Surveying The Landscape In Altadena

As I've hinted about for the past couple of weeks, the results from the Chamber of Commerce's Shopping Survey have been compiled and released to the public.  We released a condensed version of the data at the Chamber's last mixer on Thursday, 5/26 at the Community Center.  The mixer was open to the public at no charge, but even so, there were only about 20 attendees.  You could say that the Chamber didn't announce the date of the mixer loudly enough, but it was on both Altadenablog and AltadenaPatch.com, and I know I gave ample notice of it on the store's Facebook page.

Why so few attendees?  We'll look at that in just a minute - first I'd like to talk about why we decided to put this, admittedly rudimentary, survey together in the first place.  We knew going in that most people up in our neck of the woods want more choices in 1) grocery shopping, 2) dining out and 3) retail shopping.  What we needed was verification of this, so we can continue our dialog with Los Angeles County in an informed manner.  They need to not just hear us, but hear you as well.  We want to give them not just anecdotal evidence, but hard numbers that encompass a good portion of the town,,,,and this survey of just under 400 people gave us that.

Verification of what we thought going in appeared in the survey.  The number one requested shopping venue was for a healthier choice in groceries, a la Trader Joe's or the Arroyo Food Co-op.  And yes, the Arroyo Food Co-op was mentioned over and over again in the written section, where we asked the survey takers to elaborate on what type of business they'd like to see in Altadena.  Same went for restaurants - the requests for healthy/organic/vegetarian dining options were many.  As for retail, I was surprised that only 15 respondents out of 370 answered the question "Why Do You Not Shop Locally", with 7 people giving the answer of "lack of choices".  However, continuing on with the survey, I was completely blown away that when asked to elaborate where the respondents did shop in town,...there were 360 answers! 

Sooo....our residents do shop in town!  I did a little counting of my own, and out of those 360 responses, 201 mentioned they shop Webster's.  And out of those 201, a good third of those named Webster's Fine Stationers by name.  That made me feel good!  Altadena Hardware, under new management this year, put in a great showing, too, with just over a hundred mentions.  Our restaurants received mention, too, with Foxes, Amy's Patio Cafe and El Patron being the frontrunners of that category. 

But back to the question, why so little attendance at the mixer?  Are there really that few people on-line in Altadena?  Or are we faced with a situation where people just don't care anymore?  In a retail group I'm a member of, the question of how to get people to care about your shop is asked in different forms repeatedly.  As shop owners, we not only have to be good businesspeople, we also have to have the ability to read the future as well.  We have to forecast the climate for certain products and services, which tend to wax and wane like the moon, and we have to pick up on the tendrils of a trend.  The trend of indifference has long been in place, I think, longer than I've been in retail.  With the advent of the big box corporate stores, the glut of advertisement you receive in your face every single day wears me out....and I'm a retailer!  No wonder there's such apathy - too many choices and we get locked into our same old, same old routine of habit.  You have to be truly different to stand apart, a trendsetter.

My tip to other retailers and business people is this:  there is a trend out there, one that will leave the big boxes and the internet retailers in possible shambles in the not-too-distant future.  The trend towards localization is huge and growing.  People, as in the people who took our survey, WANT to shop in their neighborhoods.  They don't want to travel 20 minutes or a half an hour to get to some mega mall, they want a place close by where they can come in, get what they need, maybe spend a few moments talking to acquaintances and go home.  Or they want a place nearby they can depend on to delight them, whenever they stop in.  Our challenge is to serve that up to our residents....with a smile.  Can we offer that to you, Altadena?  You bet.....just watch us!

On this Memorial Day, we hope you've had a pleasant long weekend!  Best wishes to you in the coming week,

Lori & Scott

Citizen Of The Year And More!

Another week has whizzed by and by the looks of it, this week will be following suite. We've finished with the California Gift Show, and I'm sure glad that I'm back in the store again, getting things prepared for the arrival of new merchandise! You might notice a few empty spaces when you visit our store, but have no fear, they'll be filled in shortly.

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce Installation Dinner was Friday evening at the Altadena Town & Country Club. I thought it was a great turnout and Scott and I enjoyed meeting and greeting our many friends who were there. The Citizen of the Year Award was given to our friend Carolyn Seitz, and I don't think there is anyone who deserves the honor more. In a touching acceptance speech, she downplayed all she's done in the past several years to better our community and instead gave kudos to her family, some who had traveled there to support her. Everyone was visibly moved as she introduced her father, whom she said had instilled in her the value of community service. Congratulations to Carolyn, we very much enjoyed the evening!

Picture of installation of Board members courtesy of Bill Westphal

We're looking forward to some fabulous events here at Webster's, so please stay in touch with us as we unfold our plans! It'll be fresh, fun and something the entire community can enjoy....can you tell I'm excited? We'll be back to tell you all about it, once everything is finalized!

Have a wonderful week, my friends!

Lori & Scott

Being Social and Shopping Local, A Recipe For Fun In Altadena

Scott and I hope all of you had a pleasant Labor Day holiday. We decided that we'd close the store Sunday and Monday, and it was lovely having two whole days at home! Our dog, almost 14 year old Pepe, was estatic that we were home, poor pup has gotten used to us being gone every day.

After that nice, warm Labor Day, it sure seems like fall is here. Although the days in Altadena are warm, they're clear with that certain tang in the air that signals autumn is just around the corner. Some claim we were cheated out of summer....I'm glad it wasn't too awfully hot and all of us at the store are getting ready for the change of seasons. All this week we'll be moving things around and redecorating, so please excuse the disarray....I'm sure you'll be pleased with the outcome!

Last post, I mentioned the social media meet and greet/wine pairing event we'd be having, and I mentioned mid-September. We're going to hold the event on Friday, October 1st, after the Jewish New Year celebrations are over. October 1st is also the date The Gallery At The End Of The World is having a one-man show, so it should be a great evening of fun, fellowship, information, food, wine and art! Our wine pairing theme will be Fall Tailgating Parties, so do make plans to join us....meet our area's well-known bloggers, find out what all the buzz is about social media and even ask questions about how sites like Facebook can open a whole new world for you and your business! More information about our function will be forthcoming next week.

Something exciting has happened! The Altadena Chamber of Commerce has launched its long-awaited Shop Local Altadena program. It started last week with very little fanfare and a link to a PDF page of coupons on the front page of the Chamber's website at http://abacus-es.com/altadena/ads.pdf This link will take you directly to the coupon page, which you can print and cut out to use at the participating merchants and businesses. Webster's Fine Stationers is offering a 15% savings on purchases over $20.00, excluding sale items and Crane & Co., from now through the month of October! The other businesses participating are Altadena Golf Course, Curves, Amy's Patio Cafe, Steve's Pets and Kat Scrap Studio. As a Director of the Chamber, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of coverage, save a two-liner in Altadenablog. We need to be a bit more committed to creating interest and making sure the majority of people in the town know when we start a campaign like this. It's the start of a fabulous movement, with coupon savings and everything, so we'd appreciate it if you'd help spread the word.

Have a great week, my friends, and remember....shopping local truly does empower your community!

Lori & Scott

Post Grand Opening Benefit News

I wanted to share with you how our Grand Re-Opening and Benefit for the Quality of Life Center went. Those of you who participated know what a fabulous time everyone had. If you couldn't make it, no worries....there'll be more functions soon.

We're deeply indebted to all who helped make this such a success....Bo Astrup and Revvell Ravati of Photobooth Los Angeles; Laura Gladden, who made the wonderful cakes; The Altadena Chamber of Commerce; our manufacturor's reps - Laurel from the Lynn Mitchell Group, Robin from Sales Producers representing Accents de Ville, Chris Holmes representing Greenleaf, Mindy from the FlemingChalef showroom, Marshall from SP Richards and Karen from Golden Sales; our artists Donna Barnes-Roberts, Dianna March, Penny Palumbo and Athena Meltzer; our staff members who worked their behinds off - Michelle, Leilana, Christian and Rose (in no particular order....you're all fabulous!); Christine from Waste Less Living; my daughter, Parisa and her best bud, Michelle; and finally, Dore Charbonneau who gave me such great advice.....thank you one and all! I also want to acknowledge our team member, Betsy Lopez, who couldn't be in attendance because she was recovering from giving her little sister a bone-marrow transplant....such a selfless and caring sister. We ask everyone reading to say a prayer for the Lopez family and when you come into the store, let Betsy know you're praying for them.

Since my main gal, Deb Halberstadt, was out of town, no professional pictures were taken. Not to worry, we have some coming by attendees who took pix....bear with me until they send them.

I'm very proud that we were able to spotlight The Quality of Life Center and Waste Less Living. We had many in attendance that hadn't heard of these two worthy groups and am gratified that we were able to get the word out about them. It was great to see the families whose childrens' portraits adorn our wall above the shipping area (if you haven't seen them yet, you're missing a treat!). The raffles were a blast, too....so many happy winners of wonderful merchandise and a grand prize of a $100.00 gift certificate (courtesy of SP Richards) to The Cheesecake Factory! Folks really had fun with the photobooth, provided by PhotoBooth Los Angeles (see link below)....what an exciting addition to any event!

Next on the horizon is our Holiday Open House....stay tuned for more information on that. Meanwhile, come in and enjoy the warmth of our Thanksgiving decor, have a cup of coffee or tea and a cookie sample....we're always ready to serve you!