Description: A hobby turned family-owned company, Believe in Dream Creations provides customers with balloon creations to elevate events and parties. The company offers balloon delivery and installations in the Dayton, Cincinnati and surrounding areas.
Offerings: Customizable balloon garland, balloon bouquets, balloon walls, balloon columns and backdrop rentals.
Owner/founder: Franchesca and Kyle Howe-Vachon
Founding date: November 2021
“In the future, our clients can expect new industry trending products, more backdrops and displays to choose from, grab-and-go standard options for simple ordering, and self-installation kits,” Franchesca Howe-Vachon said.
Website: https://www.believeindreamcreations.com/
Description: A name brand shoe buyer, seller and trader for new and gently used shoes. The store deal mainly in Converse, Jordans, Nike and New Balance shoes.
Offerings: Shoe store
Owner/founder: Keon McCarroll
Founding date: 2018
Location: 37 S St. Clair St. in Dayton
Website: https://linktr.ee/soletouchers
Description: A soon-to-open clothing store offering products from small to extra-large for a target audience of women between their mid-20’s and early 50’s. The startup has moved from e-commerce platform to storefront and estimates to far surpass its impressive 2021 revenue in 2022.
Offerings:Women's apparel
Owner/founder: Erin Parrott
Founding date: 2019
Revenue 2021: $800,000+ (sales predicted to increase in 2022 by 70%)
Employment: Hiring a handful for opening
“Women go through so many transitions…," Parrott said. "We want to offer a safe space where you can cultivate a new style, add onto your personal style or rediscover yourself and style. That sometimes gives you a boost internally that you didn't know you needed.”
Location: 111 E. Third St. in Dayton (September opening)
Website: https://shopafter5clothing.com/
Description: What started as e-commerce vintage toy selling on Ebay has turned into a full-blown buying and selling business. Owner Mike Patterson purchased his first brick and mortar in 2015 in Springboro but outgrew it a few years later. In 2019, he purchased the current 1,600 square-foot spot in the Oregon District in downtown Dayton where he has continued operations since.
Offerings: Vintage toy buyer and seller
Owner/founder: Mike Patterson
Founding date: 2013
Employment: 2
Location: 508 E 5th St. in Dayton
Website: https://mikesvintagetoys.com/
Description: An eyewear company for men, women and children. From sunglasses to prescription lenses, their eyewear provides UV400 and blue light lens protection. Each pair of fashionable frames is inscribed with the “DFF” (D. Foreman Frames) logo.
Offerings: Glasses and sunglasses
Owner/founder: Ja’Cole Tabor b.k.a J. Renaye
Founding date: May 2021
Revenue: 200% increase in revenue since founding
“We've been to a variety of festivals and events in the Dayton area over the last 2 years to showcase our wide variety of merchandise. We plan to continue to expand on this momentum and travel to various states over the next year or so to widen our customer demographic,” Tabor said.
Website: https://www.dffbyjrenaye.com/
Description: A pet-centric product startup, Pet Wants Dayton offers a variety of pet products for cats and dogs. The company is part of Pet Wants Franchise Systems, LLC which was purchased by Society for Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals (SICSA) in 2019. Proceeds from purchases support the organization and animals directly.
Offerings: Dog and cat products including food, chews, treats and more
Owner/founder: Misra Michelle
Founding date: 2022 (Dayton office)
Location: 8172 Washington Church Road in Washington Township
Website: https://www.petwants.com/dayton/
Description: This Dayton-based chef turned to entrepreneurialism in an effort to bring healthy plant-based diet options to locals. Sprouting Dreams provides vegan cuisine made with organic ingredients. The startup’s menu items have made several appearances in daily food options at The Barrel House in Dayton.
Offerings: Vegan chicken delivery
Owner/founder: Malone Da’Ves
Founding date: 2010
Website: https://www.sproutingdreamsllc.com/
Description: This Dayton jewelry store caters to an array of shoppers with prices ranging from under $10 to more than $200. Her offerings can be found at the 2nd Street Market most Saturdays and Sundays.
Offerings: Jewelry shop
Owner/founder: Austin Charme
Founding date: 2011
Location: The 2nd Street Market at 600 E 2nd St. in Dayton
The pandemic welcomed an influx of hungry entrepreneurs and provided further opportunities for growth in the startup market. With the peak of the pandemic past and the business world in a time of recovery, more established entrepreneurs have set their sights on the next steps forward in their company.
The Downtown Dayton Partnership’s (DDP) Retail Lab invites business owners to advance first-floor concepts through an intensive series of workshops, pitch events and pop-up opportunities. Programs connect participants to mentors, experts, ideas, capital and other resources that help them thrive and grow in the region.
Thirty-seven local entrepreneurs have participated in the program so far, 35 of which are woman-owned and/or minority-owned businesses.
The spring cohorts recently completed their program and are gearing up to present their fresh business plans for funding later this month, according to Val Beerbower, director of first-floor development and business market at DDP.
Note: Click through the gallery to meet the spring 2022 Retail Lab cohorts
While the spring cohorts prepare their proposals, the Retail Lab is showing no signs of gaps in its services to the startup community as the fall 2022 cohorts have already been chosen and will soon begin their first set of classes.
The Retail Lab pitch contest leads up to another opportunity for local entrepreneurs to compete and receive funding. A new group of entrepreneurs outside the program will go head-to-head in different categories at the 2022 Launch Dayton Startup Week.
Launch Dayton Startup Week stands as the Ohio entrepreneur community’s largest event, drawing roughly 1,000 attendees annually. The event brings local minds together for the celebration, support and inspiration of founders and business owners.
This year's Startup Week will be held Sept. 13-15 at the Dayton Arcade and The Hub downtown. For the first time since the pandemic, the event will be held fully in person.
Tickets are still being sold for the event. A list of panels, events and other details can be viewed here.
