to the Sweet Baton Rouge items that can be purchased online.
Right now, the online retailer is operating out of an office and showroom on Bricksome Avenue.
“It gets complicated when people are coming into our showroom, and we’re still processing online orders. We don’t want to put customers in a position where they’ve tried something on, but the product has already been sold online,” she says, noting showroom sales make up just 25-30% of business today. “We felt it would be smart to separate the two. A storefront will make all the difference.”
Local focus
Waguespack wants Sweet Baton Rouge to be a sought-out place where out-of-town visitors want to go when they come to Baton Rouge to bring back merchandise representing Louisiana’s capital city. Therefore, in the Electric Depot space, Waguespack will also sell merchandise from Louisiana makers belonging to Local Pop Up Shop, which she and Sarah Guidry co-created in late 2018.
“We wanted to have at least a small presence for featured makers inside the store,” Waguespack says, though she’s not sure how the layout will look.
Emphasis on experience
As a retailer in 2020, Waguespack is all too familiar with industry buzz words like “Amazon effect” and “Instaworthy.” And she plans to capitalize on them.
To that end, another feature slated for the flagship store is an “Instagram wall,” where shoppers can pose for photos.
She’s also toying with the idea of hosting workouts at Electric Depot to promote her “Don’t Stop, Just Geaux” product line.
“We’re excited about Electric Depot because we love to create events for Baton Rouge,” Waguespack says. “We want to make the store feel like its own community.”
You can follow Meredith Waguespack on Instagram at @mwaguespack.
