In the Spring of 2002, my husband and I began to talk about moving our family from Greater Vancouver to a smaller community. We looked at several options and eventually decided to move to Kelowna. Aside from opening our scrapbooking store, Kelowna offered my husband an opportunity to continue working for his employer as there is a branch office here. Prior to our move, Tim and I scouted out several proposed locations for our store and decided that our best opportunity would be to lease space on the main road in Kelowna. Our store is in a strip mall where London Drugs, Petecetera and Toys R Us are the anchor tenants.
Over the past 20 years Kelowna as grown in size and population incredibly. There are over 100,000 people in the city and another 40,000 in the outlying areas. Within a 45 minute drive north and south, there are communities of 25,000 to 50,000 people. By far, Kelowna is the city that most people come to for major purchases we have the only Costco for miles! During the summer, tourists come from all over the province to enjoy the lake, wine country and golfing. It is truly an ideal location for our family and the scrapbook store.
In August 2002, we moved with our two daughters to our new home in Kelowna. We took possession of our leased store space of about 1500 square feet and did the near impossible readied it for opening in 6 weeks. Based on our experience, I would not suggest that fast of an opening. Once the doors opened, we quickly added more products, more shelving and racking and continue to do so.
Having had the store for over two years, there are a few things I wish I had done differently. Most of all, I wish I had taken more time to understand accounting and the details of bookkeeping. I am still learning the intricacies of our software and it frustrates me at times when I do not understand the inner workings. Hiring store staff and teachers is another area that I should have taken more time on. Currently, I have excellent staff and am very pleased with the results are store is yielding. Performance based salaries, hourly wages, employee incentives are definitely worth investigating and I now understand the value of measurable employee reports.
As for the actual store, it became apparent quite early on that scrapbooking could not be our only product. To that end, we have added rubberstamping, paper crafts such as iris folding, paper piercing, decoupage, and card making. Our product mix continues to evolve and expand. We have found that product needs to turn over about 5 to 6 times per year therefore we rely heavily on inventory reports so we can re-merchandise or mark down slow moving product. Very early in the store's history, we learned not to fall in love with product if it is not selling either re-merchandise or markdown and bring in product that sells well.
From the onset, we were one of two scrapbooking stores in the area. Since we moved to town, one store closed and another store opened. One year ago, Michaels moved in (we knew they were coming when we signed our lease) and Lewiscraft closed. Walmart carries some scrapbooking supplies; in January they are moving into a larger location and it will be interesting to see what happens to their craft department.
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To make our presence known in the community we have done two types of advertising. First, we advertise to the “unconverted”. For over a year, we have done a Craft Expert column in the local newspaper. This past Spring we added television commercials for the express purpose of finding new customers. The second type of advertising is direct marketing. When I customer first comes to our store, we send them a card thanking them for shopping and giving them a coupon for their next visit. Each week, I personally write 30 thank you notes to customers that have been in the store the previous week. We also send customer appreciation letters about 3 times a year to our top 500 customers. It allows them to shop early and save even more at an event. Currently, we are doing more direct marketing than new customer advertising.
About once a month, my store manager and I sit down and map out the next 6 months of events for the store. We usually host two events each month one larger and one smaller that we hope our customers will enjoy attending. For example, in November we filled the classroom with 101 gifts you could make for Christmas. Customers could come and see the display, purchase the directions and ask questions. Then two weeks later, we celebrated Mickey Mouse's birthday (November 18). Both events had sale and special items to entice our customers further. In December, we have a craft Saturday for kids and moms and a special invitation only Christmas sale and gift wrap day. We are already working on plans for April, May and June. By working that far ahead, we can take advantage of supplier's specials, better estimate cash flow and have all the stock in place for the event.
By far, the best part of our store is our customers. We have a ton of fun with them we celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a tribute to the Red Hat Society and our customers loved it. We have 8 different clubs that meet during the month we find they are better attended (actually sell out and have waiting lists) than classes we offer. I love the friendships we have been a part of because customers have met in our store and continue to see each other outside of club time. Plus the interaction with our customers when they come to visit and show off their projects is rewarding.
Scrapbook Studio continues to evolve and change. Every day is a new learning experience for all of us. As I continue to work both in and on the business, I find the challenges very exciting and interesting.
By Patty Lou Bryant
Scrapbook Studio
105 1950 Harvey Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 8J8,
Tel: (250) 712-0470. Fax: (250) 712-0473.
Email: scrapbookstudio@hotmail.com
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