Your Cheyenne Chamber is a big advocate of shopping small and shopping local. Not only does it benefit the local economy, and by association the community as a whole, but it can also benefit community members in unexpected ways. The U.S. Chamber recently released a story about small veteran-owned business Urban Dwell, which is located in Washington D.C., which helps to highlight why shopping local is so important:
Tom McMahon, owner and founder of Urban Dwell, decided to open the boutique gift shop in the trendy Adams Morgan neighborhood after he retired as an intelligence officer from the U.S. Air Force in 2014 with 22 years of active service. He says at the time he knew nothing about running a business.
But the retired Lieutenant Colonel knew he didn’t want to work in government like many DC-area veterans do. In 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 22.9% of U.S. veterans work in government. For McMahon, working in government did not present the flexibility he needed to be able to care for his 9-month-old daughter and growing family. So, McMahon began looking into opening a business.
Urban Dwell opened its doors in 2015 and has made its mark as a premier gift shop with an array of carefully curated artisan merchandise ranging from kitchen and homewares to children’s toys and trinkets. The shop began with the guidance of McMahon’s sisters-in-law, who each own stores in New York and Philadelphia, and Richard Rose, his mentor at SCORE, a business mentorship program and resource partner for the Small Business Administration (SBA).
McMahon’s first introduction to the business world began while he was still an Intelligence Officer for the Air Force. During his active duty, the military organized seminars with the SBA, where McMahon began to learn about entrepreneurship. After leaving the Air Force, McMahon’s sisters-in-law took him under their wing and taught him the ins and outs of owning a business.
At first, starting a business was intimidating for McMahon, but with the help of his SCORE mentor and after helping his sisters-in-law at their stores, he quickly realized the skills he acquired on active duty applied to his position as a business owner.
“I was helping Special Forces hunt terrorists around the world and had never worked retail before, so it was a little daunting to think about,” said McMahon. “But then as I got into it more, I realized a lot of the military skills I gained over the years transcended into project management, people skills, leadership, multitasking – all kinds of skills that were able to help me stay organized.”
The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for small businesses across the country, but the local community continued to keep the store afloat. During the pandemic, Urban Dwell received support from the local community and implemented creative sales techniques to continue to foster relationships with customers. The gift shop created its version of “take-out” by creating a numbered window display of products customers could order. “The outpour [of support] was amazing,” said McMahon. “We actually made enough to make rent that way, so it was pretty cool.”
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