From flea market to curated department store.

THE BRIEF

ISMO Market was selling product. Chairs, electronics, home goods — a healthy catalogue running on a generic Shopify template with a dark hero photo and a wall of “SALE” red badges. The founders had inventory and ambition. What they didn’t have was a brand: no voice, no point of view, no categorical story, no reason for a shopper to come back.

Our brief was to build the brand underneath the catalogue. New name. New identity. A storefront that behaves like a department store with taste — not a bazaar.

THE APPROACH

The first move was naming and positioning. ISMO became MinniMarket — a Minneapolis-rooted house of curated everyday goods, fairly priced. From there we built a design system that could carry a department store’s breadth without feeling like one: clean type, generous whitespace, product-first photography, and a flexible homepage grid that lets campaigns breathe.

The homepage was rearchitected around three repeating units the team can edit weekly: a seasonal campaign hero (currently a World Cup “Wear your side.” moment), curated category grids (“Fashion picks” first), and brand-partner banners (Bella Vita’s CEO & GOAT fragrance drop). Six categorical doors — Fashion, Home & Kitchen, Electronics, Beauty & Personal Care, Pet Supplies, All Departments — anchor the IA.

WHAT CHANGED

The store finally reads as a brand instead of an inventory list. The campaign hero gives the merch team a storytelling surface they can refresh every season. Curated grids and partner banners let a limited catalogue feel editorial. The 10%-off-first-order loyalty flow turns every landing into a mailing-list opportunity. And the backoffice stays simple: the team can swap campaign heroes, reorder category tiles, and spin up partner banners from the admin without a developer in the loop.