First post

Not sure what I'm going to do with this, but I wanted someplace to work some things through. Alot will probably have to do with what's happening with my business. Ideas that concern, surprise or puzzle me. Which at the moment is huge. I've been either the solo owner or partner in a retail business for about 19 years, so have been through many ups and downs. What is happening now is beyond my understanding.

My shop is probably over 95% American handcrafts. Which means that it is a small business that is fed by other small businesses. While many are local, the only requirements are that the work be handcrafted, designed & made in house, well made, well priced, consistent in quality & wonderful. You'd think that would be a lot to ask for, but in reality there is so much absolutely fabulous work out there. More than we can possible carry. 

One of the biggest puzzle right now is marketing. With the growth of online shopping & social media, it's a bit overwhelming. I truly believe that we have something to offer if we could just figure out an effective method of educating people. When we started, print & cable were both pretty affordable & effective ways to do this. Today, I haven't the foggiest idea how to attract attention to our story. 

It seems that younger people are especially tied to their phones to provide them with information. It also seems that they are more brand conscious & more likely to head straight to an online gift registry when they need to purchase a gift. Then it's just a matter of clicking on the right priced item. I think this is a bit sad. No real thought is required to take care of the obligation required by an event. How many times have you said "I need to get a wedding present"? Think about some of the gifts you've received. Do you remember who gave them to you? If you do, what kind of items are they? Do you remember who bought you a dinner plate or do you remember who gave you that really amazing serving platter that wasn't on your registry?

My shop is the anti-brand. Our inventory shifts with the seasons & everything is made to order. So some work can take 6-8 weeks to arrive after the order is placed. We have a web presence but do not sell online directly because what we have on hand is so fluid. In addition, unless you are already familiar with the work it's not the easiest to purchase without seeing, touching, feeling in person. Is your monitor color corrected (although this has improved a lot over the years)? Do you really know how much a pound weighs or how big a 10 cup bowl is?

Which gets me back to the puzzle of running a small boutique retail business in 2012.