Welcome to Hot Metro Markets, a new series that delves into some of the hottest and fastest growing regions in the United States and explores the potential they hold for the home accents business. The first in the series is Dallas/Fort Worth, a bustling two-city region that defines a vast area of North Central Texas and offers a mix of big city, cosmopolitan flair and quieter, old-fashioned friendliness.
Teddie Garrigan, who co-owns home décor specialty store Coco & Dash with her daughter Courtney, said the Dallas region — and Texas as a whole — doesn’t feel headed toward a recession.
“I can only speak about Coco & Dash, but our business did very well last year, and I think where I hear most people mentioning issues about pricing is on the food side. That’s hitting everywhere,” she said. “Otherwise, Texas is generally not — I don’t know if recession-proof is a good phrase — but we’re never hit as hard as other parts of the country. There is so much diversity in business; there’s banking, oil and gas, and other types of business. We’re a headquarters for many big companies.”
However, Garrigan said there’s been a bit of local retail erosion, which she finds troubling.
“When you talk about retail in Dallas, we’re losing those local variations that let you know you’re somewhere different,” she said. “It still exists, but in big cities, everything looks the same. Those subtleties are what gives us a sense of place. When I travel, I don’t want to see the same things everywhere.
“Hopefully retail swings back to where it becomes more individualized and you have those vernacular experiences when you’re shopping,” she added. “I think the public expects less because it’s become so homogenized. When people come to Coco & Dash, they’re blown away. They won’t look us in the eye when we’re talking to them because they’re trying to take it all in. It’s not because it’s a cockamamie look; it’s full of color, and there’s a clarity of design most shoppers aren’t used to.”
Garrigan says she sees good days ahead and will continue to push in that direction. “Courtney and I are very optimistic about what is going on with Coco & Dash and how we see retail unfolding before us,” she said. “We have a path, and we’re walking that path. We don’t get pulled off by what other people are doing.”
Garrigan said that being a small business, Coco & Dash can afford to be nimble and react quickly to whatever gets in that path.
“We will probably expand our branded product line to include lighting and special[1]ty furniture and accessories. Every time we do one of those things, it’s not an overnight thing because we’re self-funded,” she said. “We carry no long-term debt. I think that’s why we fared like we did during COVID. We stay small, we stay and lean and we don’t carry debt. (Debit) is not a good business model for us.”
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