1: Our First REAL Holiday Season at Fort Orange General Store

Welcome to the very first episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store—a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens when you run a brick-and-mortar small business while raising a family and navigating marriage at the same time.

In this episode, hosts Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello share an honest, unfiltered conversation about surviving their first true holiday retail season after taking over Fort Orange General Store in Albany, NY. From designing an immersive winter wonderland storefront to selecting seasonal products that actually sell, Erica breaks down how creative vision, intentional merchandising, and storytelling drive foot traffic and customer experience.

Joe brings the analytical side of entrepreneurship into the conversation—talking finances, logistics, and the stress that comes with running a small business during the busiest time of year. Together, they unpack how those pressures spilled over into their personal lives, testing communication, trust, and patience at home.

You’ll hear:

• What it really takes to plan and execute a successful holiday retail season
• How window displays and store design influence customer behavior
• Product selection strategies for small, locally curated shops
• Lessons for entrepreneurs working with imperfect spaces and limited resources
• How running a business together impacts marriage and family life
• Real talk about blending families, raising four kids, and managing chaos
• A hilarious (and very real) parenting story involving a three-year-old and Elf on the Shelf

This episode is for small business owners, retail entrepreneurs, creative founders, and anyone balancing ambition with family life. It’s about more than sales—it’s about community, resilience, and building something meaningful even when conditions aren’t perfect.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the counter of a local shop—or how entrepreneurs juggle business growth, relationships, and parenting—this episode sets the tone for everything Small Business, Big Life is about.

🎧 Subscribe, follow, and share to support a growing independent podcast—and join us next week as we continue sharing the wins, struggles, and stories from inside Fort Orange General Store.

Keywords: small business podcast, retail entrepreneurship, holiday retail season, brick and mortar business, family business, creative entrepreneurship, l

Transcript

 Hello and welcome to Small Business Big Life inside Fort Orange General Store,
 where entrepreneurship meets marriage, kids, and controlled chaos.
 I'm Joe Slichko and with me, as always, is my wife, business partner, and the owner of
 Ford Orange General Store, Erica Cubello. Good afternoon, Joe. Nice to see you.
 Always nice to see you, dear. So in today's episode, we are going to discuss our experience
 navigating our first real holiday season at Ford Orange and what that looked like from both the
 business end and the relationship end of life. But before we get started, please don't forget to
 like or subscribe wherever you listen. It really helps us grow the show, reach more people,
 and make sure you all care about what we have to say. Now let's set the scene a little bit for
 our listeners, huh? I think that's a great idea. So although Erica purchased Fort Orange General Store
 back in November of 2024, all the logistics of the holiday season were already in place.
 From the products we would carry, the promotions we would run, all the way to how the store was
 decorated. So Erica, now that you are able to take the reins and run with the operations from start to
 finish, let's talk a bit about that experience. I'd love to. Where should we start?
 Why don't we start with one of the things that you had the most fun dealing decorating the store?
 And the thing you hated the most. Quite possibly. I would be honored. So my idea was to create a very fun,
 festive winter space that got people excited to walk into the store and really think like oh my god,
 this is amazing. I want to come back here and I want to keep following this place. And
 my artistic creations started to come to life with the ideas I had from the beginning of November
 all the way through the end of November. I wanted to make, like I just said, customers come in
 and kind of be an awe of the place. And what came to mind was like a winter wonderland type feel
 with the snowflakes from last year that were beautifully done and incorporate more of a festive
 holiday feel with giant presence floating and lights everywhere to giant candy canes with bows on
 top. It kind of consumed me until I was able to finish it. And I feel really proud at what I accomplished.
 What do you think Joe? I think it looks absolutely amazing. However, I don't think I understood
 the vision from the beginning. And I think that was a stressor for me and therefore for us.
 Sorry about that. Yeah, it's okay. Because I didn't necessarily see the business tie-in to it.
 So can you talk a little bit about the purpose behind you doing it from the business?
 Yeah, of course, I'd love to. So you think of like when we were little mesees, right?
 And then you walk in there around the holidays, they've the giant Christmas trees, the beautifully decorated
 trees, right? And the presents and the the fake snow. Do you remember that when we were little?
 I do. And it was one of my favorite things to go and see the Christmas decorations or think
 about like New York City window shopping. That's how you draw customers in, right? That's your
 grab. And we have the window space for it. That's like one of the first things I remember thinking,
 like, oh my god, I get these windows. I was talking to you about this previous, like I started it with
 Easter and the tulips. I started small. And then Halloween with the witches hats and spiders falling.
 But Christmas is your big season. So you have to make a big impact. And you know, a big
 we're not a big commercial store by any means. We are a community local store. But I want to make us
 elevated in that way where we can do these amazing things, right? Like I've got that art background.
 So for example, like on Instagram, I follow anthropology and other, that's a big business, other small
 businesses. They all have their windowscape ideas and they show you it coming to life. And I
 probably neglected to explain my full vision and the relevance of it. But like that's what I wanted
 to bring it back to like the joy, the magic of holiday season and shopping.
 Okay, now can you talk to our listeners, our amazing listeners about how that marries together
 with product selection and what's on our shelves? Because that in isolation could look
 very weird, very out of place. It could not speak to the vibe of the store or the business in
 general. However, I think it, for us at least at Ford Orange, it 100% matches the vibe that we have
 and what we're looking to be who we are. And I think that's really
 accentuated by a lot of the new products that you brought on for this holiday season, specifically
 I'm thinking some of the gnome soaps and things like that I'll ask you to talk about. So can you talk
 about as your navigating the decoration battling me with why are we putting more lights up?
 What did we just order from Amazon on the back end looking at the books, fighting you every step
 of the way, as I do, you being smart enough not to listen to me and or stubborn as you would say.
 Tomato tomato. And then our product selection, especially the new items that match that perfectly.
 Can you kind of just, that's a lot, but can you talk about how it all plays into the vision?
 Sure. Well, we'll start back with the windows and how you have to draw your customers' attention.
 So being down at the store, I hear a lot of customers say, oh, we just noticed you were here, but we've
 been downtown for a year, is it never saw you or I was just looking in your windows and noticed
 these products and I had to come in and see them. So having that space to decorate and make your
 store stand out because we are, we're, they're big windows, it's dark, we have a dark outside with
 the black and the columns and it can be a little bit, you know, unnoticed I guess. But if you can
 draw that attention and people see you're there and then have some products in the windows that might
 draw people in and then they get inside the store and see how beautiful it is and start walking
 around and they're like, oh, this is really cool. And you draw them through the store, which we
 revamped in this whole process. They can spend a lot of time in there. So first you start with drawing
 your customers in and then keeping that decoration throughout the store so it doesn't look like
 made up like it, it's all integrated. You have to have the front to the back to everywhere have
 something work and then picking out your products, you got to have some seasonal stuff. So for example,
 like Joe just said, I ordered a bunch of festive soaps that I realized looking through the books and
 products last year, they sold really well. So we'll bring them back. What I noticed we didn't have
 a lot of last year was small little stocking stuffers or cute toys for kids that were well priced.
 Like people don't, you got to have a range there too, like smaller items from like five to ten dollars
 that are easy things to pick up and people are like, okay, I'll get this and then they keep looking,
 oh, maybe I'll get that later. And just have a nice selection from your
 infants all the way up to your like 90 year old grandma that you might want to get a really nice blanket
 for it and spend a bunch of money. I don't know. So that's like, that's how I've been trying to like
 think about the ordering and the decorating and then you know, keeping our customers intrigued.
 So correct me if I'm wrong. Everything you do is purposeful in telling the story.
 From before the customer even steps foot into the store. Yeah, that's how I think about it. I want
 people to think of us as they go to store where you know, I can go and pick up a card that I can't
 get anywhere else because this is really funny, very creative, it's not your hallmark card.
 And then they see we've got some nice fine jewelry. It's not fine, but it's nice, right?
 It's it's gold plated fresh water pearls like it's an idea to enjoy getting that. So I try to think
 from the perspective of a customer, you know, our customers make our store. If I'm not putting myself
 in that mindset, what am I doing? Well said. Now let's pivot very quickly and talk to the entrepreneur
 or the potential entrepreneur listening. As gorgeous as our store is and we're both in love with
 our store. Don't get me wrong. Would you say it is the perfect and ideal setup in every which way
 or form? No. Of course not. Yeah. Nothing's perfect. I think what you have done a great job in is
 taking this space as gorgeous as it is and using what we have to elevate it. Yeah.
 You never once saw the space and lack of outlets for example or lack of lighting in the appropriate
 places for example or the amazing furnace that sometimes works really really well and other times
 decides not to. You didn't take those as excuses to not do things. You simply to your credit,
 I will say ran around them and sometimes through them to make your vision happen.
 Well thank you. I appreciate that because sometimes those little small things go unnoticed or unsaid.
 Yeah I've always been really good at making things happen even when I'm told no.
 And taking a chance, taking a risk when I really believe in something and this is something that I
 really believe in. I think no is probably the biggest motivator in both of our lives. Oh for sure.
 That goes back to my first business being told no by literally everyone in my life and I kind of
 was just like, I do this anyways and then I'm going to show you excuse my French as they would say.
 So yes no has always been a motivator for me. So to the entrepreneurs out there there's never
 a quote perfect situation but it's your job, our job to work with what we have to make it the most
 amazing thing possible. Yeah. And lead the excuses at the door. If you want to do it you've got to do it
 and nobody else is going to do it for you. That is true. So Erica, is there anything else you would
 like our listeners to know from the store or business end about our first retail season as we are
 entering it today? I think it's just a really exciting time and it's so much fun to see
 all our efforts, struggles, fights like just me, it's working. It's so much fun and
 and Joe and I love like it means everything to us that people are coming and supporting us and
 like it's it's more than just making money. That's not of course we have to to support our family to
 support us but it's more than that. It's about our community. It's about our customers. It's about
 showing joy in our city, a pride. It's it's more than I feel like I can put into words right now
 and by having like for example yesterday so much foot traffic come through our store. It was
 overwhelming for both of us at the end of the day we like we didn't know how to process that
 information yet and I don't know if we still do but it feels like we we're we're we're doing something
 bigger than we can explain and just thank you to everybody who walked through the door yesterday.
 You didn't even have to make a purchase like we just thank you for coming down and seeing our space.
 Absolutely I agree with you and the topic that Erica is touching on right there is the hot chocolate
 stroll that we just experience which will be a future podcast topic. Thank you. I didn't know if I was
 if I should give that away or not. Boiler or teaser I should say that's a teaser right there.
 But Erica you did mention family so it's that time of the podcast where we transition from the
 business end of life to the rest of life and sometimes there's not you know a lot of time left for
 the rest of life because we incorporate it into everything we do we do we do but let's talk about
 our life and how our personal side of life was affected or just what happened during those same
 months that we just talked about leading up to this holiday season. So for those listeners who don't
 know us on a very deeply personal level do you want to describe what life is outside of Fort Orange
 General Store? Sure yeah Joe and I are married as you heard him refer to me as his wife we have been
 together for just over two years and we have four really amazing kids between us and life on a
 daily basis is crazy and chaotic but we wouldn't have it any other way it makes life fun and interesting.
 So as a blended family with a 16 year old daughter and then three boys ages 12, 9 and 3 not to mention
 our shop dog Rue and the three cats that we for some reason still allowed to reside in our house although
 they think we reside in their house we're still learning each other as we're learning the business
 you know in the same way. So all of that has gone very smoothly right? Yeah it was quite the easy transition.
 Well let's talk about maybe one story to start. What can you think back to during the last couple
 months as we were worrying about finances and mapping out the trajectory of the store and hanging
 those lights and putting the extra time in and maybe how that affected our life and/or the kid's life
 on the personal side. Yeah well you and I were fighting a lot and a lot's attention. Just going to put it
 out there. Maybe not like yelling at each other fighting but just quietly like annoyed with each other
 right? There's lots of tension. You're not understanding my vision and why this means like
 better business and I'm not understanding why you don't get it. I think that's also a breakdown
 between like a very analytical mathematical brain and a much more creative like free flowing brain.
 So that definitely took a stream this month but then after yesterday I think it all kind of clicked
 and you understood where it was coming from and you know I probably have to be a little bit more
 forgiving too that you worry about our family surviving right like taking care of us and can we
 like put food on the table and all of that. So I think we have to be a little bit more gentle
 with each other. I agree. I think we definitely are learning marriage lessons through the business.
 Family lessons through the business. So I thank you for saying that and I agree as well
 taking the time to take off the analytical mathematical you know business boss hat
 that I wear and being able to step back and even when I don't understand the full vision
 trust that you're going to knock it out at the park because you always do.
 That's I think a big area of growth for me that I'm working on. I think that it's really hard for you
 to turn off the boss role because you had to do it since a very early age and then you had to do it
 alone with two kids for a really long time and your day job is managing people. So it's really
 hard for you to come home and not be bossy with me and let me make some decisions and be the boss
 and I'm figuring that out but I think what you said about the trust thing is is a big part of it.
 I agree and thank you for saying that. It's funny because I'm thinking one of the future episodes
 that we're going to have is talking about our roles our roles in the business and our roles
 at home. Yeah. And as you're saying that I think I'm rewriting that in my head
 versus from when I initially wrote down my thoughts for what I perceived our roles as versus hearing
 you articulate that so nicely kind of to what they are in reality. So yeah, it's hard. It's hard to
 turn it on and turn it off. It's hard to come home and after dealing with adults and children
 all day and navigating those moods and personalities to navigating the personalities of your kids
 and what they need and then oh by the way this happened at the business today how are we going to
 handle this and you're right back into boss mode while you're making dinner and getting yelled at
 because it's not four different dinners the dogs hungry and all the things and it does get overwhelming
 at times and it's it's hard and unfair to every single person involved in the scenario from
 the youngest to the oldest to you to me but I think the way we talk through it and check ourselves
 and allow the other person to check us in those moments is kind of the key to staying sane
 and staying out of the newspaper for all the wrong reasons right. I think we've been doing a better
 job at that and giving each other a little more grace but there's more growth to do for sure.
 Absolutely and I also think that looking at each other from the perception of we're coming at this
 with best intentions and it doesn't matter what the this is whether it's the business whether it's the
 kids whether it's not filling up the gas tank on the way home or going grocery shopping or whatever
 the thing we're talking about if we step back and assume best intentions always that has the
 potential to diffuse something before it even starts. Yeah I agree and we haven't we haven't been doing
 that so much recently and we need to get back to that place because like you get so frustrated at
 me all the time when I say I didn't mean that that's not what I amend whatever whatever and it's never
 what I mean or what I meant like it's always coming from best intentions um it just it gets lost
 because when you're in the moment and it's happening to you it it's hard to take that step back
 and not get reactive or you know go back to a place of hurt that happened to you and I get it I'm
 I'm right there with you sometimes it gets really personal and you feel like you're being
 attacked and it's hard to take a step back but um I think we both have to be a little bit better at
 trusting that we're not trying to hurt each other. Agreed. So why don't we give our listeners a
 funny insight onto our life and I'm thinking that we should tell the story of the three
 year old and his elves which one because there've been a lot of stories about our three year old and the
 elves. So um for our listeners sake somewhere along the line over the last couple of months our three
 year old realized he was three and went from being that sweet two year old to a three year old
 and knowing everything and putting his demanding pants on and thinking he runs the show.
 All of it. So because it's the Christmas season our joyful scout elves have re-emerged in the house
 causing havoc as they do on a daily basis let's add that to the list of stress
 items that are self-imposed here had our household um and Erica believed that
 re-explaining the story of the elves and what they do to the three year old would surely
 snap him back in line and let him realize that his behavior is inappropriate and will be
 reported to Santa and that would surely help the situation. Well of course. How that go Erica.
 Not as I had hoped. Yeah he basically called me out that the elves were fake. I don't know if
 you heard that one. No this is news to me and not what I thought this was going at all.
 Yeah little Mr. Smurdypants three year old looked at the elves the other morning and said
 well they're fake and my jaw dropped I had I had nothing to say I just repeated what he said I said
 you're just called them fake yeah they're not real but I think what he meant was
 they in their frozen state look fake and I reminded him that they fly back at night and then when
 we wake up they have to freeze. Wow okay um so the part of the story that I was suggesting that we
 talk about was clearly before that where we busted out the book we sat down at the counter a couple
 nights ago and you reread the story to him all the while you're asking questions as you're going through
 and he's all yep I know that yep I know that yep I know that yep I know that so it wasn't a lack of
 understanding right it was a lack of caring yeah and then wow well maybe I didn't talk about that
 because that's scary that's not funny that's scary well I mean it's funny because he's playing
 well that's true but wow that's a knowledge to drop right there and I guess the best part for me
 that's not the best part a funny part I should say is when he's throwing his little tantrums and
 screaming now the faces on the other three kids like can you believe what he is doing and saying right
 now as it is the most egregious thing anyone has ever done to either one of you exactly like are
 you kidding me you just did it I know you're probably still doing it in this moment but you're just
 snapping out of it to take joy that you're not the one getting in trouble for once but you'll pick up
 the slack as soon as he starts being good you're really good at seeing everything I miss those moments
 because I'm just too wrapped up in the horror of what's being thrown in my face oh man so how can
 you wrap that story up and put a bow on it with a positive spin just like we do with the business
 we love them there are and life wouldn't be as joyful and amazing without them
 very thankful to be a mom wow you make me cheer up with that not what I expect you to say at all but
 it was beautiful nice job you're welcome well I think that's a good place to pause and to end our
 first episode of the podcast what do you say sounds great thanks drow and thank you listeners for
 tuning in we hope to tell you more stories next time absolutely and if you have any interest in
 what we shared and you'll like us to come back and do this whole thing again it'd be amazing if you
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 small business big life inside Fort Orange General Store