Small Towns Become Big Business

Treating everyone like family.

By Craig Kaminer

Having done work with big retail chains in my career, I was always intrigued by the Glik Family and their calculated growth in small towns in the upper midwest. Starting small with just one store in St. Louis, MO in 1897, today the family owns a chain of fashion forward, on-trend retail stores and boutiques in 71 small towns run much the way they were in 1897 by a team who have been with the company for decades.

Perhaps what stands out the most is the humility of the 4th and 5th generation owners, who rather than boast about their success, their ancestors’ vision, smart strategy, or size, downplay the fact they are one of the few families left in the small town retail business – and while they readily admit that there is nothing about running a retail business in 2023 that is easy – they have remained profitable and growing all except for three years during the Great Depression.

On the surface, the two brothers, Jeff and Jim Glik, and their two sons, Jeremy and Elliot, are hands on, day in and day out, still leading the bulk of the buying for women’s and men’s soft goods, taking turns visiting the stores on a weekly basis, and looking for the next three-four stores they plan to open each year for the foreseeable future. Glik’s is the highlight of many small towns and main streets that today are often seasonal businesses that struggle to stay relevant in the shadow of e-commerce which can deliver virtually anything to anyone’s doorstep in just a day or two.

Jeremy, Jeff, Jim and Elliot Glik in front of new Glik’s corporate offices and distribution center.

But something about the Glik’s retail DNA, treating everyone like family and frequently replenishing stores, makes them a heartbeat of the communities which they have been a part of and know on a first-name basis for generations.

The history of Glik’s reads like a script of Fableman’s. Following a stint as a merchant first on a horse drawn wagon and then a retail store in Nebraska, Joseph Glik, the great great grandfather of the current generation of Glik’s, opened his first haberdashery on Broadway in downtown St. Louis. His son, Morris, who wanted to be in the business too, opened a store called The Boston Store in Madison, IL, funded by Joseph but with a different name so as to not compete. Divided by the Mississippi, they had their own clientele and the stores were named differently so each could run their own business independently. But when Joseph died in 1905, both stores were merged and re-named Glik’s and run by Morris.

Joe Glik manning the sporting goods counter.

Morris fancied himself as an astute investor and had the foresight to sell all of his stock holdings which he had accumulated and moved them to cash one year before The Great Depression. As luck would have it, that cash came in very handy when the Glik’s store lost money for three years in a row, but Morris was able to keep the store and his loyal employees, and survived the downturn. In fact, Glik’s was one of the few retailers to offer credit terms to its hard-pressed but loyal customers. Since then, Glik’s has been profitable every year since 1933.

In 1945, Morris passed away from heart failure while his son Joe was in World War II, so Morris’ widow Elsie Glik ran the business until her son Joe returned home from the Navy. Before jumping into the family business, Joe went to Washington University and didn’t take the reins of Glik’s until he graduated in 1951. This became a family tradition.

Jim Glik minds the store like his ancestors did.

By 1954, Joe Glik anticipated the changing lifestyle of his customers and opened a Glik’s store in one of the first strip centers near Granite City, IL. This enabled Joe to leverage the business and serve more customers, ushering in a new trajectory for the flourishing family business.

This new store was successful and started to rival the original store in Madison, IL. On the heels of strip center developer Al Wolf, Joe opened stores in Godfrey, Alton, and Cahokia. In fact, he put Glik’s stores in all of Wolf’s strip centers. The concept then was new, having a grocery store anchor the center and local merchants to fill the other stores. It worked. By 1980, Joe had grown the business to 11 stores all by staying true to his small town strategy – and away from the bigger metro markets – which remains the cornerstone to Glik’s success today. Joe’s commitment to the east side is notable, and that he felt this is where he could make the most impact specifically, donating two parks - one in Highland (Glik Park) and one in Edwardsville (Joe Glik Park).

Holiday fun in Madison, IL

“Our secret sauce is we proudly serve small town America,” says Jeff Glik, Joe’s son and president of the business.

As the mall business grew, Glik’s had stores in malls including Northwest Plaza, Crestwood Mall, Westport Plaza, St. Claire Square, Jamestown Mall, and of course Saint Louis Galleria. By 2000, Glik’s got out of big malls and focused instead exclusively on smaller towns and “B, C and D sized malls.” During this time period, many family businesses failed, and Glik’s was quick to buy up store locations and leases of the likes of Lipson Stores, Sycamore, Stage and Dancer Stores. This led to the growth of Glik’s western Michigan shoreline expansion which continues today. It seems like Glik’s and Killwins are mainstays of Michigan beach towns like Saugatuck, Traverse City, Charlevoix and Petoskey.

Joe Glik at a promotional event.

This strategy meant that as the small town business slowed during the summer months, the shoreline business picked up, balancing the sales throughout the growing Glik’s chain. Said Jeff Glik, “Resort sales are strong in Q2-Q3 when other markets are soft. This gives us more stability – and relevant merchandise –than many of our competitors.”

The stories of family retailers in small towns looking for someone to take over were as common in the 2000’s as there were success stories. And the Gliks had their pick of the best in places like Eagle River, Minocqua, Hayward, Frankfort, and most recently St. Joseph.

For anyone who knows anything about family business you know it is extremely rare for a business to make it to the 4th or 5th generation. Most sell out or fail by then. So I asked a lot of questions about how the business not only succeeded but thrives today.

More than a marketing slogan, Glik’s treats all of its employees and customers like family. Taking a tour of the corporate headquarters, the Gliks know most of their 720 employees by name and can tell you how long they have been with the company. Many have worked at Glik’s for more than 25 years and some as long as 40 or 50, often longer than the Glik’s themselves. It’s a business school case study of how to run a company and what motivates people.

Joe Glik at 90.

If you know any of the Gliks, you know that they are engaging, kind, passionate, and love what they do. At a time when many in retail seem to dread going to work or dealing with the customers, the Gliks love it. It is in their blood for 130+ years, and they attract people who feel the same way.

Joe Glik, who I had the pleasure to know, had a magnanimous smile, a solid handshake, and always a twinkle in his eye. I remember vividly the time he brought a whole tuna to a kids fishing tournament, secretly planted it in the lake, and then had one of the small kids reel it in. For the adults it was an unforgettable gag, but for the kids that day, it was a memory to last a lifetime. But clearly Joe was not all fun and games.

Joe’s philosophy about running a family business was to make sure any family member who wanted to join Glik’s had to work at another retailer for at least two years before they applied to Glik’s. If they lost their job, the two year training period started again. After two years, you could apply for a job, but the interview process was grueling. It wasn’t a given.

For Jeff Glik, who is now president, he worked for Foley’s in Houston as a buyer of women’s fashion. Jim Glik, who is vice president and buyer of men’s fashion, cut his teeth at May Company. Their kids, Jeremy and Elliot, worked for Shinesty in Boulder, along with Tumi and eBags. It is clear that every Glik knows that being an owner comes with an obligation. Nothing is forever, and some family members have left the family business. Only people who work in the business full time can own a stake or stock.

The business strategy is as wise as it is simple. Glik’s opens stores in towns with 10-30,000 populations, they hire the fashionistas who everyone knows to run the store, gives them the latitude to run it the way they see it, and treat them like family. Not only is employee retention high, but shrinkage (stolen merchandise) is less than .5% – an industry low.

The Glik’s are shrewd merchants and merchandisers. They are quick to spot trends, add merchandise that people want, and are nimble to replace brands and items that aren’t selling. Speed is one of their core strengths and this translates to loyalty as residents and visitors to small towns find a wealth of on-trend items that they can’t even find online. In recent years, Glik’s has invested in their e-commerce business and the newest generation of family members has the experience and interest in building this for the future. But the truth is, Glik’s will always excel in the brick and mortar retail business because of its people, the hand picked assortment, and relationship with the community.

Jeff and Jim think of themselves as trend catchers, and when compared to their competition, they over index in all the markets they serve. For years, they have featured Patagonia, The North Face, Levis, Billabong, Quiksilver, O’Neill, and Dr. Martens. They have recently added hot brands including Carhartt, Kuhl, Free People, Thread & Supply, 7 Diamonds, Vuori, Fair Harbor, Roxy, Hey Dude, Birkenstock, and Kendra Scott.

New corporate offices with the original Glik’s sign.

“Mainstreet is what our retail business is all about,” said Jim Glik. Each store’s merchandise is impacted by the input of the local store manager who typically has been living in their town their whole life. “Each associate is encouraged to send the buying team feedback with their local knowledge.” Each store even runs their own social media, allowing for youthful associates to gain experience far beyond just selling fashion. Jeff and Jim insist that this approach helps Glik’s keep its finger on the pulse of small-town America and gives it a big advantage over the independents. Each store is unique and different from the other.

While so much of the Glik’s story is about success, Jeff admits that “1986 was a rough year and we’ve been rebuilding ever since. And of course COVID was a big challenge. We ended up having to furlough our associates after 35 days, but never stopped paying our managers. Because of that, as soon as the governors said we could re-open, we did within hours of getting word. And we killed it. We were up 30% over the previous year. With a smaller but loyal staff, we qualified for PPP stimulus in 2021 and ended the year with record sales. With no debt for 130+ years, we’re in a position most retailers aren’t.”

Until the start of COVID, Glik’s headquarters and distribution center remained in the back of the Granite City, IL location in just 19,000 sq ft. After 61 years in that location, the 4th generation Glik’s planned a new headquarters costing some $5.3 million to build but would give its 60 headquarters employees the room to grow and manage their warehouse and e-commerce operations in a state-of-the art facility. The project moved forward and opened on March 15th, 2021 after the pandemic slowed.

Men’s department of the Highland store expansion.

In 2022, sales were up 6% overall and 2.2% store for store. Ecommerce is just 7.2% of its sales, and even the 5th generation knows that Glik’s brick and mortar sales are its competitive advantage.

I asked if Glik’s would ever be interested in selling the business? Jeff and Jim remembered that their father Joe always said “Why would we sell? Everyone who has, is out playing golf and our business is a lot more fun than playing golf.” Not surprisingly, Joe came to work every day up to 10 days before he died. The Saturday before he passed away, Joe signed 100 thank you notes to the top 100 customers, thanking them for shopping at Glik’s.

While some family businesses live with competitive tension and bad feelings, the four Gliks eat lunch together everyday at 12:30, sometimes talking business and other times talking about the St. Louis restaurant scene, reviewing where they went the weekend before. They love their deep relationships with their vendors and speak proudly of having the institutional memory of their companies. It’s an enormous sense of pride.

Jeff ended our conversation by saying, “As retail gets worse and worse, we look better and better. Customers are just not getting basic customer service in many other places, and we greet everyone and thank them for shopping with us.”

When I asked what advice the family has for other family businesses, they all chimed in.

“You have to work for another business first, and there are no guarantees.”

“Each new family member is only paid 20% more than their last job and each of the family members reviews each other.”

“We may have multiple owners (actually only 4) we only have one president and one leader. That makes things crystal clear.”

“There is no pressure to join, it’s all about following your passion,” said Jeff and Jim in unison.

Jeremy and Elliot smiled with pride when they talked about going on trips with their grandpa Joe to check on the stores as they were growing up. It all kinda made me wish I grew up in a family business.