Patio furniture store Yardbird is the rare retailer that is doing better this year than last, something co-owner Jay Dillon attributes to an e-commerce partnership that allowed continued growth through pandemic shutdowns.
Dillon was planning to open physical stores in Denver and Kansas City in early spring to add to his St. Louis Park showroom. The coronavirus stay-at-home orders postponed that plan and forced him to pivot quickly to his online shop.
“We were closed for about six weeks at the start of our busy season, so any sales had to occur online or over the phone,” he said. “We got twice as much revenue from online sales in 2020 [so far] compared to 2019.”