Evereve has a deep respect for moms, which drives the company to go beyond selling clothes. Evereve wants to serve moms by seeking to understand what she needs. They give their hearts in every step of the Evereve experience. Evereve is on a mission to inspire every mom to embrace her beauty and power. The company's personal styling experience is essential to this journey. Evereve stylists consider body type, fit and lifestyle for every mom they serve to create “wow” moments in stores and through Trendsend.
Tell us a little about the background of Evereve, how did the company get started?
Evereve was co-founded by Megan and Mike Tamte to create a brand for the fashion-loving mom. No other retail brand was serving this demographic. After becoming a first-time mom, Megan went shopping at her local mall, daughter in tow, looking for fashionable new clothes. She discovered that nothing fit like it used to, and felt out of touch with trends. After wrangling a fussy baby in a dressing room, she left defeated, empty-handed and with a feeling that stores didn’t understand her new life as a mom. She thought, "What if there was a retail brand that understood a mom’s life? What if there was a store where moms left refreshed, styled, confident and inspired?"
How many stores does Evereve have? Do you operate from coast-to-coast?
After years of dreaming, the Tamtes opened their first store in Edina, Minnesota, in 2004. Since then, Evereve has expanded to over 80 stores, a booming e-commerce business, and a styling box service called Trendsend.
We see that Evereve is very active on social media. Can you talk about using social media as a marketing channel, especially from the lens of a middle market company?
Our customers are busy moms who are engaged in social media. We focus on the platforms that speak to our customers – Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, with a secondary focus on Twitter. Community is an important aspect to our business, and social media is a ripe platform for building a community of moms who support and inspire one another.
It appears that Evereve’s target audience are mothers and adult women. What strategies do you use to attract customers?
Because of our three-tiered business plan (stores + online + Trendsend), we attract customers in a variety of ways. We want to make fashion accessible to busy moms and busy women. Our marketing strategy is varied and broad – from social media to billboards to print to email blasts to store parties to word of mouth (our customers love us and love to tell their friends about us!).
Expansion can be a constant challenge for Middle Market companies, especially those like Evereve which are
consumer-facing. Can you talk a bit about how Evereve selects its new markets for expansion? What makes a new city or location attractive?
We listen to our customers. We have built a strong relationship with our customers, and we pay attention to their requests for opening new stores – especially when it comes to new markets. We are quickly expanding and our goal is to be the most beloved national retail brand for moms. We know a mom’s life is busy. We want to keep fashion accessible and we are expanding to meet moms’ shopping needs three ways: walk into one of our over 80 stores, shop our inspiring website and subscribe to our styling box service, Trendsend.
What would you say are some unique advantages and challenges of working for a middle market company?
Our greatest challenges are also our greatest strengths. We are in constant transition because of our trajectory of growth – this is both a challenge and a strength.
What’s next for Evereve? What are you most excited about?
Our Trendsend business is booming. It’s a subscription box service for the style-obsessed and time-pressed mom.
Additionally, we are opening our first store in the Mall of America this fall. We are based in Minneapolis, but after 10 years, the timing is finally right to have our first store featured on the national platform of the largest mall in America. We are excited to serve moms from across the country (and the world!) at this one mall location.
