(Props to Sarah Richcreek.)

The Wife and I took a rare day off after yesterday’s hugely successful INDIEana Handicraft Exchange Summer Show and headed up to Broad Ripple for a late afternoon lunch. After mealing on Boogie Burger we walked up the Monon Trail a piece and into BRICS, the new ice cream shop located in a former train depot. I grew up less than a mile from the building BRICS occupies and always thought it was one of the coolest spots in Broad Ripple. When the Trail opened, the north end of the neighborhood popped – great restaurants and retail now line several blocks – but that building didn’t. BRICS pops. It looks good, it feels good, it works. The product is good but not mind blowing – the ice cream isn’t gourmet or made on site but what they sell, Sherman’s, is pretty damn good. What makes BRICS pop is the story.

A business’ story isn’t a mission statement or a pamphlet or a claim made by the owner or a salesman working on commission. It’s the narrative that plays out in the design of the business and how it presents itself, in the quality and delivery of the product, and in the behavior and attitude of the owners and employees. You can tell me you value customer service but if I am treated shoddily every time I visit your store (see: Lowe’s), then your story is either inauthentic or dishonest.

BRICS’ clean, contemporary design tells me that they understand that presentation matters. The funky fanbelt-run ceiling fan and faux-kerosene lamps on the tables, and BRICS-branded cards in the napkin dispensers tell me that they sweat the details, or at least that they’re smart enough to hire a designer who does. The fact that they use metal spoons for samples tells me that they aren’t chintzy and they’re conscious of the amount of waste their business generates, a point underscored by the clearly marked recycling bin in the dining room. The water bowls beside the deck tell me that they value their customers’ furry friends. The friendly, competent, knowledgeable staff tells me that the quality of my experience matters.

In less than five minutes, the time it took to approach the building, enter, get our ice cream, and sit down, BRICS told me everything I needed to make a decision about whether or not to come back a second time or recommend it to friends. BRICS isn’t the only business that gets it, it’s just the one that got me thinking about the subject today. The increasing number of shops, restaurants, and service providers in Indianapolis who do understand the importance of storytelling is heartening. It’s an object lesson I wish more businesses took to heart, one that Amanda and I were conscious of when planning Homespun. Or hope – no, our plan – is to tell a consistent, compelling, honest story from the moment you encounter our store. If we don’t succeed, Homespun won’t pop, and it won’t work. Because the story isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

If I haven’t convinced you to give BRICS a try, I’ll let Sarah Richcreek make her case.