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For Cristina and Jim Reding, the couple behind Las Vegas-based Aroma Retail, the coronavirus pandemic — though challenging — was also an opportunity for their company to reinvent itself.
Jim Reding, the company’s CEO, was producing fragrance oils for Las Vegas resorts to diffuse in their facilities long before launching an online retail website in 2018. There, people who had enjoyed the Flamingo’s custom scent of "White Cashmere" or the "Vanilla Breeze" aroma at the Cosmopolitan could now purchase it for themselves.
And, when buying items online became the new norm during the pandemic, Jim Reding said Aroma Retail’s business really took off.
"So, we just exploded because, at the time at the beginning of the pandemic, we were the only environmental scenting company that made everything that these businesses could get available to the public — available to be purchased online on a simple retail model," he said, noting that roughly half of the company’s close to 50,000 customers are other businesses.
Coming out of the pandemic, Jim Reding said Aroma Retail was focusing its efforts on staying relevant and continuously growing its product library to target a wider audience. Overall, he said, the company’s growth is leveling out and he’s excited about what’s next.
According to a recent survey, the Redings’ optimistic outlook on the future of their small Nevada business is shared by many of their peers.
Nevada State Bank last month released the results of its 10th annual small business survey, which showed that more than half of respondents believe the state economy was headed in the right direction, though they don’t have the same hopes for the nation’s economy overall.
Nevada State Bank CEO Terry Shirey said the survey reflected "a great deal of uncertainty," with respondents showing a small uptick in optimism, which still falls short of peak confidence levels in pre-pandemic 2020.
Opinions of the economy on the state versus national level are extremely split, Shirey said. Less than 28% of respondents think the national economy is headed in the right direction, but more than half believe Nevada’s economy is on track — a 10% increase from the year prior.
"And I think that reflects what we’re all feeling right now, dealing with this unprecedented environment," Shirey said, "coming off of three years of massive disruption and now dealing with higher interest rates … (and) continuing to deal with supply chain challenges."
The top three concerns for small-business owners in Nevada are the economy, costs of goods and services, and costs of health care, according to the survey. Education and affordable housing ranked as the top legislative priorities of those surveyed.
Small businesses in Nevada ultimately seem to be about a year away from fully operating at pre-pandemic levels, the survey reflected.
"So, the state of the overall economy is very much on business owners’ minds right now," Shirey said. "And I think that the takeaway, for me, on that is that businesses are probably going to be a little more cautious in 2023. They’re going to be a little more cautious just about expanding their operation, probably going to be a little more cautious around hiring."
The most important challenge facing small businesses is retaining and hiring quality employees, with over 20% of survey respondents saying so, and 1 in 3 reporting the recruitment of quality job candidates from within the local market as "very difficult."
There are more available jobs in Nevada than there are applicants, Shirey said.
"We don’t necessarily have the workforce for the jobs that are being created in all cases," he said. "So, all these things are kind of weighing on small businesses right now."
Nevada has nevertheless seen an influx of businesses, Shirey said, with many people valuing the state’s quality of life and its business climate.
According to the survey, more than 1 in 4 small businesses reported that Nevada’s economic environment has improved in the past year, and about 47% are confident that it will only continue to improve over the next year.
"I think we see it reflected in the survey, that — despite the challenges that we’re facing right now, or the uncertainty I should say — many businesses would rather be facing that uncertainty here in Nevada than they would in, say, a neighboring state," Shirey said.
There are benefits to being a small business, said Cristina Reding, president of Aroma Retail. Not only do consumers appreciate customized care, she said, but employees of small businesses are often more empowered to be innovative.
Aroma Retail has grown exponentially over the past few years, making scented candles, diffuser machines and a line of natural catalysts to tamper unwanted odors like that of marijuana. Customers can also visit the "Smelly Bar," and sample various scents, including "Coffee Shop," "Hot Apple Pie" and more.
Even as Aroma Retail increases its partnerships, like creating a custom fragrance for the Henderson Silver Knights hockey team, Cristina Reding said she and her husband were aware of lingering uncertainty in the economy and were attentive to its ebbs and flows when making decisions.
"We have primarily been online retailers with the small footprint that’s growing," Cristina Reding said, referring to the Smelly Bar at Aroma Retail’s brick-and-mortar location. "Obviously there’s opportunities out there and we’re looking into the bigger retailers to distribute out our product."
Shirey said he’s impressed by the resilience of small businesses and how they have adapted over the past three years to continue thriving in spite of pandemic challenges.
"It’s just — it’s very impressive to me," Shirey said. "And I think we all should be thankful that so many small businesses choose this state to do business in because, in the long term, I think it bodes very well for our state’s future."