Delaware residents Andrea and Nate Archibald are bringing their newest store, “The Direction,” to the Tanger outlet-store mall.
The mall is located at 400 S. Wilson Road in Sunbury. Its grand opening is scheduled for June 24.
The Archibalds already have several Simply Vague stores located around Columbus and Cincinnati. Simply Vague is a consignment store that focuses on Ohio Pride.
The Direction intends to build upon this theme of Ohio pride to include state pride in general. “We created our own brand to be more about anywhere you might be from,” said Andrea. The online store for The Direction offers apparel and decorations that can be customized to proclaim pride in any state.
The store front in the Tanger mall, however, will focus on Ohio-themed items.
Andrea said that the inspiration to create The Direction was that she and her husband, Nate, wanted to bring state pride to states where the residents may not feel the pride in their state that many Ohioans take for granted. “Trends come and go but people always love where they’re from and that’s never going to change,” she said.
“Celebrate your state” isn’t just a tag line for the Archibald family. As they expand their business and prepare to open The Direction’s first storefront, they are dedicated to keeping jobs local. “All the jobs stay here in Ohio,” said Nate of the jobs that the stores create. As far as merchandise goes, “it’s all U.S. made,” said Nate.
The business truly is a family affair. “It’s literally just a husband and wife team putting the store together,” said Andrea. As the two of them work, they are frequently able to bring their toddler son and baby daughter with them. “These kids have been raised in stores and malls,” said Andrea.
The Archibalds clearly make a good team. They started out in real estate before opening their first store and went into retail without much experience. “We were figuring things out along the way,” said Andrea.
“We’ve got four years of — how would you say? — learning from our mistakes and not giving up,” added Nate.
The Archibalds said they intend to apply everything they have learned to running their new store.
More information about Simply Vague and The Direction can be found at www.shoplocalohio.com.
