OVERVIEW

La Ruche is a distinctive culinary destination nestled in Severna Park, Maryland, where curious locals gather to experience thoughtfully curated food and more. More than just a market, La Ruche serves as a community hub where visitors can taste, linger, and discover artisanal products to enhance their home pantries or find meaningful gifts. Whether guests enjoy their offerings through expertly crafted charcuterie boards and boxes, or participate in intimate cooking classes and dinner parties, La Ruche invites everyone to experience food's transportive power.

Working closely with founders Shelby and Julie, our studio embarked on a comprehensive brand evolution journey that aligned with the opening of their physical retail space. Our collaborative approach blended aesthetics with strategic expertise to transform their brand with clear intention:

OUTPUT

- Renamed the brand to "La Ruche" to better resonate with their ideal audience and capture the essence of their community-focused approach & refined, expert taste.
- Developed a cohesive mission, vision, and voice that now serves as the foundation for all business decisions and customer communications.
- Created an organic visual identity system that beautifully conveys the brand's worldly yet cozy atmosphere.
- Replatformed and redesigned their digital presence to clearly showcase their unique offerings and new retail location.
- Built an optimized experience that drives growth while remaining simple for the team to manage.
- Created a digital hub that functions as an always-on sales partner, converting visitors into loyal customers with a blog component for recipes & musings.
- Collaborated with Grace Jung Designs to extend the brand identity into their physical retail space.
- Developed a targeted social media strategy with custom templates to attract and engage prospective customers.
- Documented the transformation through creative direction & professional photography for both web and social applications.

With a launch in October of 2024, the brand has achieved significant traction in a short timeframe. La Ruche has grown its Instagram following from 0 to 1,300 organic followers in just 5 months, establishing a strong social presence in the local community. The website has garnered over 4,250 total visits with 3,400 unique visitors, showing healthy audience reach for a small-town culinary destination. Direct traffic accounts for nearly half of all website visits, indicating strong word-of-mouth and brand recognition in the Severna Park area. While seeing an expected post-launch traffic adjustment after a November peak, La Ruche has maintained consistent monthly visitor numbers, establishing a solid foundation for continued growth as they further integrate into the community. *Written in March, 2025.