more curious customers …. and such

One of the perks of having a shop is that pretty much anyone can walk through your door. Well, for the most part, it is a ‘perk’… only occasionally there is the odd one out that you wish had not passed over the threshold.

It is great for people watching and trying to figure people out. Over the past few years, I have met people I would NEVER have met or spoken to in my previous professional life. I love that and appreciate it a whole lot.

Yesterday, I had a mother-daughter couple worth a TV show. Mother was all snazzily dressed up in suit and heels and Daughter (I guess, about 14 or 15) in Uggs (don’t get these anyway, especially not on a warm day), sweat pants and carrying a cell phone on a ‘leash’  of which hung little stuffed animals.  Other than that, they looked very much alike. As they were looking around, the mom would shout out:  HOW CUTE IS THIS! here and there. Daughter did not even raise an eyebrow. Later, Mother tried on a few skirts while Daughter was meeting every single one with a scowl. Poor mom – she REALLY wanted for Daughter to like the skirts. Well, needless to say, she did not buy any. As they left, Mother chewed out Daughter outside the store. How I would have liked to hear THAT conversation.

Then there was ‘Label Lady’. She looked like she was about mid-fifties.  She was pretty, had a nice figure and hairdo and was VERY talkative. One of the first things she told me was what size she wore BEFORE she entered Menopause. (>>> by now, I know how THESE conversations are going: most women will tell you IN DETAIL what Menopause did to them <<<)

As I carry an array of designers and ALL seem to have different sizing, I gently pointed out that fact and how I’d be glad to find her size. To which she exclaimed, ‘I WILL NEVER wear anything that says LARGE! NEVER!’  I probably should not have offered to cut out any offensive label because she then proceeded to say that she would also NEVER wear anything of which she knew had at one time the label ‘L’ in it. Poor thing.

Last but not least, I have encountered some very picky customers. No, not the ones who look at everything and then ask if you have THAT in Blue, or RED… but totally ignore the three colors you have. Also not the ones who love, love, love the skirt but only if it WAS half an inch longer. Or ask you to MAKE something similar to what is in the store, only with a tuck here and a pleat there. No, it is the customer who tries on the cheapest, marked down item, takes it off, tries it on again, looks at it from every side, wants it to be black instead of brown, only to take it off again. Then asks if you have and iron at hand and could I please iron the collar differently? Tries it on again – does it look good NOW? By now, we are about 60 minutes into the transaction. (>>> oh yes, I am friendly all the way and  u.n.d.e.r.s.t.a.n.d.i.n.g.<<<)

It is so much fun working in a store!

And yes, I made a $19 sale!

what the ****!?

Allow me to gripe a bit.

No, not about the bicyclists riding at night WITHOUT LIGHT.

Also not about the folks who do not seem to know that their cars have a TURNING SIGNAL.

And I have long stopped to complain about the POURING RAIN.

Well, I need to let off a bit of steam about SOME of my ‘customers’.

Now, most of our customers are PLAIN AWESOME.  However, like everywhere, there are exceptions. And, also like everywhere, these exceptions account for a lot of work.

There are those people who freely share their abundant advice, ‘You should carry THIS, or THAT’; ‘Can you MAKE this in a different color/shape/style?’;  ‘This would WORK, if it was longer/shorter/wider/tighter RIGHT HERE.’, or ‘If this was HALF THE PRICE, I would totally buy it’, all the while I am listening and act sympathetic.

Then there is the lady who realized at dinner, WEARING the dress she bought, that she didn’t receive the compliments she was expecting and continues to return the dress TELLING you the story.

Or the person who returns a pair of socks, claiming that ‘there is a hole in it and I haven’t even worn them’ after s/he ripped out the tag forcefully (which OF COURSE will rip a hole in the darn thing…)

Oh, the guts these people have!

At least, we have somebody to actually deal with when they do this to us. But then there are the shoplifters of which we unfortunately had some pretty ruthless ones this Christmas season.

I’d like to think that they wanted something pretty for either themselves or somebody else and simply couldn’t AFFORD it. Maybe them shoplifting is a sign of the depressing economic times we are in. Or they do it as a sport.

I do hope that they experience some good times in the stuff they took from us. Us small business owners. Who do not have ‘shrinkage’ built into our budget. Who hurt when we don’t have the $100 that item they stole would have brought.

And that KARMA gets them. Eventually.

the quirky things in life

Some people have a wardrobe malfunction. I had a major technical malfunction yesterday and it made me think.

First, we were experiencing alarm difficulties at the shop. We weren’t able to turn it on… or it turned off all by itself. Lights were blinking on the panel. Now, that thing scares me to death. I always imagine tripping it and then sirens blare all over town and – because I simply do not master its controls – I get charged with a false alarm and it costs SO MUCH MONEY. Of course, none of this ever happens and for this particular problem it just needed a new battery. Which arrived yesterday and I installed it. Pah – would you think I was out of trouble now?  No, MORE lights were flashing, NEW lights, and my anxiety just mounted. Well, I called them.  They were really friendly and had all kinds of solutions to turn it on a different way, and no, not to worry, they’ll get a technician to call me next week. By the third call, they also asked me whether or not I had installed the battery the right way.  You know, red to red, black to black. Feeling pretty sure, I claimed to ‘probably’ have done it the right way, because, duh – two colors? Yes, I can do THAT! Nonetheless, I wanted to make sure.  Assure myself of my capabilities… and wouldn’t you know it? – REVERSED color! YES! This one goes right with putting the milk in the cupboard instead of the fridge. I might be losing it. Slowly.

The second issue was that I had no internet for most of the day. Looking for a mistake on my part (see above), I tried EVERYTHING – rebooting my computer, checking the wireless settings, checking my phone to see if it is one thing or the other. The most annoying part of not having internet is not having MUSIC. The store just feels strange when quiet. But then I tried to recall various stores and whether or not I notice music there. And I don’t.  They probably have it but did I NOTICE? Hm.  Made me think. I then just ignored the fact and watched people to see if they would say anything. And they DIDN’T.  Go figure. Another annoyance is that I can’t read emails or updates, access my bank info, place orders without internet. All the things I wanted to do. How did my world ever function WITHOUT internet? That was a disturbing thought. How much do I rely on it? Do I need it to feel rooted in my life? This thought stayed with me until this morning when I at least made alternate arrangements for the music. (simple CD player will do it) As for the rest – I had  great conversations last night with a friend over wine. Coffee outside in the sun watching people. Orders? Can wait. Emails, too. I do not need to be reached electronically ALL THE TIME. There is life without internet.

Some things just work out themselves. Give it time, be patient. Take it slow. Alarm is working properly now. Music is playing over the internet, which miraculously fixed itself.

The only thing malfunctioning today is the weather – IT IS POURING DOWN.

I call this a season malfunction.

follow that sign!

On a bright and sunny day -

THE sign went up!

We are now SO official!

A friend just driving up told us how visible the sign is even from a few blocks away.

Here you can see the guys install the yellow neon, which gives a glow to the actual sign.

This neon sign is actually ‘grandfathered’ in by the city of Portland, meaning the city does not allow signs to stick out over the sidewalk like this one does. Which also means that if it is moved AT ALL, we lose the sign permit. The other day, I learned that the shop part of our building was put up in 1947. (I wonder if the sign dates back to this time as well…)

The guys (form Hannahsign here in PDX) drove up with their truck and the extendable ladder to work on the sign. It looked pretty tricky at times!

I took this picture last night at about 6:30.

If you live around here and take a night picture – I’ll post it and you win a PRIZE!

Grand Opening… happened

On a rainy Mother’s Day, we opened the shop officially!

The day before, we got the planters. (planters are old wine barrels from my friend J., filled with dirt and super heavy by the dear husband)

We mixed in some compost, made a big mess getting the plants in – and then, voila!

On Friday, we ran an ad in the local e-letter Portland Picks (scroll down to Mother’s Day Hip Happenings #8), got some free press in the Mercury , ran for more food… and were set for Sunday.

The turnout was amazing, jewels were picked up from the cases and clothing hangers tossed aside – in all a great success.

Even the guys were kept happy while their ladies shopped.

Of course, we haven’t completed everything yet. The MAN bench (above) needs fabric to match the overall decor, the chandelier awaits completion and the neon sign isn’t up yet.

We’ll be busy for a while longer.

Yours truly.

we did it – in 13 days – we are OPEN!

The best part about this store renovation were the people who helped.

Everybody did what they were good at and so we managed to have everything ready in just under two weeks from when we got the key to the place.

Of course, we had to get more paint, sure enough the new outlets did not fit, the repair of the door took longer than planned, the rain pushed the moving day back…but other things just happened in a flash such as installing the floor and picking out the fabric for the dressing room.

It is all good.

The store feels and looks just AWESOME.

And today, our ‘soft opening’ on May Day, we had the first real sunny and warm day.

Off to a good start:

Look at this:  we even have a big old stamp for the bags!

the exciting and the annoying

The wait is finally over!

The new shop is at our fingertips – we have the key!

We looked around.  We giggled. We measured. We examined the walls. We giggled some more. We decided on shelves that have to go. We put paper in the window.

We can’t wait. I can’t wait.

So exciting!

(giggle!)

The annoying part is the weather.

You can see the wet sidewalk in the picture above.  The sky has been liquid for WAY too long.

I want to enjoy the sun coming into those new shop windows.

I want to enjoy all the beautiful flowers and trees with a ray of sunshine on them.

I know, it’s all about perspective, but I CRAVE the warmth and the light.

Give it to me, please – put a recall on winter, ok?

fabrics…

… that may make a window dressing:

this is what I’m after

It has been a particular slow day at the store.

As I was getting my afternoon coffee fix, I talked to R. and we both agreed that we have long given up on ‘claiming’ that we know what makes a day slow or good.

Forget the weather: we can have killer days during a heat wave.

Forget other neighboring events: people show or don’t NO MATTER what else is going on.

You can even forget the economy: loyal customers come to the neighborhood stores, not matter HOW much $$ they have to spend.

(I LOVE those people!)

So, this is number 1 of what I’m after (- to keep me AWAKE):

Lately, I have been pondering the idea of a mobile store (I’ve talked about it here and here)

Portland is full of mobile food establishments;

what it is lacking are mobile retailers.

Check out this gal on facebook: Lodekka

…which makes number 2 that I’m after (to keep me EMPLOYED):

We’ll see.

This is how I work (… or not)

I am the queen of procrastination.

I am also the queen of finding-anything-else-to-do-but-what-I-have-to.

An hour or two before I took this picture, I was perched on my roof (first AND second floor), meekly holding on to the roof tiles with my bare feet, cleaning the gutters. It had to be done, there were PLANTS growing in them.

What I should have done instead, is work with these:

4 bridesmaid dresses

1 wedding dress

1 reception dress

1 maternity dress

4 pairs of pants

4 shirts

and a bag.

What I’m saying is: give me a deadline.

I work greatly under pressure.