How Local Businesses Can Compete with Larger Rivals

In 2020, Kwame Spearman left his consulting job in New York City to take over an iconic independent bookstore, the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, Colorado—his hometown. Spearman saw an opportunity to reinvent the local business to build a community space after the pandemic. But to keep the store successful, he had figure out how to compete with online retailers and big box stores, amid technological change and shifting business models. In this episode, Harvard Business School associate professor Ryan Raffaelli explain how to set sustainable wages for employees and why community engagement is a key part of the store’s strategy for growth.