American DBE Magazine Cover Story: Hip & Humble -- A Philosophy for Business Success

Hip & Humble: a Philosophy for Business Success

Sheridan Mordue didn’t know her choice of the name Hip & Humble would become more than a memorable and catchy title when she launched the company in 1999, but instead would become a recipe for success. Mordue was only 24 years old and a brand-new graduate of the University of Utah when she and her sister opened a high-end furniture store in Salt Lake City, Utah selling items like armoires, beds, bedding, and other home furnishings. Since those beginning times, the store has evolved through four business cycles, including the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the Great Recession of 2008-2009, and the COVID-19 pandemic, to become a thriving brand specializing in giftables, pickups, and other products tailored to the female gender.

The brand has grown from a single location in Salt Lake City to now having three locations in streetside locations in the Salt Lake City area, two locations in the Salt Lake City International Airport, a new location in the Ft . Lau derdale -Ho llyw ood Intern atio nal airport in Florida, and in the planning stages for a location in Houston’s George Bush International Airport to open in 2026.

Hip & Humble has expanded over the years by being just that – Hip & Humble. The company’s hipness helps Mordue keep the business current with the times, market conditions and changing customer tastes; while staying humble helps Mordue embrace feedback from her customers, mangement team and business partners. The ability to stay humble also helped the company to expand into the airport market through a strategic partnership with a company already having expertise in the airport concessions industry; allowing the company to leverage their partner’s experience to quickly get up-to-speed in the new market segment. “I’ve been through a lot of iterations of the business for sure I consider myself lucky, to have had the insight or foresight to accept change because it kept us in business,” Mordue said.

Staying Hip

Sheridan Mordue talks with staff member at the Salt Lake City International Airport location.

Hip & Humble stays cool and with the times by embracing new opportunities as they appear. This first happened a few years after the business opened after the 9/11 terrorist attacts. Mordue noticed smaller household items were selling faster than large pieces of furniture The realization was further solidified when a good friend asked Mordue to sell her jewelry items out of the Hip & Humble store. “I noticed that after a few days, I needed to call my friend to ask her to bring some more jewelry because it was all gone. I started thinking and added small items like soaps, women’s clutches, and other pickups to what we sold,” Mordue said. This experience helped shape Mordue’s business philosophy. She realized while having a plan for the business is a great thing, staying in business requires understanding that sometimes customers need something different from what the plan says. Being able, as a small business, to let go of your company, in the sense of letting it be what your customers need it to be is even more important that having a great business plan,” Mordue said.

The C O VI D-19 p andemic of 20 20-20 2 1 provided a greater opportunity for Mordue to exercise her ability to stay hip during an extremely challenging time for retail and airport businesses across the globe Like all retailers, Mordue thought that the pandemic would be the end of her business but quickly realized that a strategic move to invest in the Hip & Humble e-commerce platform in early 2020 would help the business survive.

Mordue already recognized customers’ increasing desire to shop online and made significant investments in improving the company’s online shopping experience. The decision put the business ahead of other retailers when the pandemic forced retail outlets to shut down in March 2020. Hip & Humble pivoted quickly to online sales through the www.hipandhumble.com website, offering product delivery and an easy and efficient online shopping experience while other retailers were playing catch-up “We took the concept of delivering flowers into delivering gifts. It worked really well for us, and we did well even during the pandemic, ” Mordue said.

Staying hip and open to new opportunities helped Mordue make the biggest transition of her career when presented with the opportunity to open a store in the new Salt Lake City International Airport in 2020 She had never considered moving into the airport but stayed open to the possibility when approached by business colleagues as the new terminal was under development.“This was not even a glimmer...What, an airport location? It had never crossed mymind,” Mordue said. But instead of shutting down the idea she agreed to listen to ideas until she gained an understanding of what the opportunity could do for the Hip & Humble brand.

The vision of what an airport store could be came together for her and she entered a partnership with Paradies Lagardère, a major airport concession operator, to open her first location in the new Salt Lake City Airport Terminal A. “Paradies was interested in me and my brand. It wasn’t just a play for them, and it has turned out great,” Mordue said. The partners opened the first Hip & Humble in 2020 and opened a second store in Terminal B in 2021.

Staying Humble

The success of two locations in the Salt Lake City Airport has empowered Mordue to expand her airport presence outside of Utah. Hip & Humble opened a store in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in 2022 and will open a location at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2026. These new locations make Hip & Humble a national brand and have led to greater recognition by customers in the Salt Lake City region. “Now that we are in the airport and growing into a national brand, it has given us more legitimacy with our existing customers. People pass through the airport and see our store and then come to shop at our local store as well,” Mordue said.

The airport locations have also increased e-commerce sales as customers see items in the store while traveling and then decide to purchase the item later online Mordue says it has been an interesting play between the airport locations, the street locations, and sales through the company’s website. Customers who visit the store in the airport, will later visit the street location or visit the website to purchase other items. She also is noticing a dynamic mixture of shopping tastes as some people have become accustomed to shopping online, while others prefer visiting the store in person. “The traffic in our stores has increased, but we are also shipping all over and also expanding our local deliveries as well,” Mordue said.

Despite the success, Mordue is staying humble by recognizing that it will continue to require hard work and a team approach to succeed. She is focusing on continuing to build a strong partnership with Paradies and on improving her leadership skills to better empower her management team to thrive as the company expands. “You would have to be crazy to want to do this alone. There is so much to know, and you have to come up to speed so fast. Being in the airport is not a guarantee of success,” she said.

Mordue is excited about the prospects for Hip & Humble as more people become exposed to the brand through its airport locations and expanded website presence. She plans to continue to seek new airport opportunities as well as opportunities for streetside stores. Mordue said, “I am really humbled by the fact that people like our store. I am loving the trajectory we are on and having so much fun. The airport business has been a riot for me We no longer have to justify our existence. We are a national brand.”