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Please tell me more about the locally owned, stamping and scrapbooking stores in your area. (Not places like Michael�s, Archiver�s�. chain stores.)
What kind of products do they offer? All scrapping, or all stamping, or a mixture of both? Do they have classes? An area that you can work on your stuff? Can you rent a whole room for a gathering?
I know that The Losties have several times gone to places where they spend a whole weekend stamping and scrapping. Last year they went to a place called The Dairy, (in Indiana, I think) and they recently went to a place in West Virginia. If you�re familiar with the places they�ve gone, or have a place near you that is similar, would you please tell me about it?
I�m asking because there�s a store in our area that I�d love to try to convince to expand their inventory and what they have to offer, and I�d love to talk them into letting me be the person that makes it happen. I don�t know that I�d have the nerve to really go through with it, but thought maybe some advice from others would answer questions and doubts that I have about it. My biggest fear would be that it wouldn�t be as popular as I anticipate, and would end up being a flop. There�s nothing else like this in our area, so I don�t know if this would be a good way to draw people to the area or if they�d brush it off as being "small town." Any ideas?
My LSS, in Durham, NC is terrific. The staff are all quite well-informed about card making and scrapbooking. They cater to both stampers and scrappers, with a lot of different papers (Daisy-D's, BG, Cosmo Cricket, SEI, plus tons of others), a very large range of Bazzill CS, tons of stamps and stamp related material (inks, acrylic mounts, EZ mount, alcohol inks, twinkling H2O's, etc.). They also carry several of the cricut cart's, baby cricut, Silhouette, lots and lots of embellies, a wall of fiber (cut to order), some specialty paper (hand-made, odd-sized, etc.). There are organized sections (seasons, family, animals, sports, school) to help orient. There is a huge room that can be used for free if there's not a class or crop going; this can also be rented. They offer several classes, beginner to advanced, and have a weekly 4 hour crop. I love this store, and try to support it when possible. HTH's.
There are two locations in Wisconsin, I go to the one in Appleton. It's fairly large and carries just about everything you'd ever want (and some stuff you'd never buy! ;) ). There is a large area for classes, though I've never attended one. You may be able to rent the space out, but I'm not sure. It's not a closed room. It's just in the back quarter of the store.
They have an incredible selection of items...paper, embellishments, ribbons, etc... The stamps they do carry are aimed towards the scrapper. Most of them being alphabets or images that would work well on scrapbook pages (size-wise). The have a large room where classes are held. You can also rent this room for birthday parties, showers, etc. They have sections with organizational items, punches, cutters. They offer a die cutting center with 100's++++ of die cuts. So much more!
My LSS has recently moved into a new building, so they've got a big area just for their classes, which are mostly scrapping, but some stamping as well. They have great sales, and a wonderful clearance area that has done me in so many times. They also offer the chance for stampers/scrappers to clean out their supplies about every quarter, and you take them your stuff priced for their "garage sale" and the sales are given to you in the form of a credit for future purchases from them. I've only been on the buying end, but great deals were everywhere last time, like my buying Stewpot Pals for about $12!
They've got a large selection of paper and everything else a scrapper could need. Selection of chipboard and clear acrylic UM stamps (no mounted ones I think), and while most everything is toward scrappers, there are plenty of things that you can use for stamping cards, too. (Like a knitting store selling yarn that a crocheter can use just as easily, lol)
I go to Pizzaz It in Pickerington, Ohio alot. They have alot of stuff crammed into that little store! They have such a huge selection that I can't remember what all is even there.
They do have a large, large classroom area and I believe that you can rent it if you want. Last time I was there someone was teaching an Adobe class on the computer and the time before that there were a ton of women there scrapbooking everything! They also offer card classes and altered items classes as well.
Tammy I think that its a great idea, dont worry about it being a flopp, if you dont try you will never know. The store owner might welcome the idea with open arms as its very difficult running a store, there are so many hidden jobs to do they may not have the time of staff to do what is needed.
Just plan ahead and advertise well in advance, if your taking booking ask for a small deposit so they do turn up.
If the tables are not used, why not take your things in and sit and play, customers will take and intrest in what your doing/making and the store owner will see the intrest,. It give you the chance to see the intrest from the customers and ask your own questions, a bit of market reserch.
My LSS is wonderful. They have tons of great paper choices, they have some stamping inks, chipboard, and what I go in for is to look at the prima and other embellishments. They do handle clear unmounted stamp sets, and of course any sticker you can imagine. They have anything you can imagine. It's the best choices around. They are always super friendly, and I think because they have clubs and let people come in and scrap in their work area, the place always has something going on!
__________________ LizThe joy of the LORD is my strength.Right Brain Madness --My blogProud member of the redDivasKSS certified multi-step stamperFan Club member since 2004
My LSS is Ink About It in Westford MA. It's not huge, but it has a good selection for its size. It's jam-packed with stamps and has a nice paper selection - not as large as I've seen at the scrapping stores but still very good variety. All the regular other supplies - a wall of embellishments, punches, inks, etc. I wish they had a larger selection of cardstock, now that I've seen some Indiana stores on my recent vacation and saw how many colors of Bazzill there actually are! They do have classes (I'm taking my first on Saturday) for mostly stamping, I think, but a bit of scrapping as well. I think they do rent out their space for moms' nights out, etc. They will let you use their workroom when no class is going on for $5.
I have become good friends with the owner, and my kid's pre-school is ;) 2 doors down from her store. She is so helpful I can't stand it and makes such beautiful ( and precise ) stuff it makes me crazy! I go to a least one crop a month there and maybe a class....plus when the kids are in school I have almost 3 hours to "play". Couldn't be happier.
Our LSS is great, but the best thing is that she will order anything for a customer! That makes it awesome...so I don't have to go searching on the internet. I'd rather save shipping and give her the business!!
Nancy
__________________ Visit my GALLERY...you know you want to...or at least I WANT you to!
Our LSS is great, but the best thing is that she will order anything for a customer! That makes it awesome...so I don't have to go searching on the internet. I'd rather save shipping and give her the business!!
Nancy
That's another thing I really like about this LSS... I wanted a Penny Black stamp that I would have had to pay $5.95 shipping for on a site and she ordered it for only the cost of the stamp for me!
My LSS is in a small town. There used to be a different store in town and when it closed folks had to drive a ways to get items, from the bigger craft/hobby stores. I think that word of mouth has brought people down there though, from the larger cities nearby. The quaintness of the town and building is part of it's appeal (in my opinion).
Additionally, she has a pretty wide variety of papers & embellishments. She tries to keep the latest items coming in. Although it has been primarily a scrapbook store, it is getting more stuff that is stamping, card making and altered item related. Granted techniques and supplies cross over a lot, but she is getting stock that is used more by the stamping, card making, altered art people.
She just recently expanded and now has two crop areas, free crops during the day as long as no class is going on--which with two crop areas is not so much of a problem. Every Friday night crops til Midnight-except for the Friday before the Saturday 14 hr crops, which she is doing once a month now. It is possible to rent a room with or without an instructor for your group. I've seen young people do birthday parties with a project to do or just a group get-together for cropping. She has a diecut machine (Sizzex & a bigger one), several punches, paints, embossing gun, crop a dile, chalks, and similar items that can be used in the crop rooms. They can do a running tab while you are working and then just pay as you finish.
Staff is good about helping to find items, give suggestions on techniques, etc. Owner is good about doing special orders and they have an online store now too. I think it takes a LOT of energy and time to get a store going and with expansion, the same thing. If you've got those and love to talk to people and explain things, then I bet it would be a success--
We have a great store in the Portland area called Stamp-a-dee-do-da. Makes you want to sing the song, huh?! They carry mainly stamping stuff but lots of scrapbook paper.
I guess my thought is if you suggest something, have a class to go along with it. People generally purchase something and are zealous about it if they see examples or take a class using the product.
__________________ Ann Here is my oily blog! CLICK HERE Certified Copic Instructor - Local ClassesI love cars, stamping and essential oils!
My absolute favorite LSS is Doctor Scrapbook & Stamps Too! in South Saint Paul, MN.
They are not a very big store but it is amazing the volume of product they have. They seem to have a realy good mix of scrapbooking and stamping items. What I like about them is that they have a good variety, great prices, offer all of the latest and greatest tools and stamps, are open to suggestions (I suggested they carry Bella stamps and Quickie Glue Pens and they ordered both), and are super friendly and remember your name - I guess it helps that I shop there almost every week and drop lots of $ there! They really fit my personality to a T, they have lots of vintage and flower type stamps. Tons of different stamp vendors that you don't see at the big box stores. They have a good selection of scrapbook papers but I'm not really into that too much, great selection of ribbons, they have all the scallop punches, Cuttlebug (just about all of it) and Sizzix stuff and others like Boss Kut and Wizard and the Bind It All, etc.
They also do classes. I'm not sure if they let you sit and crop at the tables when there isn't a class, I only tend to work at home or a friend's house so I haven't asked about it. Their class space is rather limited and cramped as they are a small store but the classes are fun regardless.
Anyway, I think it is great that they are keeping their thumb on the pulse of the market and managing to stock great stuff that people really want. Their best asset is taking suggestions from consumers and ordering stuff and bringing it into the store and the fact that they keep their prices very reasonable. Theirs prices on many items are less than any other LSS I've been to and by far less than Archivers and on par usually with JoAnns and Michaels and in many cases less than those stores too!
__________________ Julia Gluten free on 9/15/2008. I am a Celiac. 1 in 133 Americans is a Celiac and 97% of those who have Celiac Disease are still undiagnosed. Are you one?
i do not like it at all but still i go there and buy some things i can not get at michaels and joanns.
what i dislike about it:
- owner is really unfriendly (barely says "hi" or when you ask about a product she gives short answers)
- the offers in her online store by example " fancy pants" stamps but they are not available and she is not going to carry them in the store. so why make me pay online when she is unable to ship?
- the store is listed as carrier from several mail stampstores: stampendous, hero arts, magenta and so on but she does not have the stamps nor is she willing to place an order for customers.
-workshops on projects like we see here on the board are outrageous expensive... i alsways smile when i see that. (held by regular staff not the celebs iam talking about in the positive points)
every single time i go out there and get some things i can not get anywhere else i leave the store and feel like crab!!!! my husband even says in the car i dont know why you give them any more pennies. well... i should order my stuff at twopeas... but i just like to touch the things iam intrested and iam chap on shipping cost especially if i want just a few things.
fazit: the store is about 45 automin from my house... i can not rely that the store has the stamp or even ONE stamp of the company by example stampendous on hand (no biggie) BUT when i call to confirm what they have if i do not get a ansewer i feel like ... why spending any $$ in there?
positive
- freaky fridays (specials on all patterend paper)
- acepting one competitor coupon
- scrapbook zone coupon one per month 40% one item
- staff is nice
- nice selection on scrapbook supplies (7 gyspies, making memories, rhonna farrer)
- creating keepsakes celebs are comming to the store to hold workshops
__________________ My SCS Gallery My blog : Pretty Pressings
Designer for Magnolia, Sweden, Lili of the Valley and Sir Stampalot
the store is listed as carrier from several mail stampstores: stampendous, hero arts, magenta and so on but she does not have the stamps nor is she willing to place an order for customers
sorry no edit button
i mean the scrapbook zone is listed on main web sites like on stampendous or magenta that they supposed to have their stamps for sale and this is not true
__________________ My SCS Gallery My blog : Pretty Pressings
Designer for Magnolia, Sweden, Lili of the Valley and Sir Stampalot
i LOVE my LSS, granted i do some design team work and teach classes for them, but that's beside the point! hehehe.. i know that they make nothing having a crop room for crops AND classes, but it's for the customers. i think it's the best thing a LSS can have because it allows customers to work right there in the store, and have unlimited access to die cuts, and product in the store (we have a tab system for people that want to crop and shop throughout the day/night). they have an amazing selection of card-making stuff (stamps, inks, accessories, tools) in addition to every scrapbook and papercrafting supply you'd need/want. the link is in my signature if you wanna look!
__________________
{Gallery}{Blog}
I design for: Stampendous!, There She Goes, Technique Tuesday,
SRM Stickers and Deconstructed Sketches.
Love it there! It's 25 minutes away, and with little ones it's hard to get there as often as I would like.
Here are the things I love about it:
1) Friendly and helpful staff
2) Constantly updated inventory
3) Boarding Pass Club - discounts, coupons, special sales, etc.
4) Lots of neat classes and fun events to choose from
5) Children's play area
6) Open crop area - my sil and I love to go the days we get an all-day discount, we just sit and crop and add to our tab whenever we need anything
The only downside I can think of is that their Web site navigation and design kind of stinks.
HTH!
Marcy
__________________ Marcy Wolf Creek Crafting
I just love the smell of Stazon in the morning!
Sadly, mine is having a closing sale starting tomorrow. On the bright side, I should be able to pick up some nice scrapbook papers, embellishments, great ribbons and fibers for 50 to 75% off. They no longer have stamps or inks.
I will miss it when it's gone. Now I'll only have Hobby Lobby.
We have a Three places. A couple are like little hole in the wall places.
My favorite is Stamper's Ink www.stampersink.net
Tanya fills her store with gobs of rubber stamps--in fact, she just purchased all the inventory from a store going out of business in Florida, rented the unoccupied tiny store next to her store spot in the strip mall where she is located and is offering 60% off all the supplies on that inventory right now. There are stamps from gazillions of different companies, and many are 'vintage' (meaning they have been discontinued for a while) she is trying to liquidate from that store in Florida. Her store itself is pretty good. She just had Judith come and visit. She also just did a workshop with Tim Holtz and met some SCS there--there is a picture of her with Tanya rocks! If you visit Mona Lisa's blog and scroll down, you can meet Tanya http://monalisamoments.typepad.com/ They were at the Tim Holtz's workshop together.
The second place is 2 Scrappy Sisters--which is kinda going downhill, in my opinion. Everytime I go in there, there isn't much to choose from. They use to have a ton of stuff, but I have noticed their inventory has become very skimpy. Which is too bad, because it seems the little guys make a go of it for a couple of years and then places like Joann's, Michael's, Archiver's, etc. have an advantage with coupons, and whatnot.
The third place is The Scrapbook Page http://www.store.thescrapbookpageonline.com/ They have been in business for a while now. It is a really nice place. They have tons of workshops going on at their place. Their store is filled with all sorts of embellishments, paper and a little collection of rubber stamps. I like visiting this store also.
--Jeannie
My LSS is pretty large, has a very large crop room in the back (holds about 40-50 people) and they offer lots of classes, crops and you can crop for free during the day or rent the room for b-day parties, showers, etc and the staff would teach a project or two. They also offer weekend all night crops, very popular!
As far as expanding and ordering, I worked there for 3 years and I was in charge of ordering all the stamping stuff for the store and also taught about 6 classes a month, in addition to working in the store. It took about a staff of 6-8 people to do all the ordering and keep the store well stocked with new items. Our owner split the store into sections/ companies for each of us to be in charge of doing orders. It's a very huge task to keep a large store stocked with the latest and greatest. It took alot of time for me to keep the stamp area well stocked and it was only a small section of the store. So if your wanting to be in charge of ordering be prepared for alot of time and work! But it *is* fun, ordering was my second fave part of working there next to teaching classes
I love my LSS so much. Tiny place and the owner her mom and daughter all work there! Amazing classes (check my gallery for cards made at her classes)
She carries things Michaels doesnt. You will find no Cuttlebug stuff but stamps and neat and different craft stuff. She loves to experiment. My cards with Mica, alcohol, and foil were learned with her
My LSS is Enchanted Cottage in Lewisville, NC...a few miles west of Winston-Salem. It's pretty spectacular! I didn't get into stamping until about a year and a half ago, and had NO idea it was here, and at first I didn't really fully appreciate having such a wonderful LSS. They have tons of stamps, lots of papers (plenty of things for scrapbookers), art supplies, etc. They will special order (check out their website) and they have classes. I have to limit myself two ways: how often I can go there, and how much I can spend, otherwise I'd overdraw my checking account every month.
__________________ Betsy
"All that glitters is not gold; all who wander are not lost"....Tolkien
I think your idea is great. My LSS The Scrapbucket
just expanded their space, moved 2 stores up in the plaza where they are located so they could have more room for people to scrap.
FAQ's on their space is here http://www.thescrapbucketonline.com/faq.html
Also, they had a crop at the end of June, I think it was three days. Several people complained about the cost and the owners lowered the price. Talk about people power!!
I would go there more often, but they don't keep enough stock of stamping supplies.
There are two locations in Wisconsin, I go to the one in Appleton. It's fairly large and carries just about everything you'd ever want (and some stuff you'd never buy! ;) ). There is a large area for classes, though I've never attended one. You may be able to rent the space out, but I'm not sure. It's not a closed room. It's just in the back quarter of the store.
Good luck!
Oh my gosh, and I thought we had a big scrapbooking store. Does it really go back as far as it looks, or is there a mirror?
The store near me occupies a space that used to have doctor's offices. Of course, it's one big room now, except for the classroom near the back. It has a doorway, but no door. They offer lots of different classes.
They carry lots of wonderful papers, tons of stickers and embellishments, books, and a few tools.
They have an incredible selection of items...paper, embellishments, ribbons, etc... The stamps they do carry are aimed towards the scrapper. Most of them being alphabets or images that would work well on scrapbook pages (size-wise). The have a large room where classes are held. You can also rent this room for birthday parties, showers, etc. They have sections with organizational items, punches, cutters. They offer a die cutting center with 100's++++ of die cuts. So much more!
Thanks for more great suggestions and advice! I'm thinking of putting some ideas down on paper to arm myself when I'm ready to go talk to the current store owner!
Sadly, mine is having a closing sale starting tomorrow. On the bright side, I should be able to pick up some nice scrapbook papers, embellishments, great ribbons and fibers for 50 to 75% off. They no longer have stamps or inks.
I will miss it when it's gone. Now I'll only have Hobby Lobby.
Hi...Anyone of u make a trip to India...And will be giving classes ...do let me know..I'll be willing to come n learn sum techniques from u all pple..!!
My LSS, in Durham, NC is terrific. The staff are all quite well-informed about card making and scrapbooking. They cater to both stampers and scrappers, with a lot of different papers (Daisy-D's, BG, Cosmo Cricket, SEI, plus tons of others), a very large range of Bazzill CS, tons of stamps and stamp related material (inks, acrylic mounts, EZ mount, alcohol inks, twinkling H2O's, etc.). They also carry several of the cricut cart's, baby cricut, Silhouette, lots and lots of embellies, a wall of fiber (cut to order), some specialty paper (hand-made, odd-sized, etc.). There are organized sections (seasons, family, animals, sports, school) to help orient. There is a huge room that can be used for free if there's not a class or crop going; this can also be rented. They offer several classes, beginner to advanced, and have a weekly 4 hour crop. I love this store, and try to support it when possible. HTH's.
Hi Susan,
Are you talking about Carolina Memories? Five of us took a trip to NC two weeks ago to go to Archievers. We found Carolina Memories and were blown away. It was a great store and we plan on going back in the fall.
Wanted to stop in on this thread again and thank everyone for the details you provided about your LSS! I did end up stopping by the store in question, and struck up a conversation with the manager of the stamping/papercrafting department. Asked about the barn that was a furniture store next to them, and the possibility of expansion. She told me they had already considered it but the overhead would be way too high. I also inquired as to whether they had any openings for new stampers to be demos when they have classes and other events. If you want to hear what eventually happened from my talk with her, check out my blog for the story! I am one big happy stamper!
I tried to leave a comment on my blog, but it seems I have forgotten my password!! Doesn't seem likely to me, but it keeps rejecting the one that I know it is!
Congratulations, Tammy, on this wonderful opportunity!! Sounds like a dream come true!! I can't wait to hear about all the latest and greatest in the stamping world now that I have someone in the know!!! May God bless you richly as you start this new and exciting chapter in your life.
Mine is in the middle of it's going out business sale. Things will be 50% - 90% off starting on Wednesday and the doors officially close for good on Saturday.
Tammy~I tried to leave a comment on your blog but don't have an account....sooo....CONGRATULATIONS!! Dreams can come true and now I'm inspired to work towards mine (after vacation :rolleyes: ) Congrats again!! How awsome is this?!!
oh yeah....forgot to add: one neat feature that my LSS has (that I admit, I've never had time to do) is a "craft bar". They have a couple of different paper crafts (altering, card....whatever) that they have the supplies out on the bar. You "order" you choice, sit at the bar and make it (with the girls right there to help) and then pay and leave with your goodies!! Kinda a cool idea I think!!
Tell me about your LSS!
Stamper's Ink
