Photo by Hannah Koehler

Dawn Franchino is a hospitality consulting studio based in Austin, Texas, serving clients worldwide. With over two decades of experience in retail and hospitality, Dawn and her team work to create spaces and places that resonate. Most notably, she created a wealth of prominent retail concepts as the Buyer and Head of Retail for Bunkhouse Group, concepting and developing retail programs including Hotel San Cristobal, Austin Motel, The Phoenix San Francisco, and Hotel Magdalena, as well as spearheading the launch of El Cosmico Provision Co.  

From concepting, sourcing, and development, to strategy, e-commerce and installation, Dawn and her team handle everything under the retail umbrella: Shops, operating supplies, custom goods, partnerships, ephemera, uniforms and more.

With the belief that a hotel can be the most intimate discovery channel for guests and visitors, we work closely with our clients, brands, vendors and artists to introduce new goods organically and uniquely in an inspirational context — all while championing small businesses and makers. Aiming to prove that the successful curation of brands and goods not only deepens a hotel’s relationship with its guests, but by exposing them to something new and meaningful, it tells the story of connection and thoughtfulness, building brand loyalty at every touch point.

In short, we put together the pieces. We’re here to introduce you to brands, makers and artists to bring additional depth, community, and soul to your story.

When she isn’t concepting or developing, Dawn enjoys time with friends and family, traveling, and adventuring with her 10-year-old blue heeler, Willa. She explores the world through the senses and mediums of photography, writing, music, art, poetry, and of course, hospitality.

FAQs

  • Yes! We are big believers in connecting the dots by supporting small and independent makers and artists, to create and include beautiful and functional pieces in the guest rooms and throughout public and common spaces.

    During my tenure at Bunkhouse, it quickly became obvious that guests want to leave with a tangible piece from their stay. We make this happen by curating in-room items like robes, bed linens and mattresses, glassware, coffee mugs, candle votives, and beyond.

    These pieces then expertly tie back to the retail experience, making a guest’s stay the most intimate discovery and shopping channel—and in turn creating experiences that live on in guests’ homes. We curate travel memories, bringing the guests back for years to come.

  • Our process varies based on the project scope, but always starts with a discovery call or meet and greet of sorts. We dive right into the project details: Concept and timeline overview, partners involved, and dialing in specific needs. From there, a project scope proposal is sent over and once we’re off to the races, we follow with an initial concept deck for review. This part is a visual aide that communicates what the direction will look and feel like, be it retail, OSE, uniforms, or anything else in the project scope.

    We geek out a bit over that together on a call so we can get a more dialed-in feel for direction, and from there we move into specifics on retail assortment or OSE specs, pricing, budgets, minimums, etc.

    We wrap it all up in a pretty package, have a few rounds of revisions, and then either send over the final selections, or take on the ordering for you. We also offer onsite installations, virtual direction, and more on-the-ground services.

  • An ideal timeline is 8-12 months in order to work our full magic, but depending on the scope, we are happy to see how we can help you at any stage.

  • Absolutely, it’s our specialty! Shoot us a note and we’ll send over our digital portfolio of all our previous custom goods—everything including tshirts, tote bags, bandanas, coloring books, robes and slippers, candles and fragrance, and ceramic and leather goods. We are a creative team with an abundance of ideas that we love to bring to life!

  • “Retail” can include your lobby shop or brick and mortar, but we also consider operating supplies, uniforms, guest/VIP gifts, pop ups and brand partnerships, as well as all ephemera. If you can buy it, we can work with it!

  • Sure can! We also work with small businesses and artists/makers to guide wholesale programs (like costs and msrps, minimums, terms, etc.) linesheet creation, potential stockist placements, brand partnerships, events, popups, tradeshows information, and creative direction. Let’s chat! :)