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The Gifted Retailer

GDA Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 6/24/2011 12:19:07 PM

In a down economy, Jane Lemme, owner of Gardener's Folly in Pentwater, MI, decided to take a chance and move into a larger space. The risk paid off. The store had its best sales year since the store opened in 1998.

Gifts & Decorative Accessories: What do you like best about being a retailer? Gardener
Jane Lemme: I love being a retailer because I'm my own boss. I get up every morning and determine my day. I set my sales goals, search for interesting merchandise and meet new people. And I get to work with my husband Neil. Surprisingly, we get along very well!

There is never a routine. Things always change and evolve in the store. We're located in a beach town on Lake Michigan so we get to visit with people from all over the country, as well as the world.

A huge benefit from owning the store is that it gives us the opportunity to give back to our community. My husband and I are on the board of "The Grapes of Mirth Organization" which sponsors "Art & Wine at the Harbor" an annual fall event that benefits Harbor Hospice. We also support other non-profit organizations such as Women's Imaging Center, a local children's advocacy program, a women's shelter and our school's music and band program.

Everyone but my father thought I had lost my mind when I announced I was giving up a corporate career to move to Pentwater and open a store. Dad was an attorney and instead of talking about all the businesses he saw fail and marriages it put in jeopardy, his advice was, "Scared money never wins!" He said if it was my passion to go for it. And then he gave me $500 and became my first investor.

Thirteen years later, my husband and I live and work in a town we always hoped to retire in. Retail is hard work but we're gratified by what we've accomplished

G&DA: What was the most valuable piece of business advice that you ever received?
JL: We've had many successful promotions over the years but a few stand out. A "just-for-fun" event was a spur of the moment idea my husband had. It was about 7 p.m. and a hot summer evening. Our customers were tired and listless. Neil decided to throw a beach party. He bought a few cases of Corona, chips and salsa, plastic cups and our local grocer threw in a big Corona party sign.

We set the sign up in the foyer of our store and announced to passersby that a beach party was on at The Folly. Funny, but the guys started dragging the girls in to our store! We served cold Corona and appetizers which kept the guys occupied while the ladies shopped. Our party lasted three hours and we nearly tripled our normal 7- 9 p.m. business. We even had following day sales from happy party attendees!

Gardener G&DA: What is/was your most successful promotion?
JL: We do an annual after-hours cocktail party from 7-10 p.m. and give a percentage of the day and evening's sales to our local hospital's Women's Imaging Center which promotes breast cancer awareness and women's health issues.

We use Constant Contact to send invitations to our customer list, purchase cases of red and white wine and lots of finger food. The store is decorated with a pink party theme and we hire our niece and a few of her high school friends to pass food trays and help at the cash and wrap counter.

We do this event in the summer when our summer residents are at their cottages, and get 250-300 guests. Pentwater is a small beach town and many of our guests know one another so it's a very social evening and a profitable fundraiser.

G&DA: What three products/lines are you best sellers?
JL: Our top three lines are jewelry, clothing and then paper products and tabletop. Gifts are big sellers as many visitors purchase Christmas and birthday gifts from our store. We also sell a lot of hostess gifts. Pentwater-themed merchandise such as etched wine glasses, photo frames, rugs, and coasters do very well, too.

G&DA: What are you doing to attract new customers?
JL: Unlike stores in large cities we're limited to the number of visitors we see throughout the year. Although we're open year-round, our big selling season is May through October. We get a bump in November and December when families return to their cottages to celebrate the holidays. Then all is quiet in January.

Both my husband and I have served on the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Association Boards. We've worked with the Chamber to develop more shoulder season festivals for fall and winter. A popular traffic builder is our annual Winter Fest event in February. A wine tasting takes place over Valentine's Day weekend. Six art galleries host our wine distributors and provide appetizers. This event is a fundraiser for a local non-profit organization and draws a big crowd. We always get a nice bump in sales as a result.

The following weekend we hold a beer tasting at five local pubs. Artisinal beers from Michigan breweries are featured along with appetizers. Again, this is a fundraiser for a local non-profit. There's cross country skiing and snow mobile and snow show events for those who love Michigan winters!

We try to hold at least four in-store events a year. We are trying to find the time to do more trunk shows and product promotions, such as tie-ins with Vera Bradley launches and new products we roll out in the store. Time is always the issue in planning and pulling off successful store events.

We are active users of Constant Contact emarketing. It's cost-effective, it brings customers into the store and it creates phone orders. We try to send an eblast every two to three weeks. You don't want to under-utilize the tool but you don't want to annoy your customer either. It's a delicate balance but we must be doing it right because our opt-out rate has been minimal over the past three years of usage.

We don't have a customer loyalty program (yet!) but we do have a VIP list of customers and we reward them with a store gift certificate once a year. It's been a well-received program.

G&DA: What was your most effective display? Gadener
JL: I can't draw, paint or sew but I am a great merchandiser. Our store is known for our displays and vignettes. I did an Easter/Spring tabletop display in our main window and within a week and a half sold everything on the table and most of the inventory. We do bigger Halloween than Christmas sales. Our Halloween goes up in mid-August while we still have a good customer draw and we always sell through Halloween merchandise.

Displays don't have to be static or one dimensional. My sales associates and I will wear scarves and jewelry for sale in the store. Amazing how it sells when customs see you wear it. I just received an order of fabulous scarves. I picked a lovely ecru lace scarf with rosettes and draped it across my black long sleeve T-shirt. Within two hours I sold three scarves at $30 each and took orders for two more. As pretty as the scarf is, we wouldn't have sold that many units in a day without wearing it for the customers.

G&DA: How do you find your best employees?
JL: Neil and I manage the store. We take turns being at the counter throughout the day to greet new customers and chat with our regulars. We work six days a week during the high season and have two very good and loyal sales associates who work from 5 to 7 p.m. summer weeknights and on Sunday, our day off.
We live in a small community and everyone knows everyone. When we were ready to hire, we knew who would be a good fit and we recruited the two individuals. Our employees have outgoing personalities, they have a sense of style, they love to be around beautiful things and our customers love them! We are blessed that they think enough of us to stay with us year after year.

G&DA: What was your biggest retail problem and how did you solve it?
JL: Our biggest retail problem was lack of space. We started in a very small space, approximately 400 square-feet. After our experimental first year we thought ok, we have filled a niche and this concept just might fly so we moved to a 1,200 squar-foot space. It wasn't long before we realized we needed more space.

Two years ago, just as the recession was rearing its ugly head and we were at the Atlanta winter market, we received a call from the owner of a building that was home to an art gallery. The gallery was going out of business and the owner wanted to know if we wanted the lease. My husband asked if I wanted to take some time to think about the offer given that the economy in Michigan had been sluggish for the past four years and the national economy was about to take a nose dive.

I told him we should agree to it. Adversity often creates opportunity and as Dad said "Scared money never wins." The only way to increase sales was to have a larger store. And this was one of the biggest spaces in town. The gallery comprised 3,200 square-feet, was move-in ready and had wonderful curb appeal. We wanted to be the leader not the follower in town and the only way to guarantee that position was to take the store, which tripled our selling space.

The curiosity and excitement the new store and our grand opening caused led to our best sales year since we opened in 1998. In spite of the recession starting, we had a banner year and today we are known as a destination. We draw from 200 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline and although it's hard work to stay fresh and ahead of the curve and our competition, we are proud of The Folly's presence in our community.

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