Evereve’s CEO: ‘We’re aiming for a 200-store total by 2030’

Nearly 20 years ago, a young woman in Edina, Minn., was delighted to be expecting a baby. She wasn’t so delighted, however, with the maternity shopping experience and decided to do something about it. 

It was in 2005 that Megan Tamte expressed to her husband Michael that women’s specialty stores ignored the fashion needs of moms-in-waiting and moms in general. She thought there was a vacancy in the retail landscape for a store that sold better-quality gear for high-earning women and wondered if it might be a good idea to try and fill it. Her husband Michael, an MBA student at the time, thought that it would be.

They raised $2 million in initial capital, Michael left school to direct the operation, and Hot Mama was born in Edina. Just months after opening the store, the Tamtes started an e-commerce channel that grew to represent 30% of the company’s sales. Hot Mama’s merchandising of several brands found in higher-end department stores appealed to its customers even after their babies arrived. The brand branched out of maternity into fashions that appealed to women aged 30 to 60.

After 10 years in business, the Tantes re-christened Hot Mama as Evereve and began to expand nationally.  (Gordon Segal, the founder of Crate & Barrel, was an early investor.)  Favored by women from households with average incomes of $150K-plus, the brand became a mainstay in in top malls and centers. It recently opened at Simon’s King of Prussia Mall, bringing its total store count close to 100.

“We put our stores in A-level centers and we look for spaces close to the 50-yard-line. Our original store size was about 2,400 sq. ft.; now it’s about 3,300,” said Mike Tamte, Evereve’s CEO. “You’re mostly going to see us near a Pottery Barn, an Apple Store, or a Lululemon.”

One of the keys to Evereve’s success, Tamte says, is that it provides a highly curated selection of brands that women have much easier access to in Evereve than they would at Nordstrom. From 60 to 80 brands are available in Evereve stores, including names such as Kenneth Cole, Marc Fisher, Rag and Bone, Sweaty Betty, Dolce Vita and Guanabana.

“Our customer does not want to look like she’s wearing an entire outfit from top to bottom from one brand, like Anthopologie or Aritzia. She wants outfits that fit within the contemporary aesthetic,” Tamte said. “The other thing customers expect from us is to deliver on-trend. Sometimes certain fashions are in and some are out.”

Evereve uses a corps of stylists to help women put those outfits together—most of them selected from the brand’s loyal customer base.

“We want to offer the fashions that our customer is confident she can wear,” Tamte said.

Evereve is embarked on a five-year plan to add between 12 and 15 stores a year as it reaches toward a total count of 200 total by 2030.

“We’ll target the better shopping centers” Tamte remarked. “I have about 250 of them on my list.”