Flying the Flag

The Hayloft Shops, in Mossville, Illinois, has been in business for 35 years. Owners Becky and JoAnn Schotthofer have a long history in gift retailing, and they've seen just about everything, good and bad, over those years. They started out selling their own ceramics in their family farm shop, then opened a shop that included a number of gift and collectible lines in an historic barn on a main highway.

Unfortunately, the prosperous days of the 1980s and '90s ended with the cooling economy. “Major changes had to be made,” says Becky Schotthofer. The Hayloft dropped some collectible lines and added decorative accessories, small furniture, and art glass. The store debuted a website. Still, it wasn't enough.

“It didn't hold true anymore that people would come to a specialty store to purchase items just because of selection, knowledge, and display,” she says. “We had to find ways to give customers something more for their money.”

The Schotthofers couldn't compete with discounters and department stores on price or advertising. But their overhead was low, and if they bought carefully, they thought they might be able to compete with interesting promotions and unique incentives. To do that, they laid out some ground rules to guide them. They knew they had to:

• Appeal to the wave of patriotic fervor in the wake of September 11 by promoting affordable products made in the United States. “Over half of our merchandise is American-made, which is almost a miracle,” Becky says. (Buy American is a particularly popular sentiment in the town, which is home to the Caterpillar equipment company.)
• Create promotions with special products and values that would connect with community sentiments.
• Focus on event pieces that would be hard to find elsewhere, and that had feel-good values, such as a Fenton art glass piece depicting a soldier returning home.
• Display community support. The Schotthofers immediately got involved in two community service projects: they helped local firemen organize a pancake breakfast to buy lifesaving equipment, and they sold a Wilton Armetale ornament depicting a local church to help the church raise renovation funds.

The Buy American promotions included:

• A Fenton Art Glass Rep Open House that featured a special event piece, promoted with direct mail, TV, and newspaper ads.
• A year-round promotion of Wilton Armetale products including free engraving and the introduction of The Hayloft's exclusive annual Armetale Christmas plate, designed by Becky Schotthofer.
• Highlighting American artists and companies during the Hayloft Shops' “Christmas in July” event, which encourages early customer orders and gives the store a jumpstart on themes, popular products, and quantities needed for the Christmas buying season.
• Featuring artists selling American art and performing American music at the Mossville Fall Festival and Folk Art Fair, initiated by The Hayloft 23 years ago. Gourmet foods (made in America) were also highlighted.
• A Williamsburg Christmas show with special promotions of Williamsburg products.

The result? Following a sales slump in 2001 and '02, the Hayloft Shops turned a corner in 2003. The events were so successful that most were repeated last year. In celebration of the store's 35th anniversary this year, owners of three American companies will make special visits to The Hayloft Shops to promote Buy American.