Setting up shop: online or in-store, local retailers find different paths to success.

• Author: Biton, Adva
• Position: Business Trends

There's no single pathway to success. Take, for instance, Jessica Bennett and Athelia LeSueur. Bennett is the co-owner and founder of Alice Lane, a Utah-based design and decor company that operates solely from brick-and-mortar locations. On the other hand, LeSueur is the co-owner and founder of Shabby Apple, a vintage-inspired ladies' clothier that operated solely online until about six months ago.

Though their avenues to success are unique, both women started their businesses after noting a void in the marketplace that needed filling. Each worked tirelessly to solidify their brands and client base. Their hard work resulted in both companies recently expanding: Shabby Apple opened its first retail space in Fashion Place Mall in October 2014, while Alice Lane expanded to Trolley Square in March 2014.

A Brick-and-Mortar Foundation

In 2005, Jessica Bennett and her family were living in what she thought was her dream home on a street called Alice Lane in Farmington. Bennett was trained in advertising and brand design--not interior design--but when a local business owner and friend asked Bennett to design his software company's headquarters, Bennett accepted.

"I felt like I came alive when I started doing it," she says. "Being able to do an interior, I got to spin everything I knew about design and branding three-dimensionally into a space."

It wasn't long before Bennett realized the difficulties of finding exactly what she envisioned in the current marketplace. She continued freelancing and doing other projects, but the more she worked, the more frustrated she became with a trend-conscious design landscape. Eventually, Bennett decided she wanted to become a resource for others.

That's when she and her husband sold their dream house and put the money into their new venture.

"We were taking the training wheels off," says Bennett. "But there was something really comforting about having Alice Lane being the name of the business. Every time I'd look at the top of the page, I'd think: 'Oh, I'm home! I'm totally fine.'"

Bennett was determined to create a unique experience for homeowners. She took her training in advertising, her knowledge of how to distill identities into aesthetics, and put it into her company.

When she works with a client, Bennett and her designers try to get to know them so well that they could pick out their shoes for them by the end. "Utility is extremely important to me," she says. "A lot of times people think that design is...