Rooted in Legacy
Me, and my daughter Taegan, who has helped us grow Madsen + Ales and continue our family legacy.
M+A comes from a history of 2 women, who happened to be mother and daughter, with a passion for style and thinking outside of the box. The Little House was the start of this journey back in the late 70s (1978) and offered a beautiful collection of women’s ready to wear items you wouldn’t find anywhere else. I can still remember a few of the brands and their logos printed on the tags hanging from the garments:
· Lorch; beautiful thick, luxe velvet skirts, pants, & coordinating jackets, one collection in a gorgeous dark copper shade of brown
· Rose Hips Jeans; dark high waisted denim with a red stitch on the pocket
· And Esprit (before they were widely known); sporty, fun colored easy lounge pieces & metallic gold espadrilles that I would consider one of my mom’s personal signature pieces, she wore them so much.
The mission was to offer unique, beautiful items personally chosen for my mother’s closest friends and family - who were also passionate for style - and never wanted to arrive wearing the same as someone else at a party.
The beauty of it all is that this boutique was not in a mall, or downtown. It was on our family farm, in “the little house” on our property. It was unique, it was special, and it was truly an authentic experience.
Fast forward a bit, I found myself loving retail as I worked for The Buckle in NorthPark Mall; Davenport, IA. The Buckle looked at retail as an art - which made sense to me. They took 1 thing that people hated shopping for; denim - and created experts to help guests have the most enjoyable shopping experience possible.
I worked with The Buckle for 14 years, until I was ready for a new challenge. And that’s when I learned that not all retailers look at the business the same. While things like product knowledge, customer service, product selection, and services were at the top of the list at The Buckle (& The Little House) they were more towards the bottom with other retailers in my experience.
After moving to Scottsdale, AZ the retail experience in hospitality caught my interest by surprise. How could amazing luxury resorts consistently fall so short in their retail experiences? I found out quickly that it was due to: lack of knowledge of this “little” part of the hospitality industry, lack of interest, lack of resources, and/or lack of time.
Sound familiar?
PS: US guest spending in hotels, including retail, is projected to reach a record $777.25 billion in 2025, exceeding the previous record set in 2024!
In 2014, M+A began its journey to flip the narrative on these retail experiences, 1 resort at a time. Through sourcing the right and best products in class, storytelling through merchandising, relationship sales training, and robust reporting, the shops we partner with are keeping guests spending on property. And even more, inspiring and delighting guests with memorable items to give and receive – further expanding the reach of the experience through word of mouth… every marketer’s dream.
Today, the family legacy continues as my daughter, Taegan, instinctively curates collections that align with each of our shop personalities, alongside me.
After 10 years, we’ve had the pleasure of creating the most extraordinary shopping experiences, in some of the most extraordinary resort boutiques across the US; including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, and Florida.
As a competitive group, we’re looking forward to creating more extraordinary experiences and positively impacting bottom lines. If you’re reading this and find yourself wondering if this could be your next big growth category, we’d love the opportunity to show you how.
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
-Michael Jordan