Fifteen years ago, on a beach in Jamaica, David Riordan and his future wife, Jennifer Neuguth, knew two things for certain about the business they wanted to open: They wanted an upscale gift shop and they wanted to support smaller artisans through their enterprise.
The evolution of OOP! on Thayer Street beyond those two thoughts took on a life of its own, Riordan said.
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“After we opened, we were figuring out who we were and what we do,” he said. “We were paying attention to what customers were saying.”
From July 1 to 15, OOP! is celebrating its birthday by selling jewelry, lighting and even furniture at a 25 percent discount.
What began as an enterprise with $20,000 worth of inventory stored on a pool table has blossomed into an operation that includes the colorful original store on Thayer and a location in the Providence Place mall.
The name of the store stands for “Out of Providence,” Riordan said, but it also represents the exclamation artists make when they make a mistake.
“OOP! really just stands for fun,” he said.
The Thayer Street location is a testament to OOP!’s dedication to bringing the far-from-ordinary to Providence. Handcrafted furniture in vivid hues fills the room, as do jewelry cases brimming with treasures. Home decorations adorn the walls, ceilings, counters and shelves. Riordan and Neuguth found the lion’s share of the curiosities at OOP! as they camped across the country and visited small craft fairs.
“We used to call it ‘the trip of the month club’ when we were first starting out, because we were always going out and looking for new things,” Riordan said. “We’ve helped launch a lot of people’s careers,” he added.
The store now has a number of connections with local craftspeople. The proximity of the Rhode Island School of Design has also been beneficial for the store. The store has the wares of between 40 and 60 local and regional artists on display at any one time.
When OOP! opened in 1990, Riordan said the lack of shopping locations in the city helped keep the business going. A grassroots marketing campaign, support from former Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Jr. and community partnerships helped the store get off the ground, Riordan said.
“Between 1994 and 1996, OOP! really started to take off,” Riordan said. A big marketing break came when MTV caught wind of the store before filming of the “Real World” Boston TV series began.
“They flew three people out to the store, and we did specialty furnishings for the ‘Real World’ set,” Riordan said. MTV bought about 15 pieces of furniture and craft items. “It wasn’t a big job, but it turned into a huge story.” At the end of each show, OOP! received an on-air credit for providing the furnishings. They also received a huge amount of media attention and became “that store on Thayer that works with MTV.”
By then, Riordan said he and Neuguth had figured out where they were going with the business – providing high-quality, hard-to-find gift items that get people talking. “It was very easy then,” he said.
The pair then opened the Providence Place location, where they were the first “mom-and-pop” store in the mall. For two years in that location, OOP! surpassed all its sales goals.
“Then 9-11 happened, and it changed everything,” Riordan said. “We had to struggle with sales.
There’s nothing in OOP! you need – it’s all the extra, fun stuff and people were cutting back.”
Prior to the slump in retail sales, OOP! had never budgeted – the store had always surpassed its sales goals.
“Learning how to budget was really important – we’re still figuring that out,” Riordan said. “Now we’re much more fiscally responsible.”
The pair also realized they needed to diversify their business, which led to the launch of the OOP! Corporate Division.
“It’s been really well-received – we provide client gifts, employee gifts, event planning gifts and office furniture,” Riordan said. OOP! counts Staples, Bank Rhode Island and Residential Properties among its corporate clients.
