Not just an abstract concept, Someday is an actual store in downtown Richmond, one with a focus on sustainability and local community.
Located in the heart of the Richmond Arts District, Someday is a sustainable shop with a homegrown aesthetic. Owner Audie McDougall tries to fill her store with goods that tell a story, and the resulting goods tell her story in particular. Using inspiration from her parents and her own style and sustainability goals, she has created a unique shopping experience; vintage goods, high-quality sustainable items, and vivacious plants all meet inside Someday.
“I do my best to find products that aren’t available at least in the immediate area or even really in the city,” McDougall said. “I try to not only find interesting stuff, but also to find stuff that is gonna be new and different for customers that shop locally.”
McDougall finds products to sell from sustainable, eco-friendly small-scale makers. She has found a lot of her favorite makers on Instagram. “The internet makes the world really small,” McDougall said. “Some of the folks I’ve been following [on Instagram] since before I even had this in motion.” She sells pottery from a ceramicist in New York, locally-made goat milk soap from the Freckled Farm, and more.
In addition to internet finds, McDougall stocks items that were used in her house when she was young. She grew up using Bürstenhaus Redecker products at home, and now she has a stock of their brooms, sponges, and dusters available in her store.
In addition to newly-made products, McDougall does a lot of vintage hunting, and stocks her store with hand-selected vintage pieces. Before the store opened McDougall and her husband went searching for vintage pieces at estate sales and even traveled to Pennsylvania and New York looking for the perfect items for her store.
The other big thing that McDougall sells is plants. Her dad got some plants for the shop when it was first opening, and they have really taken off. “Plants have been such a surprise hit,” McDougall said. “Folks love plants, and it’s been really fun collecting different varieties and learning about them.” The plants have done particularly well with local customers because it saves them a trip to farther-away big box stores like Lowe’s.
While McDougall may be new to selling plants, she is no stranger to retail. She started off in high school working at Nordstrom. “I really connected with their approach to customer service,” McDougall said. Since then she has worked for Anthropologie in New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond. For the five years before she opened Someday, McDougall was running retail at Ledbury.
Working at Ledbury is what influenced her decision to open her shop in the Arts District. She was able to witness people coming into the neighborhood to shop, and see the success of other shops such as Verdalina. “Moving here and seeing the response from the neighborhood has been amazing,” McDougall said. “Not just the other store owners, but the people who actually live, shop, and work in this neighborhood have been so supportive and so positive; it has really blown me away.”
She has also been able to prioritize selling products that encourage a zero- or low-waste lifestyle. “I think it’s just part of being a conscious consumer these days,” McDougall said. “We’ve got to be looking for products that are sustainable and eco-friendly.”
McDougall hopes that by providing environmentally conscious products, she can help set herself and her customers up to be successful in creating less waste. While she recognizes the difficulty of achieving a perfect zero-waste lifestyle, she continues “trying to do little things each day.”
Now that she has her own store, McDougall has been able to further enjoy her favorite thing about retail. “One of the things I’ve really liked throughout my retail career is meeting folks,” McDougall said. “And now being able to connect with a group of customers who is really in line with my worldview.”
Someday is located in the Richmond Arts District at 22 E. Broad St, and can be found on Facebook and Instagram @shop.someday.
