Sandy's Scrapbooking is located in beautiful Northern Ontario and is proud to be one of the first retail scrapbooking stores in the north. Owned by Sandy Wilkinson, the store employs two part-time staff Taryn and Paula as well as several teaching staff. Our store is approximately 1000 square feet but what we lack in size we make up for in character! We like to think of ourselves as the scrapbook store where you leave feeling like a friend.
Sandy's Scrapbooking was started as a home business in July 2001. I had decided to leave my position as a registered nurse to stay home with my two daughters in 1999. I had heard a little about scrapbooking but didn't really know a lot about it. It wasn't until we discovered a whole box of pictures when my grandmother moved into the nursing home that it really impressed upon me the importance of documenting your family history. When we asked my grandmother who the individuals were in the pictures she was unable to tell us as she had failing vision and her mind was not always clear. I read a poem entitled Strangers in the Box written by Pam Harazim which discussed how you should not let pictures of your family to be left in a box where future generations would not even know who you were and a scrapbooker was born!
As a home business I used to host crop nights at our local YMCA Older Adult Center each week. I would rent a room and some VERY good friends would help me haul my three Rubbermaid carts to and from the crops each week. We would unload my selection of paper and stickers from the cart and pack it again up every night. On non-crop nights I would have people visit my home by appointment and a little scrapbook store would suddenly appear in my kitchen. When I first started Sandy's Scrapbooking in 2001 there were very few people who knew about scrapbooking and I felt it was my mission to educate as many people as I could as I felt so strongly about the importance of family memories being preserved. I then began teaching introduction to scrapbooking courses at the library, the YMCA, our local theatre centre and anywhere they would have me. It soon became very difficult juggling appointments and more often than not drop-in customers at home while trying to care for my 2 and 3 year old daughters. My husband began to raise his eyebrows when I would promise him that this would be the last time he would have to occupy the kids while a customer came over.
Sandy's Scrapbooking became a retail store in December 2002 and quickly moved to a larger location at main street level a year later. Scrapbooking was really beginning to catch on in Sudbury and the rest of Northern Ontario and our customer base began to grow quickly. It was really neat to watch how our customers grew with us! At first we did a lot of explaining to a lot of people exactly what scrapbooking was. Then we did a lot of hand-holding while people actually cut pictures and put them down on paper. Now our customers are extremely scrapbook savvy and it is a lot of fun seeing what amazing creations they come up with!
At Sandy's Scrapbooking we are pleased to offer a wide variety of classes, superb service and a great selection of products. We are very fortunate to have Paula working at our store as she is a graphic designer and computer trainer. This allows us to keep our web site at www.sandysscrapbooking.com going.....although Paula is on maternity leave at the moment.......and allows us to create items using our new favourite toy--the Pazzles die cutting machine. We have had a lot of fun designing titles specific to the area in which we live and love the look on our customers faces when we tell them we can make any title they want!
I think owning a scrapbook store is relatively unique in the sense that you really do get to know your customers as you are sharing some of their most intimate memories with them. We have shared many laughs and tears at our store! It gives such a sense of reward when you receive an e-mail from a customer that her parents cried when they received their 40th wedding anniversary scrapbook or someone who was so appreciative of the help when they are creating a memorial board for a loved one who has just passed away. A lot of times I think my nursing career actually helped me prepare for my role as a scrapbook store owner (not to mention the paper cuts).
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I feel that providing great customer service and really making people feel welcome in our store has been one of our best formulas for success. In a big box world it is very difficult compete but I truly believe that this is the one thing smaller independent stores can do which sets them apart from the rest. We too often hear complaints of not being able to find help in selecting products and a lack of general knowledge as scrapbooking is only a part of a larger store. This is where we can shine! No customer should leave our store without knowing fully how a tool works or how a product can be used. We have had many repeat customers who have advised us that they have returned a tool purchased at another store so they could purchase it at Sandy's Scrapbooking because we took the time to show them its proper use. We should also make every attempt to greet each customer as they enter and leave the store and make them feel right at home. Everyone likes to be treated with respect and it most definitely leads to customer loyalty.
One of the biggest things I have had to learn has been inventory management. I personally find it works better to order smaller quantities of a larger selection of product. We don't have the large population of some of the more major centers so we do rely on this practice to ensure turn-over of stock. I think the hardest thing is to let stock go that is not moving. Each thing I bring into the store has been because I really loved the product and could envision a use for it. More often than I would like there is a lack of time to create my vision of how I thought the product would work and it has to be replaced with new stock as there is such a fast turn-over. My lesson learned (and still being learned) would be that unless I can set aside the time to make examples and demonstrate a product that requires it I will not order it in. I also never order in anything I don't love because I will never sell it. When my staff gets excited about something it just flies off the shelves because we have great staff that can get anyone exited about what they are excited about!
One of the challenges we face in the North is access to hands on education in scrapbooking. This was especially a problem when the store first opened as there was a real lack of qualified teachers as not many people even knew about scrapbooking! The scrapbooking industry is always changing so quickly and what's new and hot today is not always what is new and hot tomorrow. We are always scouring the internet and magazines for information on the hottest new trendsand techniques. Taryn and I recently attended the Toronto Conference hosted by the CCHA which was our second year in doing so. It not only provided a chance to view the latest products but also offered some great class ideas and projects that we could bring back to our store and share with our customers. We are looking forward to incorporating these ideas into our fall and winter line-up of classes!
Overall, it has been a great experience to grow a business from just a crazy idea (according to a lot of my husband's friends) to a successful retail store. It really has been fun and it is so great to work with a terrific staff and our customers. My 7 year old daughter summed it up when she told me that " when people come in to mommy's store and say how beautiful it is and how nice your stuff is...it makes me really, really proud." I couldn't have said it any better myself!
Sandy Wilkinson
Sandy's Scrapbooking
Sudbury, Ontario
www.sandysscrapbooking.com |
