The Art of Lift and Shift: A Decade's Retrospective

Hello! Welcome to 2026 - our 10th year in business.  10 years . . . 

Ten years ago, I walked into the shoe business knowing not a lot.  What I did know was that I wanted to create a luxury shopping experience that feels like relaxing in your friend's living room.  Because I like good design, I like nice things, and I like nice rooms.  If I am being honest, I am more of a designer of experiences, than I am a retailer.

Over the past 10 years,  being a business owner in retail has taught me things that I could not have known when I imagined this business and wrote my business plan. Retail is the mirror image of what is happening socially, politically, and economically.  When the economy sneezes, we catch a cold. And so we are in a constant state to motion, always adjusting to an ever changing environment.

In fact, we have pivoted so many times, we could form a basket ball team.  I always say we are the master of "lift and shift".  Here's a quick summary to illustrate what I mean by “lift and shift."

We began this business in the Old City Hall Mall, which, 10 years later, is the new and improved home of the Globe Theatre.  But in 2016, after creating a beautiful shop, I was to learn that we had to relocate.  And so we created our second beautiful space on Badham Blvd.  In 2018, we relocated back downtown on 12th avenue, which was amazing, until 2020, when COVID sent everyone home and sales dropped 80%. In 2021,  still reeling from the impact of COVID, we shifted to a smaller space on 2120 Broad Street, transforming the beautiful yoga space once home to Yoga Haven into a ZÖE #4, which was our home until December 2024, when we opened our final destination at 2124 Robinson Street in Cathedral, featuring an in-house yoga and movement studio.  

Moving to Cathedral changed everything for us.  We are part of a business community of independents that collectively creates the Cathedral experience.   

This year, we celebrate 10 years of not just business, but sheer human resilience in the face of change. 

Lynn Armstrong

Owner