8: Customer Relationships: The Secret to Building a Loyal Small Business Community

In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello dive into one of the most important elements of running a successful small business: relationships with customers.

For many businesses, transactions are the goal. But for Erica and Joe, the real foundation of Fort Orange General Store is the connections they build with the people who walk through the door.

Drawing on Erica’s years in the service industry, the conversation explores how customer relationships influence everything from product selection to repeat visits—and how understanding your audience can shape the personality of a retail store.

They discuss:

• Why building genuine relationships with customers matters in small business
• How service industry experience translates into retail success
• The role of listening to customers when choosing products
• Why some unexpected items become best sellers
• How humor and personality can turn simple products into memorable experiences

Joe shares a story about questioning one particular product choice—a camo hat with a bold slogan—that didn’t initially seem like a fit for the store. Erica, confident in her instincts and her understanding of their customers, decided to bring it in anyway.

What happened next surprised both of them.

The hat quickly sold out, sparking conversations, laughter, and new relationships with customers that extended beyond the walls of the store. It also opened the door to carrying other playful items that customers now seek out every time they visit.

Moments like these highlight something many entrepreneurs eventually learn: successful retail isn’t just about inventory or pricing. It’s about knowing your customers and creating an environment where they feel connected to the business.

Throughout the episode, Joe and Erica reflect on how small interactions—whether at the register, during an event, or even while out in the community—can strengthen relationships that keep people coming back.

Because in a small business, every relationship matters.

And sometimes the most memorable connections start with the most unexpected products.

Keywords: customer relationships in small business, retail customer experience, community driven business, small business loyalty, service industry lessons, retail entrepreneurship, Fort Orange General Store, small business podcast

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 owner of Fort
 Orange General Store, Erica Cubello.
 Hi, everybody.
 How are you today?
 In today's episode, we are going to discuss relationships, and what those look like from
 kind of multiple dimensions in a small business world.
 But before we get into that, we have to remind everyone to please like or subscribe wherever
 you are listening to this wonderful podcast.
 And if you would mind, we would love it if you would share this podcast episode with one
 new person.
 It would definitely help us grow and mean the world to us.
 It really does, because you know what, we just got our 750 download congratulatory email
 from Buzzsprout, and that means so much to us because we know that you all are listening
 and like it.
 So thank you all for helping us celebrate 750 downloads.
 That's amazing.
 Yes, thank you all.
 We very, very, very much appreciate it.
 All right.
 So getting into these relationships that happen down at the Ford Orange General Store, I think
 the first one, which I would say is one of the most important, if not the most important,
 is the relationship we have with our customers.
 They're all no customers equals no store, right?
 Right.
 Every business depends on their customers, obviously, and to have a loyal customer base,
 I believe the foundation is having relationships with them.
 And of course, we want positive ones with our customers.
 But from my time in the service industry, I learned very quickly that you need to build
 a strong relationship with your customers, know what they like, know what they want, in
 order to give them that extra attention and customer service.
 That's what brings back your business.
 Absolutely correct.
 And I will say that Erica, you do a fantastic job with that.
 And that is evidenced by this first story that I would like to tell.
 Well, thank you, Joe.
 You're welcome.
 So I learned very quickly, I'll say abruptly and honestly from you, that I am not the
 best person to select our products that go on the shelves and the way.
 And I think it was most evident in the selection of one item in particular.
 So Erica had come to me and said, Joe, check out this.
 It's amazing.
 I looked at it and it was a Camo baseball hat with the F word written in script in orange
 directly on the front.
 That's right.
 And because this is a family friendly podcast, I will say the F word for the duration of
 this story.
 I may have used the F word in my response, I believe.
 And I said, I don't think our customer base at Ford Orange General Store would really buy
 into this product.
 I don't think it's us.
 Right.
 And naturally I took that as a challenge.
 Absolutely.
 To go ahead and buy them and prove me wrong.
 I love to do that.
 So yeah, I was dead set on carrying this product because I thought it was amazing.
 So I started pulling our customers about like, would you buy this?
 And what do you think about swear words on products?
 And the overall feedback was, we love it.
 We think it's fun.
 We look for this type of thing.
 It brightens up or brings like laughter to your day.
 So I bought it and we sold out of it almost immediately.
 And Joe and I like to go down to one of our favorite establishments, which is fight ins, down
 on Broadway.
 And I had developed this relationship with one of the bartenders down there about like
 the funny swear, the camo hat she had come in on her day off.
 And the product was there along with the fish clip.
 I don't know if you remember it, but you really didn't want that one either.
 And funny enough, this bartender loved both of them.
 She ended up buying the camo hat and when we went down for a dinner, we like to sit at
 the bar because we find that it's more engaging.
 We get to talk, right?
 Because that is part of a business model where you sit with your customers as the bartender
 and talk with them and build that back and forth.
 And I learned that in my service industry time.
 So I apply that to our four-door-inch business.
 So anyways, we're down there talking and she's telling us about where she wore this hat and
 how bad blank she felt wearing it.
 Again, family friendly.
 Can't use the end of that word.
 Needless to say, we developed that relationship with that customer which brought in turn her
 business right at her establishment and you're developing those community ties in relationships.
 Yes.
 And even now it has grown because we not just carry that hat, we have socks with similar
 sayings on them and earrings with the same word on it and they all fly off the shell.
 They do.
 One of the funniest things I think that most people enjoy are the magnets that have these
 ridiculous sayings and funny swears in them too.
 If people are in the middle of like cashing out and then they turn and they see a funny slogan
 or saying or whatever it is and they pick it up and add it to their purchase.
 And one of these instances, Joan, I were working together.
 I was kind of roaming the sales floor and I saw some customers that had come back actually
 two days later because they couldn't get this magnet and saying out of their head.
 Joan was behind the register checking people out.
 It was a little bit of a line which was really cool and I had a chance to stop and talk
 with them and they told me the story why they came back and what they were here for it.
 And I was like, oh my god, Joe, did you just hear that?
 And he was like, no, but I was like, would you mind just saying why you came back here today?
 And they were like, oh yeah, this magnet, we couldn't get it out of our head.
 We needed to come back for it.
 I was like, Joe, did you hear that?
 It's the swears they came back for it.
 And yeah, it might put people in a sort of awkward situation position because it's that funny
 inside joke between Joan and I, but it also brings levity and a little bit of, I think they
 enjoy that too to see that back and forth, that relationship dynamic between us because
 it's a family business.
 I love those interactions and we definitely try to do them in a way that is obviously funny
 and not putting anyone, you know, in an overly awkward position.
 I can remember one time during the Christmas season that, you know, we've talked about
 at length this podcast when we were debating which of the columns in the store we were
 going to wrap with ribbon as part of the decoration.
 And one gentleman came in right around our age and we were in the middle of the conversation
 and we pulled him into it and he was right there with us going back and forth and it was
 hilarious and a lot of fun.
 He was a really good sport about it.
 So if you come down to Ford Orange, you may be asked your opinion on something and please
 know, it is always a loaded question and generally speaking, Erica's right and I'm wrong.
 So if you just want to, you know, agree with me once that would go a long way, I'm sure
 we'll still go with Erica's decision, but, you know, it might actually make me feel pretty
 good.
 So please do so.
 Yeah, we do have a lot of fun with our customers when we're both there and we get to like
 be silly and play around. So that's one part of developing these relationships and bringing
 back I think the return customer because they see that we're there, we love it, we want
 to have fun with people, we want to hear your input because we truly value it and it helps
 us make better business decisions.
 And one amazing thing about being a small business is we also get the opportunity to engage in
 these similar conversations with our vendors as well.
 And you never know where those conversations are going to go and I think, you know, there's
 a few examples of how just, you know, a conversation with someone that you seemingly buy products
 from can change the direction almost of your business or your thought process or the product
 lines, you know, completely that you carry and it's unexpected, but if you're open to those
 conversations, they can kind of be transformational.
 So one of the years relationships that I've built is with Saritoga Chocolate Company and
 Hank is the owner, maker, delivery man.
 And so when we get orders, he personally delivers his chocolate and I feel very lucky to
 have met him and been able to have these conversations with him.
 And they've inspired some really pivotal new business ideas in one of which is our baskets
 that he was like, well, haven't you thought about doing a birthday basket?
 And people love getting something other than flowers or a card.
 And I was like, no, that's really interesting.
 Can you explain more?
 And so he's told me what he's thinking and that has helped me to take that and then run
 with more examples or ideas of what we could do as Ford Orange, how to kind of change the
 game in our business thinking and very fortunate and lucky to be able to have these little conversations
 with other business people to like think outside of the box, think more creatively.
 And I think that is a prime example of the relationships that we have with our vendors,
 but also with our local business partners that are right around us.
 We engage in these conversations where we're sharing ideas and it's not seen as competition
 or direct competition.
 But it's this mentality of if one of us is succeeding, we're all succeeding.
 Because we're bringing more business together, he's obviously selling more, we're selling
 more.
 We've talked about our relationship with lock and key next door and people are visiting
 us and they get a coupon to go over there.
 They're making out on it and same thing, if people are visiting them and they can steer
 them to us, we're all making out and it's all for the betterment of the community.
 So it's a really great feel to be able to partner with like-minded people and businesses like
 us.
 Right.
 No, completely and that's exactly what Hank said is what you just said if I'm doing something
 great, why not share it?
 Because that's only going to make everybody stronger, therefore my business will become
 stronger too.
 And that is so forward-thinking, where a lot of us get caught in this closed-minded, I
 need to do good, nobody else can do good.
 But that's not true, like sitting down with Monica from Albany Capital Center, she wants
 to partner with us to help Albany grow, bring the community to her community, bring our
 community out and explore more of Albany, and how can we do this by partnering with other
 businesses, by showcasing who's around, so like we're not trying to hide everybody and
 keep everybody in one spot, we want everybody to go out and find these hidden gems to bring
 it back to their communities to tell more people, because that's the only way if one of us is
 doing something well, share it so others can do well.
 Absolutely and very well said, Erica, do you want to talk about one of our favorite relationships
 with breakout press and kind of what grew out of that?
 Yeah, definitely, so Chrissy, who is the lady boss of breakout press, and I go long ways
 back, all the way back to St. Rose and undergrad, and she started her own business after college,
 I went my separate way, and then we came back together at Albany High School, which is
 crazy and amazing, and we formed this relationship as two businesses coming together to create
 new ideas and new products, and one of those was our Capital Collection product, where
 we just would spiff on our downtime, and we came up with this collection of Albany-inspired
 gear and products, and she made some exclusive designs for Fort Orange, that we set out
 in groups of four seasonally based on this one poster that she had made, and I saw it,
 and I was like, oh my god, we can change a couple of things here, this is amazing, we want
 to buy it, we want to use it, and then we broke that down into four different categories
 seasonally based on Albany and what we do in those seasons, and it's just, it just feels
 so lucky to be able to have such a creative vendor community around us that is so supportive
 of each other, and we're recognizing that like, we can come together and have these amazing
 ideas, and work on it, and not be exclusive, that collaborations help our community, our
 business grow.
 And to go even the next step with that, News Channel 10 got wind of that collaboration,
 and did a little spotlight on us during May, I believe, last year for the last tulip fest.
 Yep, and we were asked to be on the morning show and do a live segment where we got to display
 this collection, and not only Rapp Fort Orange, but also breakout press, and the mayor at
 the time was there, and then she came back to our store to buy some of that, to bring
 over to the Netherlands, where our sister's city is, and it's just so incredibly amazing,
 how two old friends came together with this seemingly small idea, this hope that it would
 grow into something bigger, and then it's going across the sea to a different country.
 It's pretty incredible.
 It is, and I think that's, you know, the power behind, you know, the stories that we tell
 and the things that we do, it definitely transcends selling a product, we're selling a lot more
 than that.
 Yeah, because it's not a product, it's our passion, and when we're able to have these conversations
 with our customers, they realize that it is more than a product, it's you, like you're selling,
 it's going to say you're selling yourself, and that's not what we're doing, well, kind of,
 but it sounds terrible.
 It doesn't sound right, but you're selling a part of you, that you've created this, this
 is very important, and people can feel that when they come into our store, it's not just
 a product, it's something that we've developed and made, and really care about.
 Very well said.
 Now this is the point in the podcast where we usually split off and say, now let's talk
 about how this either affects family life or presents itself in the family.
 However, we're going to do it a little differently this episode, because the family connection
 is tied directly into another story about a customer and something that we just experienced
 a few days ago.
 Yeah. It was so much fun and so incredible. I had the amazing opportunity to meet Madison
 from the Ringling Brothers, Bartom and Bailey Circus, and I was down at the store doing my
 thing, and these two people came in, and I greeted them the same way I greet everybody, asking
 if they're okay with dogs, because Rue is there with me, and she's become a fan favorite,
 and a lot of people come back to see Rue, and so they were like, "Of course, oh my gosh,
 I love dogs, blah, blah, blah."
 So we're talking, and I'm like, "Oh, what brings you in today?"
 "Oh, we're just, we're here for work," which I get a lot of, and so naturally I ask, "Okay,
 what do you do for work?"
 And it was so funny to watch this dynamic between the two, because one was a little hesitant
 to tell me the other one was like, "I'm just going to say it.
 It doesn't matter, whatever," and embrace the fact that they're part of the circus, which
 was so cool, I was so excited to learn about this, and one was a trapeze performer, and the
 other one hosted the show, Madison, and so we got to talking, she's telling me all about
 her story, and she ends up buying something as a gift for her friend, and at the end of
 the transaction, she's like, "You know, I could get you family tickets to come to the show
 if you would like."
 I was like, "Oh my God, that'd be amazing."
 So we end up exchanging information.
 She gets us some tickets, and then she comes back a couple days later, because we were talking
 over Instagram, and she wanted to visit Rue again.
 We spent another half hour just talking, and that was it.
 She just came back to see Rue and have more conversation with me, and it was incredible.
 I'm so lucky, so lucky to have met her.
 So we tell the kids, we say, "We're going to the circus," and they kind of look at us, and
 especially the 12-year-old was like, "What are we doing now?"
 I said, "We're going to the circus," and he's like, "Okay, what's that like?"
 I couldn't really tell them.
 I think I may have gone to the circus when I was a kid, but I don't have a lot of memories
 of them.
 So, I couldn't really speak to it, but we told them the story of Madison, and how she came
 down to the store, everything you just said, and that excited them.
 They're like, "Wow, so we know somebody there," and we said, "Yes," and we believed she does
 a pre-show.
 I don't know what a pre-show is, but that's what she does, so we're going to get there
 a little earlier.
 We're going to go check it out.
 I think we have some pretty good seats, so let's go have a good time.
 So we all get there, take a little lap around as we do when we visit the MVP, see what's
 going on, buy some treats, some adult treats, all the things, and then we go down and we find
 our seats.
 They were amazing seats.
 She hooked us up, so shout out, and thank you to Madison.
 Yes, thank you so much.
 And I will say of all the things that I've gone to, and spent a ton of money on, whether
 it's division 1 sports, pro sports, wrestling events, spending out the nose for those, concerts,
 all the things, Broadway shows, all of it.
 This was the most fun I have ever had at an event, and I will speak for the kids.
 It was the most fun they ever had at an event.
 Oh my God, yes.
 I said at the end of the show to Madison and to you, I said, this was the second best night
 of my life.
 The most fun I've had, the only other one being our wedding night was the best night most
 fun.
 And to start to finish from her beginning at the pre-show, all the way until the lights
 went out, it was two and a half hours of awesomeness.
 I don't think there was one part of the show that was disappointing.
 And from crowd engagement, our kids got to speak each one of them.
 She came up, asked them their name, and their favorite treat, a popcorn or cotton candy.
 They got the spotlight show on them, they got to answer the question, they felt like super
 stars.
 And it just, that was the hook, like from then on, they were answering every question that
 was asked, like just generically to the crowd, and singing along with the songs, dancing,
 just astonishment of how talented, creative this, the cast, the show, all of it.
 Sixty-five performers, they brought with them, sixty-five, it was amazing.
 And this, I'll say, is not your typical grandma's version of the circus that, you know, you
 grow up thinking about, you know, with the animals and the this and the that, no animals
 were there.
 Yeah, their robotic dog, Bailey, which was so cute and moved incredibly like a dog, like
 they put a big furry costume on, it would be a dog.
 Absolutely.
 And the singing, and the dancing, and the acrobats, the gymnastics, unicycles.
 It was like all the great things you see on America's Got Talent stuffed into one.
 This literally is the greatest show on earth, and that's what their slogan is.
 They can totally say that, shouting it from like the tallest building in the world.
 It is the greatest show on earth.
 It really is. And Madison was able to meet us both at the intermission time.
 We stumbled upon her.
 And then we stayed after a little bit and took a couple pictures with her.
 And the big tie in here is that the kids made the connection.
 You know, this was a relationship that we made through the business and how much more
 meaningful it was because they, quote, knew somebody there, and they felt a little special.
 And they felt almost some ownership or more buy-in to the event because of that.
 Yeah.
 I agree.
 And we did too.
 And I think that Madison did as well, because when you are a business person and a real
 kindhearted person, you want these relationships.
 And it means that much more to your purpose and what you're doing.
 And that's what Madison said too.
 She was like, it wouldn't have been the same if we hadn't met you.
 I knew you were out there.
 It made me feel good to have your support tonight.
 And we only met twice before this, but like it was a true genuine connection.
 And these are the connections that I feel like I am making on a daily basis with my customers.
 It's not just because I own the business and want to make money.
 It is because I truly care about who is walking through those doors, what they're saying to
 me, and like learning about people.
 And that is what Madison did.
 That's what I did, and when you're coming at it from a genuine position in life, it just
 really builds that community and that relationship.
 And that's what our kids get to see.
 And I am really hopeful that they bring this to every aspect of their life, right?
 Like to be that genuine caring person, regardless of what form you are doing.
 What are you doing this?
 Very well said.
 It doesn't matter what you're doing, where you're doing, we're all humans.
 And we need to treat each other as such.
 And I think in today's day and age, that message probably needs to be heard and shouted from
 a mountain top more than ever, because we can get lost in the day to day.
 We can get lost in our own personal ideas, agendas, call it what you will, even just
 I have to get to the grocery stores, the most important thing ever right now.
 And taking time to interact with those around us in our community and listen and see people
 and make them feel seen and feel heard is probably one of the greatest skills that we can
 attempt to instill in our children.
 So thank you, Madison, for allowing us to do that.
 Thank you so much.
 It was my honor in meeting you and this little conversation we had just now connecting a
 couple of things about how yes, it's small and hyper local like this happened in Albany.
 But so did capital collections, which got brought to the Netherlands and Madison is going
 to be traveling around the country, making these other genuine connections with people in
 other cities and towns.
 And you know, it might feel really small and silly, but being a person who is listening to
 somebody in the moment and having a relationship whether it is for 30 seconds or a longer duration
 of time can like seemingly change the world.
 One conversation at a time can change the world.
 All right, I think that brings us to the end of our episode today.
 So we want to take another moment and just thank each and every one of you for listening.
 We truly appreciate the opportunity to share these stories with you, to share the experiences
 that we're having and to shout out others at times.
 And we appreciate the opportunity to speak to you every so often.
 Yes, and thank you, thank you, thank you.
 We want to hear your thoughts.
 We want to hear and read your messages.
 So please send us a text using the link, drop us a comment on Instagram and our DMs, whatever
 we love to hear from you and we mean that.
 And we would love to start each podcast off with some of the comments that we have received
 and we can either answer questions, comment on the comment or just have some fun with it
 too.
 So please feel free to do so.
 Yeah.
 So once again, we thank you all for listening and we look forward to sharing our lives with
 you once again on Small Business, Big Life, Inside, Quarter, and General
 Store