It’s almost like show business! A meeting of energized minds, emerging themes, developing story lines, scripting, role recognition, props, staging. And, with the passage of time, plots thicken! Retailers Mig and Tig and Mortise & Tenon boast four principal players. Their extended cast of characters is infinite.

Based one in Chicago, one in Los Angeles, the two M & Ts are independent home furnishings retailers, cleverly named Mig and Tig (think two types of iron welds) and Mortise & Tenon (a wood joint). Owners are Vicki Semke/Kirk Schlupp, and Jerod Lazan/Maite Garcia, respectively. Both entrepreneurial ventures were founded on quality, contemporary product lines, Mig and Tig metal and fabric, and Mortise & Tenon unique wood products.

Each M and T has its own marketing strategy, but there’s a history of serendipitous overlapping of imagination and project delivery. And now, almost a decade into the new millennium, the four high energy friends have their sights set on cohesive, cooperative social technology designed to join vendors, retailers and consumers in innovative partnership for mutual advantage.

The adventures began in 1991, a banner year. Vicki and Jerod “met through family. He was visiting Chicago from Los Angeles, I showed him some of the sights and we became great friends,” said Vicki. “Jerod and his girlfriend, Maite, had a small wood shop in L.A. they’d opened in April that year. He encouraged myself and my boyfriend (now husband), Kirk, to open a store of our own in Chicago.

“Kirk was a laid –off art director, formerly at Carson Pierre Scott in Chicago, who had started making great iron furniture for interior designers. I had opened a custom sewing shop when I graduated from Harrington School of Design. So we already had our fingers in the industry somewhat.

“We were on a shoe string budget. We had enough money for our first month’s rent and utilities when we opened in October of 1993, so we had to get in the black and fast! Jerod shipped us $10,000 worth of his very hip wood products on a handshake and said, ‘Pay me when you can!’ I mean, who does that?! All I can say is, I have the utmost respect for Jerod. He has a kind heart and, if you are lucky enough to have a person like this in your life that you can trust and who truly cares, you are very, very fortunate. He is a fantastic designer, awesome retailer and just an amazing person.

“We both love business, and enjoy the process of creativity in business. We have had countless conversations about...

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