Hey,
Don't write yourself off yet.
It's only in your head you feel left out,
Or looked down on.
Just try your best,
Try everything you can.
And don't you worry what they tell themselves
When you're away.
It just takes some time,
little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.
Hey,
You know they're all the same.
You know you're doing better on your own,
So don't buy in.
Live right now.
Yeah, just be yourself.
It doesn't matter if it's good enough
For someone else.
Hey, don't write yourself off yet.
It's only in your head you feel left out,
Or looked down on.
Just do your best,
Do everything you can.
And don't you worry what their bitter hearts
Are gonna say.
------Jimmy Eats World
"The Middle"
Wow! Two weeks has flown by almost without my knowing it! Time's like that sometimes....you blink and it's gone. My friend, Debi Swanson-Patrick, mentioned that she hadn't seen any posts from me in a while and I thought, "really? I haven't?" I swear it seems like just the other day that I had.
When I last posted, Michelle, our manager, had found a more secure job elsewhere and left us on Oct. 2nd. Thanks to all the wonderful people who wished her farewell, I'm sure she'll miss you! Since then it's been a whirlwind of training - not just Leilana, who has been promoted to manager (yay, Leilana!), but our two new crew members, Trish and Devon. We've also been busy planning our Haute Halloween Night on Saturday, October 31st. The whole crew is involved in planning this event, so I'm confident that we'll all have a frighteningly fun time! I'll be posting more information about it mid-week, and keep your eye out for updates after that.
Yesterday was my 3rd class at the Business Builder's Boot Camp at the Women's City Club in Pasadena. I'm still awed by the talent of the women who are teaching and attending this class with me! They're all fascinating and I'm learning so much, not just in the class but by being in the company of such powerful women. It's an empowering thing to be bouncing ideas off of and having meaningful, intelligent discussions with this part of the area's top movers and shakers....for that's what we are, no doubt about it.
What we're learning is how to build a business phase by phase. By research, data, life experience and intuition, it is possible to fashion a successful business and by hard work, perseverance and sheer determination it is possible to keep that successful business going. Having the talent needed doesn't hurt, either. We're finding out, each of us, how we're going to craft that business and if the resident population in our areas will support it. Personally speaking, I want to be able to write a business plan that will take us where we'd like to be and also help guide us into the future. I'd like to grow that plan to encompass the North Lake Business District and its merchants. Cooperative advertising, cross promotion and building community are things that we should be doing all the time - I'd like to help us get there. Promoting a healthy business environment, nurturing it and keeping it thriving are key elements to a successful Altadena.
So while I'm busy learning how to improve this part of my world, please feel free to drop in, have a cuppa, a cookie and a looksee around the store. New things coming in for the holidays, which are almost directly upon us. Escape for awhile, indulge and allow yourself a small luxury or two. Enjoy the experience and if you do, please let us know. You can leave messages on this blog, you can contact me via email at lorinscott_1@msn.com or you can leave a suggestion in our suggestion pumpkin on the coffee table at the store. You can even write comments in our guestbook! I suggest you check out our website, too....it's informative, user-friendly, and best of all, chock full of wonderful things, some available on-line!
Showing posts with label Women's City Club of Pasadena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women's City Club of Pasadena. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Learning Curve at Webster's Fine Stationers
I’m embarking on an adventure. Today I started a 26-week course given by the Women’s City Club of Pasadena called “Business Builders Boot Camp”. The brainchild of Lilli Cloud, Donna Chaney and Jennifer Hamilton, this course will help me formulate a sound business plan for our store. I was blown away with the absolute awesomeness of the women attending along with me, and I feel that this is without doubt one of the most positive things I’ve done for our store so far. I need to learn more about how to steer our business toward the goals we set upon taking ownership of it. I want to learn how to maintain those goals and add to them and how to grow after realizing those goals. I can’t wait to soak in the knowledge and expertise all these wonderful women are offering and I’m so thankful that I happened to be invited into the group. I’m one lucky gal to have such fabulous friends and to have the chance to make more!
In class I spoke of our store and the history of Webster’s. We were identifying what the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are for our businesses and I volunteered to be the class example. It was an exciting discussion and I actually learned so much from listening to my classmates’ comments. Hands down, the top ranked strength for us was our name recognition. We discussed what a powerful tool name recognition is, then we talked about what can happen to that name recognition if it’s not given the proper care and attention it deserves. In other words, the store’s weakness is its lack of follow-through.
What Webster’s has become is a perfect example of what happens when you become complacent. Paraphrasing Petrea Bruchard in her article about us in her blog, Pasadena Daily Photo, Webster’s sat up on that hill and never really had to do much to attract shoppers. We were the only game in town and it was exciting at the time to have a nice place to shop in the neighborhood. We were the town’s hub and it was good. But local shopping fell out of favor. New and more exciting big box stores opened nearby and then warehouse stores came along. Things were less expensive at these places, you could get similar items for less, so business for Webster’s began fall off. The shopping demographic changed and we didn’t change with it, or we didn’t change in the right direction. With the years of neglect came apathy and denial, lackluster service and a general feeling of malaise that could be felt by customers. I noticed it when I took a full time job in the business office there in 1995 and I’ve talked with many people who’ve noticed the same thing throughout the years.
With Bill Webster’s retirement and the splitting up of the stores two years ago, our store began communicating with the public. We became very active on social media sites and have worked diligently to improve our visibility and reinforce our brand. Scott and I have made so many new friends and reinforced old friendships that we’re very thankful for. Many of these friends have offered advice, most of which we’ve taken to heart. But one piece of advice leaves us a bit flummoxed. Move on, they say, after learning about our trials with the Webster’s Corp…..find another storefront to rent where you’ll be more successful and get out before you go down with them. We’ve heard it from several different sources recently, especially now with the advent of Karen’s Hallmark‘s demise. I get where these friends are coming from, I truly do. But Scott and I just can’t reconcile moving the business away from Webster’s. What would happen to the main store if we did that? Where would that leave them? And more importantly, what would that say about our integrity?
Integrity is vitally important to Scott and I personally and it’s vitally important to us as a store. If we don’t follow through with what we’ve promised, then what are we? Integrity is also important to us in relationship to our family, reciprocated or not. If not for Webster’s, there would be no Webster’s Fine Stationers, and for that opportunity alone we’re more grateful than we can say.
Two years ago, we envisioned a small complex of stores working together to make a healthy whole and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We’re now experiencing the closure of the Hallmark store, which will of course affect us all, and not in a good way. It will negatively affect the store on so many different levels, it’s staggering. Hopefully, though, this will become the catalyst for the two remaining stores to work together closely, and most of all, to learn from this experience. Scott and I remain hopeful because we believe in our store. We believe we can offer the community many benefits, which we’ve discussed in prior posts. We remain hopeful that with our help, Webster’s will remain in the community, but remember that we’ll need your help, too. Remember to shop local and please remember that Webster’s stands for Altadena.
In class I spoke of our store and the history of Webster’s. We were identifying what the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are for our businesses and I volunteered to be the class example. It was an exciting discussion and I actually learned so much from listening to my classmates’ comments. Hands down, the top ranked strength for us was our name recognition. We discussed what a powerful tool name recognition is, then we talked about what can happen to that name recognition if it’s not given the proper care and attention it deserves. In other words, the store’s weakness is its lack of follow-through.
What Webster’s has become is a perfect example of what happens when you become complacent. Paraphrasing Petrea Bruchard in her article about us in her blog, Pasadena Daily Photo, Webster’s sat up on that hill and never really had to do much to attract shoppers. We were the only game in town and it was exciting at the time to have a nice place to shop in the neighborhood. We were the town’s hub and it was good. But local shopping fell out of favor. New and more exciting big box stores opened nearby and then warehouse stores came along. Things were less expensive at these places, you could get similar items for less, so business for Webster’s began fall off. The shopping demographic changed and we didn’t change with it, or we didn’t change in the right direction. With the years of neglect came apathy and denial, lackluster service and a general feeling of malaise that could be felt by customers. I noticed it when I took a full time job in the business office there in 1995 and I’ve talked with many people who’ve noticed the same thing throughout the years.
With Bill Webster’s retirement and the splitting up of the stores two years ago, our store began communicating with the public. We became very active on social media sites and have worked diligently to improve our visibility and reinforce our brand. Scott and I have made so many new friends and reinforced old friendships that we’re very thankful for. Many of these friends have offered advice, most of which we’ve taken to heart. But one piece of advice leaves us a bit flummoxed. Move on, they say, after learning about our trials with the Webster’s Corp…..find another storefront to rent where you’ll be more successful and get out before you go down with them. We’ve heard it from several different sources recently, especially now with the advent of Karen’s Hallmark‘s demise. I get where these friends are coming from, I truly do. But Scott and I just can’t reconcile moving the business away from Webster’s. What would happen to the main store if we did that? Where would that leave them? And more importantly, what would that say about our integrity?
Integrity is vitally important to Scott and I personally and it’s vitally important to us as a store. If we don’t follow through with what we’ve promised, then what are we? Integrity is also important to us in relationship to our family, reciprocated or not. If not for Webster’s, there would be no Webster’s Fine Stationers, and for that opportunity alone we’re more grateful than we can say.
Two years ago, we envisioned a small complex of stores working together to make a healthy whole and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We’re now experiencing the closure of the Hallmark store, which will of course affect us all, and not in a good way. It will negatively affect the store on so many different levels, it’s staggering. Hopefully, though, this will become the catalyst for the two remaining stores to work together closely, and most of all, to learn from this experience. Scott and I remain hopeful because we believe in our store. We believe we can offer the community many benefits, which we’ve discussed in prior posts. We remain hopeful that with our help, Webster’s will remain in the community, but remember that we’ll need your help, too. Remember to shop local and please remember that Webster’s stands for Altadena.
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