rena's retail adventure

Changes

2007-08-29T00:23:00.000-04:00

It's amazing what can happen in a month. We have a storefront lined up, we do final paperwork on it tomorrow, and get the keys by Friday. The store has a phone number. It feels incredibly official when you start paying for utilities and planning new postcards and business cards :)

There is another thousand tasks to do but we are definitely getting to the fun part. It's going to get evil expensive pretty soon but it will be worth it!

The store selling space will be small at first - around 350 square feet. When we make it through Christmas and it gets very slow, we will do some demo and remodeling and open up the space to maybe twice that size. 350 doesn't sound like much, but that is twice as much space as in the Brooklyn shop!

storefronts in SF

2007-07-25T01:41:00.000-04:00

...no, i don't have one yet. but i'm looking.
i bounce between focusing on the new venture and trying to deal with the current one, with sodafine. the latter seems more important now, especially since i'm moving so soon!

but - i am looking at a small space in hayes valley and a big one in upper market/castro. it's hard to plan my fall orders for a store that doesn't exist yet, in a location i can't be sure of. i must just trust that my suppliers can handle some tardiness this year.

good news is that rent seems to be cheaper. that will help since my apartment is not cheap, and there is NO space for a shipping office this time. nor a craft room. i'm all business, baby!

hello, testing 1 2 3

2007-07-02T16:06:00.000-04:00

wow, i am responsible for a dormant blog! i feel so ashamed..

anyway, if anyone can help out, i need leads for an apartment in san francisco, preferably under $2K if that is doable, and that takes dogs...and also for a storefront. yes, help bring RD SF to your neighborhood! how convenient will that be. send me pics or phone numbers, peeps..

so. i'm packing the house, and figuring out how to redo the store in NY with erin sodafine. it is gonna kick ass! am also trying to figure out the partnership vs LLC thing for the SF store. so much going on this month.

backlash

2007-05-11T01:15:00.000-04:00

there seems to be a backlash now against design with a capital D. so weird! it is finally getting attention on a widescale level but is sometimes seen as 'safe'...this in a world where framing a cherished silkscreen poster from a show is seen as 'genuine'. i am not passing judgment, i just think it's an interesting thing going on right now, and there is some element of design versus craft, even male versus female. it will be even more interesting to see what the design, or Design, landscape looks like in another year.

april update

2007-04-12T17:57:00.000-04:00

long time no blog. finally met ms kpoene' for real and she reminded me of this nearly dead blog...i don't mean for it to be that way. is there a whipup for store owners? that's what i would like this to be.

the light outside is weird, as if it is about to dump rain on us. i'm waiting for a shipment of umbrellas, actually. timing is everything.

let's see...i took a vacation. it was great! 10 days of not thinking about the store at all. well okay, maybe 5% but that is a big improvement. i was recharged for a while, and then worried, and now i'm inundated with product and projects again. summer is supposed to be the slow time but i have this feeling it won't be. can't reveal any details now, but soon.

i think i have finally outgrown my 9x27' space. it's not like we don't move product, but it's never as clean as i'd like it to be here, i can never find anything in the back, and i can never ever pee at work, because the bathroom is also the trash and recycling storage room, and they only pick up twice a week, etc.

observations of late: it's hard to buy for guys, they want things for different reasons than women. this is obvious, but maybe not if you analyze it a bit. a guy will or won't buy something based on a mix of factors - color, pattern, size but also the "is it too girly" thing which women don't have so much. they also like to think in, or buy in, sets or kits. they like to know technical details and what something is for. women are a bit better about repurposing...they tell ME what something is going to be used for, if they buy it, all the time. men also shop in price ranges, and they don't want to appear cheap sometimes, either for the gift recipient or maybe to me, the gal selling it to them.

i am generalizing but a lot of this is true.

more observations - people buy different things online than in the shop. but people check the site first, and then they come in to shop, so you have to put up a broad range of product, even if you know it won't sell online. our store is so important to the business! the more pictures, the more someone "knows" what you are all about, and that is going to drive whether or not they want to buy something from you. mystery does us no good.

that's all for now. lisa congdon arrives saturday, we are going to have a good time, rain or no. the party is going to be fun. i might actually roll up our rug and move the table to the basement to make more space. you can't get more than, oh, 15 people in here at once, it's like a cattle car. i just hope nobody breaks or steals anything.

bad habit

2007-02-22T17:20:00.000-05:00

when i'm frustrated, i go on etsy and buy something. it's bad! i used to wait and hit a store and buy a lipstick or something, but now i get little artist books or handmade prints. derek just rolls his eyes when i bring these things home.

...this is a lead-in to say - i bought 2 things the other night from etsy! the occasion? launching the new site on the new webhost (which is giving me worst-case-scenario problems) and panicking that there is a slowdown at the store and that i will be in italy, on vacation, for 10 days. it sounds good but that is pretty much 10 days w/o contact with the shop. laura is wonderful and it will all be fine but oh my. worries. also we have to find a dog-sitter. and oh, i really ought to submit my tax stuff to the accountant before we leave. and set up quickbooks with the new bookkeeper. etc.

you would think leaving town would be a good thing but...i am really good at putting the work down, you know what i mean?

but when i return, i'll start promoting Lisa Congdon's show, and it will be warmer, and we should have spring clothing shipments in, and folks will want to buy bags, and it will be alright.

Terrifying

2007-02-20T23:53:00.000-05:00

Yikes. So, I just moved my website from one host to another. Also, I moved to a new shopping cart, so every page URL is now different. And every link to a page on the web will be broken! This is almost a reason to never do anything so stupid. In the long run it will be okay but people will have to relink a lot of stuff. Any product page on Stylehive, or from a blog...yikes, I'll say it again.

I just hope February/March is a good time to pull this off! Time will tell, as will my stats page and web orders...

the books

2007-02-06T00:52:00.000-05:00

today i met with a bookkeeper. oy, it's long overdue. i never thought i'd get to that point, but i have a feeling i've been at that point for months and months! we discussed things and step one seems to be - upgrade your quickbooks. and a corollary is - upgrade your laptop so it can run quickbooks. time to retire the lovely 2001 powerbook, i guess. it's lasted a very long time.

right now, everything is in excel, or in my head. this is worrisome. i have quickbooks and only use it (poorly) to track consignment inventory and payments. the bookkeeper's goal is to get EVERYTHING into quickbooks. i don't have a POS system but daily sales totals can be imported. this should give me a really great, up to date snapshot of how the store is doing. i have been flying by the seat of my pants for so long, it's a bit terrifying to see how up (or down) i am cashwise, but as the store grows, it seems necessary.

in other news, the rena tom jewelry site is all gone. time to sell off those assets and leave the designing to you young whippersnappers. i have sooo many supplies, for jewelry, and for printing too, just taking up space.

the store is freezing right now. can't wait to see the electric bill.

back to work

2007-01-10T01:31:00.000-05:00

at least 3 people commented to me today that i must not sleep. er, ok it's 130am as i write this :)

today was the last day of "vacation". mostly i stayed away from the shop but i did do lots of work. it's compulsive. i fall so behind if i don't address things, and web-based businesses can't go on vacation without pissing someone off...

i have attended 2 of 4 tradeshows this month. they are never fun (except stationery show in May). today was so funny, the fashionistas were out and you have never seen so many spike heel boots over jeans plus big shearling/crazy coats. and dogs. and babies. and tall, tall thin women modelling the summer clothing. here is what is going on for spring and summer:

patent leather
50s/60s/70s style
sailor trousers
red/yellow/kelly green
big bags, again
color block clothing
flats, still
dresses, everywhere
seahorses
...it's quite a mishmash this year. the best part was hanging out with erin sodafine today, and sitting on the floor, eating popsicles.

i am a little afraid of getting back to the shop. so much needs to happen! i have to clean the shop, update the website, do testing on the new website (thanks aeolidia!), order some stuff, mark everything on sale for the weekend, receive new inventory (i hope!!), tally all my consignment payments for the year and issue 1099s to the consigners, and oh yeah ship orders and deal with walk-in customers, if any. and send stuff to 2 magazines. yup this is all scheduled before i leave for california on sunday! maybe it won't all get done.

taxes are gonna be awful. i am not quite done entering expenses. i am so bad and don't use quickbooks properly. i should have taken a class, i guess. i have been researching POS systems. ack. expense. learning curve. etc.

that is all, time to make one necklace and go to bed.

oh - renatom.com is going away soon. no more jewelry, for the most part. though i have SO many stones and supplies...need to sell that off too.

Tired

2006-12-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

Our biggest weekend, probably, is over. Saturday was much worse than Sunday, which is a reverse of the usual weekend pattern for us. The weather is mild and, while unseasonable for NY, very nice to walk around in. Lots of people strolling.

I'm tired! Today I am home making jewelry and answering mails and such. Paying bills. I walked the dog down Court and Smith St and there were tons of people, it was making me a little edgy actually. I can feel a solitary/nesting urge coming on. I just want to read a book and look at pretty pictures online and eat bad for me food. I don't want to make reservations to visit home or buy presents or do any of the things that actually need to get done. It's not good when this happens, and Christmas isn't for a week. Argh.

I feel like I'm missing out on the holiday fun. Well, I am - and it's weird. Everyone is buoyant and I am just in work mode. I really could use a break.

new world record

2006-12-07T03:17:00.000-05:00

with laura's help, we cranked out 60 boxes tonight. i have been working for about 15 hours now. time for bed.

Music to Pack Boxes By

2006-11-30T22:21:00.000-05:00

modest mouse and blonde redhead = good
coleman hawkins, cat power = i want to nap, please let me take a nap

any other suggestions?

Exhausted

2006-11-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

Ok...it's not even December and I am wiped out this year. It's the web sales. But I bet if it wasn't the web sales, it would be worrying if people will buy stuff. It's always something.

Today we packed up 26 boxes. When the backordered inventory gets here, that number will double. Yikes!

I think it is time to coerce my helper into working another day a week through the end of the year, so I don't go postal...I am bad at asking for more help but I am finally realizing I can't do everything myself. That revelation only took 33 years :)

I actually need to let go of administrative tasks. I tend to hold the boring stuff close to me, and sometimes dole out the fun stuff so that whoever is helping doesn't get too bored! That is sort of silly. Lots of things about running a business is actually very silly.

Grace posted some business-related stuff she was questioning me about to the Slate business blog. I sound pretty rambly. What I forgot to add is "don't pressure or proposition buyers anywhere in the last 2 months of the year". i really, really do not have time to buy new stuff right now. that's why the gift show is in january, right? I hope I can talk Erin into hitting the accessories show with me this year...

Blogshares

2006-11-20T01:08:00.000-05:00

What the heck is Blogshares, and why am I on it?

OK I am in a better mood today...cuz I was only at the shop for 2 hours! Yay for helpers!

I am now at the point where I am getting more orders to fulfill than i can carry home in one day. That is, of course, good and bad.

I need to make some Gift Guide pages to direct people to the things I really want them to buy, ie in-stock items. More Photoshop. My aching wrists!

From a link from Trunkt, it is predicted that while the Monday after thanksgiving will be a big online sales day, the Monday about two weeks before Xmas (the 11th?) is the biggest day of all. Maybe that is true if you are LL Bean but hopefully not true for me. I hope not to be processing any more orders after the 10th! I don't know how I am going to deal with the shop, and the online stuff. Ugh.

Things I did this weekend: order stickers. order tissue paper and bubble wrap (thanks Uline). order more piggy banks and tea kettles and jewelry. order more free USPS Priority Mail boxes. clean the office a bit to store all the supplies coming in.

I also got to visit the Market NYC which is good, I have been neglectful and you really can find good people that way. I found a couple who sew their own cute tweed caps and aviator hats, and a good jewelry person perhaps, and even a budding leather handbag person. I have to go every couple months at least...

Things to do this Monday and Tuesday - visit the Hayden-Harnett showroom and see what their bags are like in person. Go to the metal plater guy and hand over some stuff to gold-plate. Ship! Buy larger boxes at office supply, and a new calculator, and some floodlights for the store, and then come home and ship some more. Meet up with Amy Tavern at the store (yay!) for a quick visit, grab more items, bring home and ship. That's about my life these days. Oh, and mock up how I want my shopping cart experience to be like with the new cart. Did I say Photoshop? Yes, time to wear the wrist braces.

To everyone who wrote in - hi! Thanks! and seriously, if you want to contribute to this blog, please send me a real email so I can write you back (rena at raredevice dot net will do) and set up your account. It should be fun, promise.

Helpful tools undown - backpackit.com and wists.com and potentially rememberthemilk.com though I haven't used it yet.

a saturday...

2006-11-18T18:26:00.000-05:00

things that happened because i am a wuss and can't tell people to stop, aka things you shouldn't do:

1. let your child rollerblade in my store
2. let your child ride their razr scooter in my store
3. put your damp drink on top of my display cases where it leaves a big sticky puddle
4. pull the intestines out of the stuffed pig in the window like you are jumping out of an airplane and it is time to pull the ripcord
5. grab a bag from a shelf over your head to look at it and then, when finished, ignore the shopkeeper who says "i'll put that back for you" and start throwing it in the air to try and land it back on the shelf

um, i think that's enough for one day.

November Update

2006-11-12T20:50:00.000-05:00

Holiday gift-buying has begun. It began two weekends ago, actually, which is GREAT. Less handbag sales, more jewelry sales. Books are starting to move again, they were pretty stagnant through the summer. And people are checking out the magazines...but maybe they just like standing in front of the very warm radiator :)

Websales have started picking up too, a little worrisome because everyone is picking out things that I go out of stock of very fast. Meaning - if something does well with an initial order, just do a big second order. Get it over with. I am so chicken to tie up money in things like that, and I don't always guess right, but I have to keep trying.

I bought the wrong floormat :( It's too thick! I bought a nice "waterhog" one for snowy days, instead of the cheapie Lowe's variety, and guess what, my door is too close to the hardwood and I need a superthin mat. Bummer.

I have hired Aeolidia to work on my website 3.0. A real shopping cart, with order status and wishlists and inventory management! Wow! Too bad it will go live AFTER the season is pretty much over. Oh well.

I'm not sure who is reading this blog anymore. I'm not sure what to do with it. I kind of want other indie shopkeepers to be authors and contribute, a la Whip Up. Just a place to make comments about what is going on in the biz throughout the year. If anyone wants to be involved, let me know.

Tip: Use technorati to find out who is linking to you. Lisa of Good on Paper told me about this one. Type in http://technorati.com/search/www.yourstorename.com and you will see...

Fall Season

2006-09-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

Let it be known that last wknd, the 3rd one in September, was the first really good shopping weekend after the summer. I was sort of hoping that things would get moving right after Labor Day but I guess there's a bit of a settling-in period, getting the kids to school, etc plus fashion week is over now and it's just *sort of* starting to cool off properly. I can't believe I have sold hats and scarves and gloves already! If I had coats, people would be looking at them.

Bags are moving too, it really is the bread and butter right now. That's fine by me as I can bring in new bag designers which is great for them and for me. The gift/housewares stuff is doing better online but as we approach gift-giving season, maybe that will change.

Currently freaking about - setting up Jill's show in a lovely and timely manner, cleaning the house so she can stay over, and then doing some shopping for the reception. We're having our one year anniversary in October too, which needs to be celebrated. I have SO many people to get on the mailing list as well, manually, ugh, and then there is creating an inventory system for the website, etc etc etc.

One year in and I still don't have a "system" for a lot of the day to day activities, I still don't have an outdoor sign, there are a lot of things sort of lacking. I am getting some help in the shop though so maybe I will catch up a bit.

scream

2006-09-17T12:22:00.000-04:00

my carting service won't pick up my trash and recycling. it's been sitting on the sidewalk for about 3 days now. it's awful. the whole privatized trash thing just kills me here, for this reason. my neighbors use this carting service and they don't have any problems. this is actually the SECOND company and i only hired them last week! my other neighbors use the other company and their trash also gets picked up. why don't they like me???

september is here

2006-09-08T15:08:00.000-04:00

it's 2:58pm and the kids are starting to trickle by from the school down the street. ah, it is autumn!

long time no post. it's been a very busy summer. we got spectacular online press and it almost makes print press unnecessary...almost. people now can say "they saw me in Lucky" (and how does one get one of those stickers for the window, anyway?) and i hope to get into some gift guides in the next month or two.

actually i am a little terrified of gift guide press as it means that 1) i have to fulfill these orders, and i hate shipping 2) well into December when the shop itself is supposed to be busy.

my latest worries are - finding part time help ASAP, how to present Jill Bliss' artwork next month, ordering enough stuff for the internet sales, not completely alienating the husband with my shipping and packing stuff all over the house, and making some money this winter. i sure hope i am buying the right things.

i know i keep saying this but i really think this winter's jewelry collection is the last. i just have no time or energy to devote to it and it is sad and also i think makes me look bad.

Make It

2006-07-10T00:29:00.000-04:00

It is somewhat terrifying to be reading a blog and then see your picture. It also makes you think "time to get a haircut"...but anyway, check out Make It (http://rifferaff.typepad.com/make_it/) if you need any sort of info on your crafty biz. I like how there is a convergence of blogs, bulletin boards, meet ups and the like to help one another along. I wish these resources were around when I was starting out, and that was only back in 2003!

Someone responded to the Lena/Rena podcast by wondering how to break into a new industry. The answer is to just say - I am going to do it. And then do it. I have done this since I was in college I guess...sign up for a ridiculous double major? Sure I can do it. Scrap all of it to learn HTML cuz it sounded neat? (1994-5 mind you) OK ask someone how it works. Oh I want to move to San Francisco and make more money? Check out craigslist, get interviews, drive 5 hours for the interview and then get the job.

Basically you do your research and say you can do it. I didn't know how to make jewelry but I decided that's what I wanted to do when my wrists started going out from the computer. I never worked in a true retail environment or knew ANYTHING about buying, managing a store, etc but I talked to people and bought some books and did it. Sometimes you have to just bite the bullet.

I know a lot of people have family and cashflow circumstances and can't just drop everything but then you start with a smaller goal and work up from there. Trust me, it works :)

Be Good

2006-07-09T14:57:00.000-04:00

Two customers today (regulars, male) told me to "be good" as they were leaving. Is this the new salutation instead of "have a nice day"?

It's almost mid-July and we are selling bags and bags and bags. The darker ones and the winter white ones. I guess it's a schizophrenic time of year, people are actually thinking about their fall wardrobes.

groupings

2006-07-06T17:01:00.000-04:00

people shop in clusters. both variety of people and kind of thing they are shopping for. it's weird!

for example today was Shoppers Wearing Hats. other days are People Who Need Wallets.

Summer Begins

2006-06-24T12:42:00.000-04:00

it's officially summer and that means rain, humidity, extreme sunshine, noisy neighbors, people on vacation. i totally understand the european siesta as there is nothing going on in the middle of the day, but a burst of energy when i open (and people leave their house) and at the end of the day (when the sun is lower, it's cooler, they are foraging for dinner, etc).

sales are better than the beginning of the month. overall expenses aren't too bad as the buying has slowed down, but the quarterly sales tax payment made a big dent. can't forget about the sales tax! i need to creates a net sales column in Excel so that i don't look at the gross number and get really happy.

still undecided on the clothing issue. some shops like Living on 7th/5th are the same as me, they have gift and houseware and bags, and then a rack or two of clothing. i wonder how it's working out for them.

pros of keeping the clothing: draw young women customers in who may not generally enter a "gift" boutique. draw in their boyfriends who read books and mags while they wait for girlfriend to try on clothes. basically, draw in people who aren't just into buying a gift.

cons: keeping up with the fashion lifecycle, committing to buying clothing 4-6 months ahead, having to deal w/ the fickle and trendy fashions (especially in NY), lack of space. let's face it, if i didn't have the clothing rack i'd have 5 more linear feet of space. and i can fit a lot of shelving for other goods in a space 5 feet wide.

one option is to pare down to just printed tees, which are seasonless and more or less a gift item. some stores don't even have a dressing room (ie Giant Robot) as the shirts are just an impulse buy. if i just have tees, i can do men's and women's, and even fold them and put them onto said shelves, and have shelves leftover for housewares or books.

why am i resistant to this? it seems like an ideal solution. well, i still am wedded to the notion of supporting tiny designers and i have some very tiny clothing designers doing great stuff and they rarely get rack space. i definitely want to keep some of these people, clothing is all some people around here will buy, etc etc. i don't know what to do.

anyway. i found a leather handbag line that hovers around the $200 mark, plus or minus $30. that is the sweet spot i hope! categories that are doing well - bags, ceramics, little beauty products, wall art, jewelry. i wish i had a bigger store.

June update

2006-06-16T02:44:00.000-04:00

Summer doldrums have started to set in. It's not going to be as slow as, say, January - but quite a change from May!

Fortunately there is the magical Internet, and online sales. People may be going to the Hamptons on the weekends here but there are plenty of folks not going anywhere, tap-tapping on their computers all year round.

This could be why I maintain so many businesses and projects - when one slows down, the other one is there for you.

The shop is quite warm now, I run the A/C all day. But, the direct sunlight is shallower as summer approaches (high school physics [or astronomy] to the rescue) and at least I don't have 6 foot beams of sunlight hitting my candles, soaps, and other meltables.

Other things I have learned - when I get down to one item or so, remove it. Nobody likes taking the last one. However...someone will come in looking for it, and then you can sell it anyway, and it wasn't even taking up display space. Cool!

Another good thing to do - put little explanatory labels near the inscrutable items. More things fit in this category than you think. People still like to read, thank God.

One thing I have been wondering about is when to retire a product. There is the whole "rare" notion versus keeping a product that you know you can reliably sell all the time. I tend to want lots of new stuff but I think designers get mad when you don't reorder. I know I get mad when a store doesn't get my new line of jewelry! But, I understand it a bit better now.

May update

2006-05-07T11:11:00.000-04:00

Well we are finally in the "good" part of the year...it's spring and people are walking around more and getting presents for people, and themselves. It really is nice out though I have had to crank up the A/C at the shop already and that is a noisy and fairly inefficient beast.

New site http://clothes-pin.blogspot.com/ that covers new designers, it is useful to peek at now and then!

Sodafine and Emmaluv swear up and down that the one year point is magical for businesses, and things that never sold before will sell then. Isn't that weird? Does anyone else have at experience?

I am off to the Accessories show on Monday. Yes it's a tradeshow and I didn't really want to go down that road but a lot of small designers these days are doing that route to drum up sales, so it is convenient in that way. They are exhausting and just not that much fun, however...except visiting with people! That's always fun!

I am going to hunt down the mythical leather bag line under $200 that isn't all over Park Slope already. It is a tough job.

Things are going well at the store, except that my girl is not working as much on the wknds as I'd like, so I am going to have to consider enticing someone else in for Sundays at least...ok time to open the shop!

funny

2006-03-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

too many of my posts were labeled 'ugh' i just noticed. that would be the winter sales thing.

so far - february was the best month (!) january the worst, and march is turning out to be in the middle. it is now sunny and even if the sales aren't big, the weather helps a LOT, at least for me, in terms of outlook. being warm enough to get away from the space heater and actually walk around the store, redo displays etc probably helps too. keeps it lively.

i have a ton of bags and clothes, i hope it moves. i have strayed from the housewares thing somewhat but am trying to bring it back. it just seems there are a lot more of me-buyers (i need a purse today!) than say wedding gift shoppers. but i love my regulars who pop in to check out the new stuff, and it is doubly cool to see them sporting jewelry/bags into the store.

i am starting to get denied by vendors who sell to others in the area. that's a whole other post. i have had to do my first 'deny' (but politely i hope!) for a line, but the other store is 2.5 blocks away and we both sell housewares and are modern and it's too close. i am on good terms with them so i hope it's alright, they have other lines i love that they have had for years so i think we're even :)

taxes pretty much figured out, god bless startup expenses! also i now have a expenditures ledger (in excel) which is so stupid and simple and yet, i didn't have one last year. now i have to enter the first 3 months of 2006 into it, but then i'm up to date. another project.

- expenditures
- make a outdoor sign
- make new stickers
- plan a mother's day event
- plan for father's day/ 7th ave street fair
- pay bills
- more products online
- send out press kits
- buy products for father's day
- plan what i want for holiday (!)
- etc

note to self

2006-03-17T17:21:00.000-05:00

remember this for next year: save up some money for March! quarterly sales tax payments are due, income tax is next month, and then there's paying for all of the spring clothing and new stuff at the shop. February was deceptively good but March is slow getting off the ground. sock some money away somewhere for the quarterly sales tax (since it includes holiday sales) as that is the final straw, really...

Sigh

2006-02-15T17:27:00.000-05:00

The window in front of my shop is not thick at all. I can hear people outside *perfectly*. A couple just walked by and what I could catch in passing was "It's not affordable at ALL." "Really?"

I guess they could be talking about something else but most likely it was a comment about my store. This stings a bit, but I am growing a thick retailer skin and getting over it. Affordable is a very relative term, especially in New York. Certainly I have some expensive items in the shop but I do not inflate prices like, say, my local grocers do. A non perishable food product may be two dollars at one shop and four dollars at another 10 blocks away. Two dollars is not much but over time it adds up like everything else.

Anyway - just blowing off a tiny bit of steam.

Valuable Reading!!!

2006-02-07T23:26:00.000-05:00

I just posted this at the main store site - might be a mistake but oh well. This is crucial info if you are going to have a store, or are a designer! Both!

Wholesale, Retail, and Beginning to Sell Your Handmades to Shops -

Part One
Part Two

Whip up

2006-02-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

so entirely good!!!

http://www.whipup.net/

things to remember for ordering, next year

2006-01-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

people STILL are looking for calendars and especially organizers and planners. i think this is a good thing.

ugh

2006-01-06T17:58:00.000-05:00

welcome again, i really mean to update this, i do.

my least favorite part of the neighbors - that many of them smoke and they do this 3 feet from my door. sometimes they do this while standing in front of my door, watching me or looking into the shop. creepy! and smelly!

my most favorite part of the neighbors - that it is a sushi restaurant, and they do lunch specials, and they bring it over to me, and i get free soup, and they also make change when i run out of ones. so that's excellent.

ok it's january and it's sloooooooow. i was warned but this is ridiculous. now i know why december is so exciting for retailers. fortunately i'll have one good holiday (valentine's) for sales, and then spring clothes and stuff arrives and everyone gets in the mood again.

also i have time again to crank on my own jewelry orders and redo my website and prep samples to send to magazines and work on the taxes etc. so it's not like i'm idle...which is too bad cuz i don't even get to read the great, great books and zines i have brought in here! nor work on the overdue husband scarf!

ugh

2005-12-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

10 days til the holiday of your choice. i am wiped out. it's been a while since i've written. i have made myself sick actually, i had a terrifying headache for 2 days straight...now it just comes and goes. and it's not like the store itself is swamped, but i am busy. next year it is definitely worth trying to hire someone, if only to give me a break now and then.

i'm making a lot of decisions (or trying to start making them) for The Future. granted the shop has only been open two months but i feel a solid plan would help me chill out about the store a bit.

1. overhaul of website, adding products, making e-commerce much better
2. deciding how much online sales i want to push, what products to feature, etc
3. what lines i want in the shop for winter/spring, what kinds of products do i want to be known for
4. how to rearrange the shop to make it seem more spacious, what to keep and what must go, how to make it visually appealing
5. deciding who is my audience and how much is actually who drops by and how much to cater to their taste

oh, and
6. creating, photographing and sending out Spring 06 jewelry to retailers, and putting on the other website

whew! gonna be a heck of a winter "break".

Things Learned In December (already!)

2005-12-02T15:52:00.000-05:00

1. Cherish your space heater. The door leaks heat badly, and that isn't even when it is open when people visit. Because on a windy day like this, nobody wants to visit.

2. Don't bring downer music to work. Instinctively I bring "cozy" music but when you are by yourself all day, it's kind of tough. No Joel Phelps. No Uncle Tupelo (though possibly Wilco's 'A.M.' is okay) and no drony electronica, or you will fall asleep in front of your toasty space heater.

3. For next time - plan yet more parties, trunk shows, sample sales and the like for weekends in December. It seems to be the thing to do.

breakage

2005-11-16T17:38:00.000-05:00

first broken item by a customer (that i know of). a little tealight holder in ceramic, shattered all over the floor. it was an accident and she was very sorry. so was i! ah well.

today there is a big picture of the shop, with me fuzzy in the background, in Time Out NY. press is cool because it makes the shop more legitimate somehow? anyway, everyone came by today mentioning Daily Candy. that really is the bible for folks!

party tomorrow. how am i going to chill the wine? and other issues...

press

2005-11-15T12:23:00.000-05:00

daily candy is featuring my store today. yay press!

already there are thousands of hits to the site, and people with products emailing me, and a request for samples from the Daily News. press begets press, which is very nice at this time of the year.

i am somewhat freaking out about the party but i shouldn't, right? i should instead freak out about getting a tooth crowned today and not having insurance :(

visitors

2005-11-11T18:05:00.000-05:00

today i wrote about the good kind of visitors on the other blog, here i will write about the bad sort. well, not bad, but weird. a man came bursting in with maybe a 12 year old boy behind him. he walks right up to me and starts asking for money for his family, his baby etc, he has a laminated card that says 'i have no job, i am hungry'.

now, being panhandled on the street is one thing. i don't even think the NY ones are as aggressive as in SF. but when someone is entering my space, where i am generally by myself, well, i get a bit nervous. especially considering the approach (walking straight up to me and getting in my face) which the average person entering the store doesn't do. i am getting used to it (lots of characters like to chat w/ the shopkeeper, evidently) but it tweaks out my comfort level, definitely.

one of the aforementioned characters, Jack, even suggested that i put a buzzer on the door to let people in. i really don't want to do that. we'll see.

visits

2005-11-07T00:46:00.000-05:00

the famous ms erika of mellifluous couture visited today with her adorable family. i can't wait for her to start sewing again! when she feels better of course.

tomorrow i visit 3 showrooms to look at bags. it's an obsession. i haven't done a showroom visit before and am a bit nervous that i will be spending an incredible amount of money by accident or, er, salesmanship.

ugh

2005-11-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

last week i saw a dad and son outside, the dad was on his cell phone and the kid was bored. i saw him rubbing at my chalkboard sign. BUT because the dad was there i figured he wasn't doing anything bad.

of course he was erasing letters. pretty harmless but why didn't the dad stop him?

mixed

2005-10-31T10:53:00.000-05:00

well it was quite a weekend. i had my two best days so far, which was great. derek and i celebrated with some really quite good sushi.

and then i got home while he went off to Pratt to photocopy something. one of our two guinea pigs has been sick for some time. last night she really was looking awful, and she passed away a couple hours after i got home. oh, the crying. today i woke up and forgot that anything good had happened at all. the sun is shining and it's my day off and halloween and i don't feel like doing anything at all.

anyway. i am developing some odd shopkeeper's guilt from not being everywhere at all times, instead being cooped up in the store all week. i am still getting used to "going to work" as it has seriously been about 4 years since i've had to do so. i need to learn patience, and pacing, and to hold onto the optimism. i need to thoroughly enjoy being where i'm at, and then i will be okay.

short stack

2005-10-27T23:20:00.000-04:00

i have waaaaaaaaaay too many bags at the shop, but these make me really happy:
http://www.pettprojects.com/bags.html

well it's been slow so i have reorganized a lot at the shop. and i am trying to strategize how to sell select things online with a minimum of fuss. i have hooked up SimpleViewer for gallery-style display but have to work out the linking, paypal etc. my site is quite ugly, i haven't made such a boring one in a while, but i just can't take the time to make it purdy.

if you are in san francisco, some of derek's crazy friends from software-land made a movie! about san francisco! starring god! or, that is, our friends rob and nolan and a bunch of other wackies. it is playing a "matinee" at the roxie sometime soon.

more things

2005-10-24T17:23:00.000-04:00

i run out of 5 dollar bills a lot. and dimes. i wonder if statistically you can predict what to keep in the cash drawer. actually, a super book i got last month, Retail in Detail, does tell you how much to stock. doh! i should write it down.

also - the credit card terminal used to be on the counter, in view, and now it's hidden. it could be coincidence but 80% of buyers are paying cash now. do they think i can't take credit cards? there are stickers on the door. credit card buyers *do* spend more usually. i am going to put the little tent sign on the counter, i guess.

music - i am listening to sweet and crazy Joanna Newsom singing 'milk-eyed mender'. so good. there is a lovely, tiny record store down the block. i haven't really found anything like it elsewhere in brooklyn.

visitors

2005-10-21T12:26:00.000-04:00

i get lots of non-customer visitors. so far i have had:

"gypsies" who wanted to repaint the front of my store (very high pressure guys)
the poland spring water dispenser guy
yellow pages salesman
two different companies who want to do my awning
a palmist. yes he wanted to read my future!

getting there

2005-10-19T22:49:00.000-04:00

i used to work with a lovely lady named elise at gap inc. there was a mostly all-girl crew who ran the day-to-day of the websites, and we were young and it was quite jolly...socially i mean, i quit that job less than a year and a half into it. it was the late 90s and we all dyed our hair different colors, mine was crayola box red and elise was usually blue and i think cindy was green. anyway elise runs a GREAT internet radio station called Indie Pop Rocks (http://www.somafm.com/) and i stream it all day long...in my "studio" over the powerbook speakers, so as not to violate any ascap fee music playing rules. so that's good.

the other good thing is that my replacement credit card terminal arrived and i set it up today and lo and behold, it works!!! i will ship the dud back tomorrow. i am pretty happy. the last irksome issue is the telephone. right now, if you call the shop number, Vonage will forward it to my cell phone. i was hopeful i'd be able to tap the broadband connection, or even split the credit card line, but i'm so afraid of messing up the terminal that i think that's out of the question. now, i have a handset with nothing to plug into, and a phone number with nowhere to go. great.

what else. i need to buy twine to tie up recycling. i am buying stuff for this store all the time. i also signed up for a store credit card. BAD, DANGEROUS PATH TO GO DOWN i know, i know, but i will try and keep it under control.

my darling pet cockroach, Pippi Jr, is still hanging out in the bathroom. why won't he get hungry and go away? i don't get it. it is humorous and gross, both.

Pippi the mannequin is out of the window and near the door now. i think that a girly outfit in the window automatically makes guys not look at the shop, and it has really nice things for guys i think, so i need to get them in the door.

the weather is nice so i am happy. it doesn't take much for a california girl. today was the quickest yet - i didn't notice i was there for 7+ hours at all.

first week

2005-10-17T14:58:00.000-04:00

well everyone, my very exciting first week is over! i am now enjoying my monday and tuesday "weekend"...by doing work. bleh. but i think i'll sneak out for a matinee tomorrow, or maybe shoe shopping. i now know that none of my shoes are adequate for standing in all day long! squishy clarks or danskos are in order.

just wanted to tell everyone to check out http://www.cribcandy.com/, it is a cool compendium of neat design things that are collectively contributed. it runs on Wists (http://www.wists.com) which is a free, awesome visual bookmark system. so, when you see something great as you are surfing around, you can add it to your bookmarks, which is actually a web page with a thumbnail of the item. it is so handy. i used it a lot while gathering products for my store, it is a good way to see everything at once so you can merchandise effectively.

multiple super things have happened already, PR-wise. first, designsponge wrote a great great piece about the store. then, Variety.com Stylephile did a blurb on the store opening the next day. and now, i think the store opening will be listed on the Lucky website later this month, and finally, someone from Daily Candy visited and i just did a little phone interview with her. yay!

locally, i bought a bit of advertising which should help sales. the Park Slope Reader quarterly is coming out this week and i have a quarter-page ad. the rates are surprisingly reasonable so i think it's worthwhile. and, there is a brooklyn shopping guide (brochure and website) called brooklynnow.com that i am on as well, which is fun.

i think i have picked a date for the opening party - nov 17. the week before i have to sell jewelry at Gen Art and then it's veteran's day, so i think the week after is a good time. i hope everyone who is local can come!

friday observations

2005-10-14T16:12:00.000-04:00

this has been the slowest day so far. a bit depressing! at this point of the rain cycle, people are just unhappy and trying to be at home. i am quick sick of it myself. it is reminding me of being in california for the last nasty el nino winter (1997-98) when it rained for 6 months straight.

a retail rule, i'm finding: if it's not for sale, someone wants to buy it. i don't have many 'props' at the shop but people ask about them anyway.

gross out - the cockroach in the bathroom is STILL THERE. it's just hanging out behind a sponge, for days now. every so often he waggles his antennae at me to let me know he's just going to stay there for the winter. don't they eat or anything?

what else. i'm learning that i need to buy in bigger quantities. it's hard to predict a hot seller but if you have an inkling, buy buy buy!

the ebay guy is sending me another credit card terminal. i never could get this one to work. sigh. it's all going on propay for now. good thing i have that set up.

i need to buy a big ol' bottle of Aleve for the shop.

evdo

2005-10-13T00:06:00.000-04:00

hello! not sure if anyone is reading this but i'll post anyway.

things -

EVDO is working! at home at least. i got my wireless PC card and am now happily sitting on the couch, surfing the web etc. this should work pretty much anywhere, which is very cool. the weird part is figuring out how the outgoing mail works, since i won't be using earthlink like i do at home.

also i have a phone line for my credit card terminal. that's the good news. the bad news is that when i start to install the software for the terminal, the screen blanks out and loses data. it is a refurbed machine but this is ridiculous. time to email the guy i bought it from. hope it wasn't a mistake.

rain = sucky. also damp hardwood floors swell up so my front door doesn't close all the way. ugh.

whew

2005-10-09T22:19:00.000-04:00

the first full day at the shop went well, considering the rain that fell ALL DAY, the winds, etc. it was a nasty day.

but people came in, looked around, shopped. it was cool. and someone (English teacher, natch) recognized where the name of my shop came from :)

FYI i have started the "official" store blog at raredevice.blogspot.com - it's gonna have news and new product info. this site will continue sporadically for the nitty gritty news...

so cross your fingers that on Wednesday, i'll have both a phone line and broadband wireless service!

updated list

2005-10-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

1. got a much nicer (though used) $20 phone from craiglist to replace the stolen one, so all is well in the world.
2. if the broadband wireless works (called EVDO, check it out on google), i can theoretically do one of those techie acronym things - VoIP over EVDO. doesn't that sound good?
3. dog is HOWLING at the fire engine that just went by. she sounds so sad.
4. boy are my teeth clean!
5. going to take a car service to the store w/ my parcels. the subway security checks are just going to be too painful w/ all my boxes.
6. i need music at the shop!
7. haven't made a sale yet. c'mon people where are you???
8. everyone has been fondling the kristen aronsson and margaret nicole bags. it's all about bags.
9. last night's ramadan meal was pasta w/ meat sauce, and honeycake for dessert.
10. happy weekend everyone!

things

2005-10-04T21:51:00.000-04:00

oh how i love lists.

1. happy ramadan - i knew there was a reason that hundreds of boxes of dates were flying out of the shop downstairs...
2. someone stole my cell phone today, while i was at the shop. it makes me so sad at humanity sometimes. a cheapo $20 phone.
3. dentist tomorrow. yuck.
4. my newest adventure is trying for broadband wireless. if it works, then i can cart my laptop pretty much anywhere in NY and get a signal. take that, starbucks!
5. derek is not home yet, boo.
6. i have WAY too many cards and journals at the shop. oops.
7. i don't have enough jewelry yet.
8. the place is looking really good!

i can't take it any longer

2005-10-02T22:12:00.000-04:00

well folks. i'm just gonna have to open the doors this week. !!!!

i can't wait any more. the store will never be "done", i should remember that from the ol' web design days. so, i might not have the proper matching hooks in the store, i don't have a sign in the window, and i don't even run credit cards on my brand new merchant account, but i am going to take down the paper from the window anyway, and see who shows up.

yay!

for locals, please stop by and say hi! i am nervous as heck about this and need to be patted on the head. i will probably have limited hours on thursday and friday, and i'm not sure about the weekend yet, but all will be normal starting next wednesday.

i am not entirely sure what to do about this weblog either...i think i will keep it as the store blog and post alerts about new items, but i will send out periodic emails as well, maybe every 6 weeks or so.

and the party...time to think about the party. i think i want to be good and established (sign in the window and credit card terminal chugging away) so it looks like early november.

so unhappy

2005-09-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

after spending all yesterday, 8-5, waiting for verizon at the shop, they never showed up. GRR. i find out that they did a check at the F1 (some kind of switching station) and found out they have no more lines for me, or something. argh.

and then today, i checked in with speakeasy and found out they *cancelled* my order. without telling me. because what the F1 thing really means is that there are no more lines to lease for my one-link DSL. !!!!!

i am so very mad. so i have a vonage phone number set up, printed on business cards and all, and no Ethernet to plug it into. and i can't have Ethernet without getting a land line set up. so i would be paying for two phone lines. this is exactly what i was trying to avoid. nice to find out it can't happen, one month after signing up for it.

not sure what i'm going to do yet :(

ikea pt 2

2005-09-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

the secret is to get on the 11am bus, then take the first return bus at noon. if you know EXACTLY what you want, it is doable.

so we got some jarpen. we got some klang. and then we got the hell out of there. derek installed the jarpens until we ran out of anchors, and i popped in the klangs, all five of them, nice and lined up and level (more or less). and then i put greeting cards on them and danced around a bit. (possibly the fumes from the oil-based stain for the counter contributed to the dancing. ooh my head.)

so the Bubble Roome soap scent is fighting the icky toxic stain scent, and i think it will win. though i have to put another coat on tomorrow.

i have this goal in my head of opening doors this weekend. i don't think it's actually going to happen, but it's good to have a goal. i mean, no tissue paper or bags, no credit card machine, no telephone, no signage. no clothing rack yet. um, no it's not going to happen. but soon!

i'm still stuck on how to display earrings (other than flat) in the case. i might have to hit some other shops and check out what they do.

also: today i bought the first top of my new, non-slubby wardrobe. it's cute and asymmetrical and has a red buckle on it. whoa! and we did the Atlantic Antic and ate the shawerma, banh mi and a pulled pork sandwich too. the street is filled with garbage now, it's kind of gross.

maple ply = yummy

2005-09-24T17:56:00.000-04:00

hey hey it's my birthday!

so this morning erin's boyfriend brought over the counter/jewelry display he made for me. it's awesome. my floor is really crooked so we're going to have to shim one side, which is too bad. argh crooked floors! i just bought some white-ish stain so it will have some grain showing, kind of like pickled wood. that's tomorrow i guess, after IKEA and after i eat the world's best shawarma at the crazy Atlantic Antic festival, which runs right outside of my apartment all day long. can you say, 100,000 people really don't fit very well on Atlantic Ave? i will also enjoy the music and belly dancing of 'eddie the sheik'. all. day. long.

some pics for you. we added yet more shelves to the right half of the room. big fluffy pillows go there. it's getting kind of exciting. the left side needs lots of work still, and i have to get something for the center of the room, but we're getting there.

also i got some cutie birthday books from Good on Paper. just found out they are in the October InStyle, which is quite a coup!

ok, pictures:

luck

2005-09-22T17:58:00.000-04:00

not having much lately. everything i ordered online, early, isn't available, or they never got my order, or some catastrophe. i'm talking to you, IKEA! maybe if the phone rep knew that their system had dropped all Internet orders since the 13th, they would have posted something on the website maybe?

so i get to go to IKEA again on the bus. yay. on my birthday. yay. i think this means i get some cinnamon rolls as a consolation prize.

i got an order of soap and bath stuff today and so my whole house is gently scented.

i am covering all white painted surfaces with contact paper. magical, nearly invisible, smudgeproof contact paper.

i got the bill from Con Ed for the utility deposit. it's huge, but they put it in an account and pay 2.6% on it. i can't even get that from a bank, so maybe i should give them more of my dough. they have been quite nice, actually.

what else? trying to decide what to do about computer/printer at the shop. i have a regular old inkjet, and an all-in-one black and white laser printer. which one to bring?

got in some more maga/zines too. i'm really not sure if they'll make any money, but i want to carry them. amazon, bless them, really does suck up business from the booksellers. my only hope is to carry titles that are not easily found. it's hard!

i need a medic

2005-09-20T22:30:00.000-04:00

my wrists are going down, down, down. too much computer! they are numb in spots. i have wristguards but the answer, sadly, is just to lay off the computer.

i am a bit behind in the jewelry making department right now, and need to get with it. i need to hire someone to help me a day or two a week, and then everything would be fine!

let's see. friday my counter and jewelry display arrives, very exciting. i'm getting some acrylic boxes made, about the size of a standard jewelry tray but taller, to hold more goodies, they should be ready on friday too. at that point 85 percent of the fixtures will be in place and really, i can start putting inventory out. there is still last-minute stuff to do, quite a lot, like painting/cleaning up the aluminum window trim (already has most of a coat of paint on it), and the radiator cover and the platform in front of the window which looks awful right now. hemming the dressing room curtain. getting vinyl lettering for the window. installing the damn phone line. stuff like that.

i am trying to get some fun books and magazines in, too. i already have JPG mag, with photography, and there is another one called Hamburger Eyes about photography. there is a little culture zine called The Drama, and i'll have some KnitKnit, and a new one from the Stanford design school called Ambidextrous.

what i have to do now is stop compulsively looking for new product. i have quite enough! now i am just bookmarking things.

progress

2005-09-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

today i ran into the Shy Siren ladies and completely forgot to nag them about consignment! they helped me flag a car service to take my new west elm shelves (sigh, more shelving) to the shop. the car service really wanted to take me to 7th ave and 16th in manhattan, but i didn't let them.

derek is currently at the shop, installing said shelves. that man has stamina. the inventory is starting to arrive and i'm starting to freak about where it's all going to go. eep!

so my super-special notebooks, trucked all the way from portugal, are here. they are so lovely and tiny and limited edition. i'm all about the limited edition.

and my business cards from overnight prints came today too. they look quite spiffy, i opted for the hipster rounded-corner look. they are like tiny playing cards.

other things - today the F train sucked a lot. i rode a very late car from Bergen St to 47th, with no air conditioning. it was seriously much warmer in the train than outside. bleh. bad subway day.

ikea

2005-09-17T19:20:00.000-04:00

looks like my Jarpen shelves are back in stock! this means i get to take the IKEA shuttle from port authority to elizabeth, NJ and bring back as much as i think i can carry on the subway. fun fun sunday plans.

jewelry display - ugh. it gets expensive. i've decided that some earrings can lie flat, some can hang on a pin in the wall-mounted case, and some will have to go on those leatherette earring stands in the countertop display space. hopefully there will be enough room. i might have to rig up a wire rack for the top of the counter, and just keep an eye on the jewelry.

legal - i bought and am actually trying to use QuickBooks. it is hard because there are so many options!! also it doesn't do a good job w/ inventory and has nothing for consigners so i have to either buy a separate inventory/POS system, or just do it by hand. it might be the latter for now as i have no more money!

collateral - ordered some biz cards from overnightprints, on erika/mellifluous' approval. hope they turn out nice. also ordered a rubber stamp of just the R and D to use on hang tags and envelopes and i guess shopping bags. hm, time to buy shopping bags.

i got a haircut and it is oh so lovely. almost boy-short again, to combat the humidity that has arisen this week.

more pictures, this time with more inventory! i'd like to say i took them so i can see how well i've space-planned or something, but i just wanted to feel the actualization of my planning. it feels good.

purses! mostly west coast folk.

lovely JPG magazines live and in person on the reading rack.

gratuitous dog shot, mia at home. she like to restructure her bed for total comfort.

more bags, unisex styles, nice and simple. these are a tough waterproof nylon and i will have colored canvas as well, in different shapes, including a bowling bag and a laptop bag.

pippi gets some clothing. owls are the new squirrels!

interesting fact

2005-09-14T18:47:00.000-04:00

when you are expecting a package, OF COURSE they try to deliver it 20 minutes before you get there, but you have no way of knowing that until you go home 4 hours later and check the computer. duh.

this meant however that i got a lot of time to scrutinize the Store So Far and decide that i needed more flat surfaces, ie shelving. and this means that i need matching shelving. and because of the wenge, i have the dark brown IKEA Jarpen shelves that they don't sell online, only in stores. and because of that, it's sold out all over the Northeast. o-kay!

i am still pondering how to display earrings, too. such a hassle, earrings, especially the long dangly sort that don't look good lying down on a nice civilized "shadow suede" pad.

to everyone and their comments - thanks! and yes i have hit all the organization stores around. twice. it gets so expensive!

---

inventory arrives daily. it's really fun and gratifying to see all the goodies. i got a batch of lovely design and oddball books from Chronicle Books/Princeton Architectural Press, and gorgeous stuff from Sharon Spain, who got a big fat mention in the S.F. edition of Lucky this month. and more bags and cards i am just not going to tell you about yet! don't you love surprises?

why a bubble level is your best friend

2005-09-13T12:46:00.000-04:00

we have been spending a lot of time at the hardware store, ikea, the store, and the place that sells great iced tea down the street.

let's do the bad news first. one: we found a giant cockroach in the bathroom. eeeew! two: ikea never has enough of anything in stock. three: nobody knows who does the private trash pickup on my street, so i don't have trash service, so everything is staying in the store for now.

now the good news: 80% of the shelving is up and looks awesome. liberal use of the bubble level and profanity enables me and the wonderful husband workerbee to create straight lines across 16 feet of wall. well, mostly straight. the other good news is that the immensely heavy floating shelf/box things have not yet fallen off of their brackets.

some pictures:

i bought a mannequin. her name is pippi, just like the little orange striped cat that lives at the pet shop down the street, and who likes to visit unannounced. actually i don't know what her name is (the cat), but that's what i call her.

the great metal angled shelf where books and magazines will go.

some of the jewelry boxes. yes, an alignment nightmare. i have to spackle and repaint everything.

gotta hang something in the box! a custom silver tag for the store. this will be my sample, i think.

workerbee at work. i did have to make him smile for this picture. he slashed a knuckle and kept bleeding all over the wall. bad derek, no biscuit!

friday report

2005-09-09T11:22:00.000-04:00

i feel like i'm getting nowhere lately, which is sad. i am just so anxious to open! but i should take the downtime and crank out jewelry...

my awesome landlord drove us over yesterday, along with some very bulky boxes that i had shipped to my house. they stored the boxes in their back room for a week, which also has a skylight and a little parakeet in a cage. he also made us coffee and gave us a date cookie to eat on the way. did i mention awesome?

anyway we need to buy a ladder. derek can't reach the very top of my ceiling to put painter's tape on it, so painting is still not done. we are going to replace the clear chandelier bulbs with reveal-blue ones for more natural light. does anyone need 15 clear bulbs?

now i am thinking about what color curtain for the dressing room area could possibly go with white, wenge and lilac. i will go to baltic bazaar, the thrift shop/fabric scrap depot, for ideas.

we've decided to put in more shelving than first anticipated. the space is so small, and no storage, i just have to build UP and that's another reason to have a ladder on hand.

what else - arranging for Speakeasy to give me "naked DSL" - no phone service necessary. boo to you Verizon! it is cheaper this way. then i will put Vonage on top of that, and get an ethernet-ready credit card processor. everything takes time and i think installing the credit card machine will ultimately decide when my store officially opens. or, i guess i can open early and take cash for the first weekend or something. so many people have been sticking their head in the doorway, i think they'd at least like to look around the shop, if not buy...

finally, i am hustling to place some ads in the local mag and shopping guide. the Fall deadline was of course last week but i will beg and plead to get a mention.

now the fun part - i have ordered a ton of goodies to supplement the great stuff from the consigners. at the high end, i am getting exquisite leather bags in very simple modern shapes from Kisim, a company based in Israel but with a San Francisco distributor. i remembered seeing them from the SF shows i have done in the past. yummy. and at the low end, i will probably get some notecards from Waste Not Paper, and i also found these Japanese wool felted cozies (no other word for it) for your keys...it is a clever design where the keys get sucked up into the cozy so they don't jingle in your bag. i am using one right now and i love it. somewhat more info at raredevice.net. the logo (one version of it) will go up this weekend.

pictures, finally

2005-09-07T14:42:00.000-04:00

ok here we go. these start when we first got the keys and are through yesterday's painting.

views through the front window out to the street. every so often the neighbor across the way in the red plywood hut will open the doors, point a large fan outside, and then run his table saw, resulting in clouds of sawdust all over the place.

view toward the back. this is before we washed the walls and painted over all the scuff marks. notice the complicated 3-curtain system that is going away. too confusing.

wenge cabinets are here. i hope they last a while! they really do have a peculiar reddish-purple tinge, which is why the new paint color goes so well.

new paint color, lavender blue by benjamin moore. derek has to come paint the top of everything since i don't own a ladder. yet.

tape bits to indicate where hooks and shelves should go. yes i am obsessive, especially when waiting around for 5 hours for shelving delivery. sigh. at least i got to scrape paint off of light switch toggles, and important things like that.

that's it so far. today i have to make jewelry. though i might go assemble the shelving tonight. i have not ordered floating shelves but i have to soon. products are starting to stack up at home so it's almost time to get the van from downstairs and move everything over...

today

2005-09-06T09:28:00.000-04:00

many things going on today, some of them related to the shop, some not:

derek goes back to school. wah!
paul pope, a favorite comics artist, is at some gallery opening tonight. i am going!
i *promise* to upload pictures of the shop.
derek is finalizing a logo for me, based on his architecture drawings from last semester.

the walls are crispy white and i did a tester in the back dressing room of 'lavender blue' by benjamin moore. it's an odd, light, not grey, not lilac color. it works well with the chandeliers and the wenge wood of the fixtures, which is really more purply-red than walnut.

also i ordered some hooks to hold all the lovely totes and handbags i'll be carrying. also i have to get some magical pottery barn shadow box frames to hold the jewelry. also i am searching for a nice, plain, modern earring display, and this is pretty much impossible to find. no curlicues is not possible.

pictures today i PROMISE.

update

2005-09-04T01:09:00.000-04:00

well, the furniture people were supposed to call before coming, so of course they call when they are sitting in front of the store. and me not at home. but all is well, pictures soon.

bad and good

2005-08-31T09:22:00.000-04:00

well i am sitting here feeling quite awful for what is happening in the South, and trying to figure out how much money i can spare to send to the relief effort. we were to go to New Orleans in just 10 days for laurice's wedding, and now that is out of the picture (happening down there, at least). it is all so very sad.

the good news is...people have been so good about helping me with this endeavor. you really just have to ask, people like to help. that's rule number one. everyone needs to visit erin at Sodafine in ft. greene, brooklyn, she just renovated her lovely shop and there are so many goodies there, i can't stand it! also she painted the walls a deep and unusual color called 'green tea' and it is awesome. i borrowed a paint roller off of her. thanks, erin!

next steps are trying to figure out the internet/credit card processor/phone situation. i really, really don't want a land line from verizon. i have earthlink cable modem plus vonage VoIP at home and we bypass verizon entirely. but, earthlink doesn't serve commercial addresses. so that leaves roadrunner who is supposed to return my call and hasn't yet. great. now i am looking at dsl. i can get 'naked dsl' which uses the physical phone line without needing phone service, speakeasy offers this. i should be able to put vonage on top of that. but then - i need to ensure that i can do credit card processing reliably without a land line. fun fun fun. if anyone has ideas about this, i'd love to hear them.

and here is some exciting, non-store related news: someone in the UK is putting together a book and wants to include my jewelry! wow! the theme is 'circles and dots' so now i have to see what applies. i will be in a book with tom dixon and paul smith, that is crazy.

banking

2005-08-29T18:57:00.000-04:00

so this is a little rant against citibank, who i use for my jewelry design biz and also the personal account. i rather wish i didn't, and it's not too late to switch, but it's a hassle. they have a really crazy online banking setup, it won't work on safari, and the online biz banking won't work on a mac at all. which is like useless for me. i am also having "security" issues and can't do a money transfer. aaah! i can't do anything. i hate it.

anyhoo. i did find an awesome (so far) bank for the new store account, and that is HSBC. they have free business checking, people. they don't have an account minimum, and they throw in a box of free checks, too. i heart! i'm gonna try them out.

---

what else? i got the key to the shop today. very exciting! it needs a good coat of white paint, i forget how scuffy everything looks when people move out and take their shelves away. still haven't figured out a paint color for the contrast. i might not do it at this point, but since most of the back wall is taken up by curtains, i might buy really nice colored curtains for the dressing room etc, and that will be the pop of color.

i also ordered a bunch of fixtures. so much money! i just don't have time to go the route of collecting used fixtures, and this will look all nice and coordinated. and if/when i don't have the store anymore, it can go in my living room :)

i have also been busy ordering inventory. my first batch of goods came in..so cute! i will only say that they are made in Japan and are felted wool and i call them "squids" though of course that is not their name or function. i also have been getting really into the clothing (dangerous) and am ordering fun tops for girls and guys, mostly from california so that the lines are fresh and new to Brooklyn shoppers.

and i registered raredevice.net but don't even have a logo, how sad! i'm working on it though. it is both a blessing and a curse to have done graphic design/web design in the past because i don't feel like i should farm any of this stuff out...though i would save hours of work if i did. oh well.

running around

2005-08-25T22:54:00.000-04:00

today i learned that even though an office may close at 5, the principals might leave at, oh, 4:30 and not tell you when you ask, "what are your hours?" the principal in question being the insurance agent. dreck. i have to go take the bus down there again tomorrow. i know i should have gone earlier but dammit anyway.

we've got the latest spoon album on the stereo and i'm emailing orders to people. i'm trying not to do too much wholesale but for some things, i have to, and consignment is a sticky situation as well. i did write up a consignment agreement that i'm pretty happy with, and one that i hope makes the vendors feel comfortable, too. i find that it's very valuable to have been a vendor and now to be a retailer - everyone complains, and everyone's right!

what else...i have a ton of excel spreadsheets with notes, scribbles really, about what kinds of things i want to carry, how many lines i can have (space and money being limiting factors) and the price brackets they fall into. i also have a scary spreadsheet of actual startup expenses. the number at the bottom is getting bigger and bigger, and i haven't even gotten keys to the damn store yet.

well.

2005-08-23T23:39:00.000-04:00

inventory is being ordered. i am quite excited. so far i have ordered from people in California, New Jersey and Japan! ooh gotta hate the exchange rate. i'm going to get some super textiles designed by a gal in Scotland too.

i think i'm going to name the store Rare Device and be done with it. i still like Nook but it's a bit cute. not that i won't have cute things but i want to appeal to guys to come in too, i'm going to have some design books and magazines and go in that direction and not in a girl shop direction, just because i think guys are underserved in the area, while there are a trillion girl boutiques. also there are many, many one word, one syllable stores these days, and i want to be a little mysterious. so!

we are scouring pottery barn for suitable floating shelving and such. the IKEA type seem pretty flimsy...but i will be getting greeting card ledges and things like that from them. also, p-barn has great shadowbox picture frames, they are hinged in the front and are lined in a linen fabric and will look really slick with jewelry pinned inside. i have seen some folks use these at shows, and they look great.

i have got a bunch of minor repairs to do here. the nice thing about having some tools at the shop is that i can customize lengths etc for people. i am still debating how much jewelry work i want to bring there (since when the shop closes for the night, i want to go HOME and not stay and do more work).

what else...got an insurance quote, it was not bad at all. of course that's cuz my shop is so tiny. so far the expenses seem reasonable...i mean paying 3 months rent upfront hurts a LOT but the landlord is a very "no problem!" kind of guy. i hope i don't have to test that at any time. i just have to pay electricity on the shop, they take care of water and heat and trash, which is great. if i leave early there is no fee. all in all quite reasonable for NY.

time to get the DBA, and then the bank account. the rates for business accounts seem really high, i swear my fee in California was about 7.50 a month, and out here it's 16.

thanks to everyone writing in with their ideas!

the deed is done..

2005-08-22T17:47:00.000-04:00

..and the deposit check is paid. it's mine!

immediately after signing the lease and taking some deep breaths, i went across the street to get an insurance quote. the store wants a million dollar liability coverage, in case someone smashes their head in my shop. the insurance guy, very old school and has been there for 30 years, was telling me that the brownstones across the way (this is at 7th and union st) used to sell for $50K - thirty years ago - but the cost to rebuild would be $70K, so the homeowner back then could never get enough coverage! and now they sell for over a million apiece. i do love brooklynites, everyone has a story for you.

derek is doing his little autocad drawings. we were going to do the basic birch plywood look, but every shop on the street has birch plywood. it's so damn easy. so, we found some units in that dark wenge color. this is not hip anymore but that means the units are on sale, and i won't look like everyone else. the problem is finding a paint color that complements such a dark wood. i was all set to do a burnt orange but now i'm thinking of some weird silvery teal color, if such a thing exists.

ok time to walk the poor dog and actually make some jewelry.

indecision

2005-08-21T19:48:00.000-04:00

this weekend was spent largely fretting about what to name the shop and also starting to think about layout. the store is only 9 feet wide so this will be more complicated than just buying whatever and putting it inside. it's good to be married to an architecture grad student who has been doing a lot of autoCAD recently, i now have neat little diagrams of different ways to configure the shop.

more name ideas:
bantam (smallish, feisty)
zidi (a kind of fig, just a nice short word)
manzanita (another nice word, reflects my west-coast-ness)
firecracker (kind of asian)
landmark (this one is sort of a joke as it was the name of the paint color in my last house, the paint color everybody loved)
and
rare device (from kubla khan, i'm glad the english degree was good for something!)

i am having quite a bit of fun working on the inventory list. i guess i have to start (ulp) ordering and shelling out the money. ouch. also i will draft a consignment agreement tonight, dontcha love forms.

NYC seems to want more sales tax payments from me too, what timing...

based on some advice by the lovely Faythe from Flying Fish/Paper Boat (thanks Chic Cosas for the idea!) i will be setting up yet another bank account, etc. i am stubborn as a mule and don't want to do it but it will make sense at taxtime i'm sure.

also tonight i have to print a round of the wedding invite job, and eat dinner, and it's already past 8pm. yikes!

naming the baby

2005-08-20T10:02:00.000-04:00

i am having some difficulty coming up with a name for the shop. i want it to be warm but modern and inviting but not cutesy.
contenders: gem, nook, nonesuch, gild, jackdaw (a nod to Magpie in Cambridge). my brain has frozen. ideas?

giant yet incomplete to-do list

2005-08-19T16:29:00.000-04:00

i am considering subscribing to Backpack (backpackit.com) to handle stuff like to-do lists but i think piles of paper and lots of Excel spreadsheets are going to have to suffice for now.

here are things i have to do in very short order.

sign lease
figure out business structure
pick a name!
file paperwork
bank account
get an accountant
get computer (iBook?) for the shop
get quickbooks or similar
set up utilities
get inventory
pick a paint color
buy fixtures
design and build (or send out) fixtures
think about signage
write up a consignment agreement
design a logo
buy domain name and put logo on it
design and print biz cards and stickers
order tissue paper, bags etc
advertising?

oh and continue to crank out jewelry for stores for the holidays. yikes!

hire part-time help if i can afford it
pet the dog and eat ice cream and try not to explode

what am i doing?

2005-08-19T16:11:00.000-04:00

here is the story of one independent designer (me) going big-time - that is to say, opening up a real, live storefront in the part of Park Slope, Brooklyn known as "the fringe".

so what's happened so far? the property manager and his trusty assistant (who told me today about how she grows her hair out past 12" so that she can cut it and donate it to kids with cancer) have a deposit and will be drawing up a lease for me to review and sign on Monday. so soon! i have to get them quite a big fat check by then too. lease begins on september 1, and then i hustle to get it all set up ASAP to catch the holiday sales.

now i have to actually do some work, ie jewelry orders and wedding invitations. must finish as much as possible before september!

rena's retail adventure

Changes

storefronts in SF

hello, testing 1 2 3

backlash

april update

bad habit

Terrifying

the books

back to work

Tired

new world record

Music to Pack Boxes By

Exhausted

Blogshares

a saturday...

November Update

Fall Season

*scream*

september is here

Make It

Be Good

groupings

Summer Begins

June update

May update

funny

note to self

Sigh

Valuable Reading!!!

Whip up

things to remember for ordering, next year

ugh

ugh

Things Learned In December (already!)

breakage

press

visitors

visits

ugh

mixed

short stack

more things

visitors

getting there

first week

friday observations

evdo

whew

updated list

things

i can't take it any longer

so unhappy

ikea pt 2

maple ply = yummy

luck

i need a medic

progress

ikea

interesting fact

why a bubble level is your best friend

friday report

pictures, finally

today

update

bad and good

banking

running around

well.

the deed is done..

indecision

naming the baby

giant yet incomplete to-do list

what am i doing?

scream