Eye on Small Business: Mellow Monkey, Stratford

A merman in a kilt, gifts with suggestive names like “gentlemen’s hardware” (which is actually a set of bartending equipment), and enough china, lamps and wood chimes to leave Aladdin wide-eyed in amazement, are just a few of the goods you’ll find at Mellow Monkey, one of Connecticut’s most eclectic emporia.

The store’s owner and founder, the energetic and arrestingly blue-eyed Howard Aspinwall, was a former director of technology for UBS when he first started what he calls a “side hustle,” selling merchandise on Amazon. He built that business up to trade more than $1 million and then sold it but found he still had the taste for retailing.

“That’s when I decided to do something more ‘curated,’” he said. Out went the general merchandise, in came the kind of things he liked himself, namely homewares and what he terms “coastal décor.”

But in a fascinating twist on the more common scenario of brick-and-mortar retail sites shuttering and going solely online, Aspinwall found that when he opened a small shop on an industrial estate adjoining the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Connecticut, to showcase some of his online products – mainly for the benefit of customers who would show up at the online headquarters thinking it was a retail store – Mellow Monkey went from being a successful online business to an even more dynamic and profitable brick-and mortar one.

“We did a lot of wall art, sassy gift items, things that would make you laugh and that you wouldn’t expect to find in a traditional gift store,” Aspinwall explained. “It got to the point where brick-and-mortar sales took over and online sales decreased.”

Inside the store, where you can easily spend a couple of hours browsing in what Aspinwall calls an “immersive experience,” maxims, aphorisms and witticisms abound. They’re printed on signs, novelty gifts and greetings cards, which say things like “Welcome to middle age. Everyone is annoying and you’ll need to wee a lot.” It’s not quite Oscar Wilde but it’s not without a certain puerile appeal. Socks by FabDaz are in questionable taste — “Don’t be a pr—,” advises one of the tamer pairs. Condoms bearing epigrams on the packet, even the least colorful of which is probably unprintable in a sober journal, might raise a giggle.

But not everything is jokey – far from it. There is serious intent here, with beautiful housewares and decorative items, many of them related to the area and the Connecticut shore – hence “coastal décor.”

Wood signs declare slogans such as “Southport is my happy place.” Aspinwall collaborates, too, with suppliers to create one-off originals, like illuminated railroad station signs, which mimic old Metro North signage, incorporating the name of the station where the customer (or gift recipient) lives. Another item that can be personalized is the framed, frosted-glass window pane taken from an old office door – think 1940s movies starring Humphrey Bogart – bearing the recipient’s name, perfect for a retirement gift.

During the holidays, Aspinwall said, shoppers fill their carts with an average of 35 items, and the store has three staffed registers going full time. Mellow Monkey’s once-a-year clearance event – old stock supplemented with current items, to make for a top-notch sale – is another “massive event.”

As for attracting customers, given that the store is somewhat off the beaten track, Aspinwall said he has tried everything, but nothing has been as effective as social media. He is particularly keen on “boosting,” using paid advertisements on platforms like Facebook or Instagram to send his content to a wider range of his target audience.

“If I spend $100, the store will always be busy that weekend.”

Aspinwall himself is the store’s principal buyer, although he loves to involve all his staff in buying. He does a lot of it at the vast, twice-yearly “America Smart” show in Atlanta, and at the “New York Now” show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Mellow Monkey’s massive inventory might belie the reality that Aspinwall is “very picky. Every inch of your store has to be earning revenue,” he said.

The one thing Aspinwall can’t explain is the store’s unusual name. “Everybody asks about that,” he said. “I was just messing around one day, looking at domain names to buy up, when I saw it. And I kind of liked it and it stuck.”