Culture Flock, a Galloway-based studio and retail shop selling apparel and accessories, is looking to “reinvent” itself in its 10th year in business.
As a business owned by women, Culture Flock has long sought to represent other minority-owned businesses and promote inclusivity through its merchandise and community interactions.
After five years in their first brick-and-mortar location, co-owners Brittany Bilyeu and Summer Trottier, are moving Culture Flock to east central Springfield’s Rountree neighborhood, where they already have close connections.
Their new space has been the current home of fresh market café Culture Counter since 2020, following the April 3 announcement of the café’s closure, which will come on April 15.
“We’re ecstatic to join the community at Cherry & Pickwick, home to some of our favorite Springfield businesses,” Trottier said in a press release announcing their relocation. “The supportive and tight-knit community make the Rountree area eclectic and exciting. There couldn’t be a more perfect place for Culture Flock.”
Bilyeu and Trottier aim for an early June opening in bringing their team, including Trottier’s two great pyrenees that welcome customers into the shop, and their “diverse range of LGBTQ+ clothing, body inclusive apparel, and accessories that promote self-love and individuality” to Rountree.
Owners reflect on Culture Flock’s beginnings, look toward the future
Bilyeu and Trottier founded Culture Flock in 2013, initially as an e-commerce business, and didn’t move into their first storefront until 2018, located at 3938 S. Lone Pine Ave. in the Galloway Creek mixed-use complex.
“We were both looking for kind of changing our career path,” Trottier told the Hauxeda.
Bilyeu and Trottier, both Springfield natives, became acquainted while attending Missouri State University. Bilyeu studied graphic design and Trottier, in addition to her background in retail, studied hospitality, skill sets that were complementary for starting Culture Flock.
They began by designing and selling a few T-shirts online, and eventually took on the printing process as well.
“It just grew from there,” Trottier said.
They soon began selling apparel at craft fairs, outdoor festivals and other events across the Midwest, from Arkansas to Chicago, including at the city’s renowned Renegade Craft showcase.
‘Able to reinvent ourselves every few years’
“Over the 10 years, we’ve transitioned a lot and kind of grown in different ways,” Trottier said. “This latest iteration of moving to Rountree is pretty standard for us, being able to reinvent ourselves every few years and change things up.”
Since setting up shop in their Galloway storefront, they’ve expanded their product line to include cards, coffee mugs, stickers and other accessories. Unlike some of their apparel, they often buy merchandise from various companies that share similar values as Culture Flock. And likewise, they sell some of their apparel wholesale to other businesses.
“A lot of the different vendors that we carry are vendors that we came across through a lot of the festivals we used to do,” Bilyeu said. “A lot of them are women and minority-owned businesses that we try to represent.”
In addition to selling merchandise, customers also have opportunities to get creative through various workshops held at Culture Flock. They’ve done everything from risograph printing to needle felting to watercolor painting, as well as hosted other events such as board game nights and holiday celebrations.
Rountree will give Culture Flock more creative freedom, opportunity for more foot traffic
Even with all of the new development that has gone into Galloway in the last several years, Bilyeu admits they had hoped it would’ve taken off more than it has.
“Even when people are out and about like on the trails, they’re not here to shop and do things like that,” she said. “So I feel like down in Rountree just the foot traffic itself is going to be better for us, and I think just feeling more a part of a community, which is something that’s important to both Summer and I.”
Their move into the first floor at 607 S. Pickwick Ave. won’t be their first interaction with the Rountree neighborhood, however. They have previously been involved with numerous businesses near the intersection of Pickwick and Cherry Street, having done a pop-up shop at Tie & Timber Beer Co. and participated in the Pickwick Street Fair, in addition to working closely with The Royal cocktail bar, Team Taco and The Local Bevy, a gift store that sells local products and art.
“Pickwick’s existing community embodies so many of our values — promoting creativity, connection, and expressing individuality,” Trottier said in the press release. “The support for neighborhood events is unmatched and we are so excited to be a part of it all.”
That’s why as soon as their real estate agent told them of an opening in Rountree, they jumped on the opportunity to bring Culture Flock to a neighborhood they’ve long “dreamed” of being a part of.
That opportunity wouldn’t have come without the closure of Culture Counter, which owner Bryce Gott announced on social media on April 3.
The current space will require some renovations before Culture Flock can move in, as the current floor plan is designed for a market and café, with an ice cream bar and a small commercial kitchen.
The primary color of the inside of the building is currently green, and Trottier said that they plan on painting it white to keep it simple.
“We don’t need a lot of stuff on the inside besides our colorful merchandise,” she said.
Since announcing their plans to move Culture Flock to Rountree on April 4, Bilyeu said that the response has been very positive, and that their customers are excited about the idea of them moving into a more accessible space.
New location will bring changes to Culture Flock
While Culture Flock will continue to sell the same products and embody the same values that has brought it success over the last 10 years, moving into a new — and smaller — location will force Bilyeu and Trottier to make some changes to the business.
While they will continue to design their own T-shirts, they decided to start outsourcing screen printing, both because of the time and labor involved as their product line has grown and diversified and due to the space limitations of the new building.
Additionally, Culture Flock, which is currently open noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, will be adjusting its hours based on demand, especially in the summertime.
They will continue to offer workshops and host other events and celebrations in their new space.
Bilyeu and Trottier hope that being closer to the campuses will help them more easily connect with like-minded students, as they look to continue to be able to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment.
“It’s just important for us to be a community space,” Bilyeu said.
“We came out as a business several years ago,” Trottier said. “We felt like it was an important statement for us to make. When we started this, especially when we decided to open the brick and mortar store, we really wanted to create a kind of place that we wish we would’ve had here as young, queer people in southwest Missouri.”
Culture Flock’s website lists six pillars of their business:
- Supporting women
- Loving the planet
- A safe space for all
- Empowering others
- Creating community
- Inspiring individuality
While they don’t have a concrete opening date for the Rountree storefront (and they anticipate a brief closure of operations during the move), they hope to be up and running by early June, ahead of the Pickwick Street Fair on June 10.
