As I sit here and type, I'm reflecting on the two days Scott and I took off of work because of Carmegeddon. While it was fun to putter around the house we see so little of, we found ourselves antsy about not being there. It's a funny feeling to be away from the business you're running, especially these days, but I'm glad for a little bit of distance. Perspective is good as is planning, and we did some of both this weekend.
As we were discussing the very real need for increased business in our store, Scott mentioned some of the online reviews he's read about Webster's, and the many comments he's heard over the years from the store's customers. He says that the general consensus of opinion about the store was this statement: "If you can't find it anywhere else, you'll be able to find it at Webster's". No matter what "it" was, people thought that you could find it here. He's also heard people sat repeatedly "I went to ____ and ____ and couldn't find it, but you have it!" Scott asked me this question - "Where would Webster's be today if people would've come here first? Why, if in the majority's mind, we carried everything, didn't they come to us first?"
That's a question that isn't simple to answer and is a moot point anyway, as the pharmacy business is owned by a different family now. The aura of the Webster's of old still affects us all today, however. Change is never comfortable, especially with a store that's been in the community so long. One whose cachet was fading, maybe, and one who was a last resort shopping destination, but was one who was still there - safe and predictable.
Now the game's changed and the store is not the same as it was. Times have changed, as we all know, and shopping habits are in flux. The wholesalers who supply what our old store offered are getting more and more difficult for small, independent retailers like us to work with. The minimum purchase is getting higher and their short terms are not negotiable. Some small office supply and business product manufacturers have gone out of business altogether, which gives the impression that we've chosen not to carry that item anymore. All of this together doesn't exactly smack of confident retailing and our dwindling sales are proving it true - you can't sell it if you don't have it.
All of us here at Webster's need your support, because all of us want to be strong enough to support you, the community. With the anticipated revitalization of the pharmacy, we are placing our hope in your continued goodwill and trust. Trust us that we intend to bring you the very best shopping experience we can. Both Scott and I are working with Michael and Meredith to support their efforts to accomplish this because we believe. We believe in ourselves, our crew and our talents. Let us show you what we can do - be a supporter of positive change and tell a friend about us! Your good word of mouth is more powerful than a thousand dollars worth of advertising, so go tell someone about us or share this post - we deeply appreciate it!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Community In The Works
Last week we celebrated Independents Week, as we discussed in my last post, and I've never been more proud to be a part of the business landscape in Altadena. Even though times are tough financially, there is an undercurrent running though our community that is so exciting, it's really inspirational!
Scott and I have the honor of knowing so many individuals, most of whom are active with various civic groups in town, that have been working tirelessly to challenge the status quo and improve our daily lives. From the Arroyo Time Bank and the Altadena Urban Farmer's Market to the Altadena Town Council, Altadena Heritage, and the Altadena Historical Society, these folks are devoting their time and effort to make a discernible difference here. They're paving the way for a sustainable future for Altadena and along the way, they're also educating our residents how to achieve and maintain it.
On Friday, during our Fancy Food Truck Friday event, we had two such people in the store, donating their time to making the evening more enjoyable for everyone. Susann Edmonds, owner of A Chair In The Garden and head chef at Jabberwocky Smooth Jerk was there handing out samples of pork roast cooked with the proprietary sauce while local artist HB3 (Hugh Bonar) made magical sounds with his guitar, utterly enchanting everyone who came in. It was quite a night and I'd like to thank both Susann and Hugh for helping make the event even more of a community party!
The groups I mentioned above, and others that I haven't yet mentioned, all need our help. Not just some of our money - what they need is your attention and most of all, they need your participation. You can find out more about them at the websites the links will take you to. I can tell you that they can't do what they need to do without our caring about them. In my ideal world, we would all be working together for the common good, businesses and community members alike. If you live in Altadena, we urge you to take a moment, check out these sites and get invested in the town you live in.....only good could come of it!
Thanks for listening and we hope you all have a fabulous week!
Lori & Scott
Scott and I have the honor of knowing so many individuals, most of whom are active with various civic groups in town, that have been working tirelessly to challenge the status quo and improve our daily lives. From the Arroyo Time Bank and the Altadena Urban Farmer's Market to the Altadena Town Council, Altadena Heritage, and the Altadena Historical Society, these folks are devoting their time and effort to make a discernible difference here. They're paving the way for a sustainable future for Altadena and along the way, they're also educating our residents how to achieve and maintain it.
On Friday, during our Fancy Food Truck Friday event, we had two such people in the store, donating their time to making the evening more enjoyable for everyone. Susann Edmonds, owner of A Chair In The Garden and head chef at Jabberwocky Smooth Jerk was there handing out samples of pork roast cooked with the proprietary sauce while local artist HB3 (Hugh Bonar) made magical sounds with his guitar, utterly enchanting everyone who came in. It was quite a night and I'd like to thank both Susann and Hugh for helping make the event even more of a community party!
The groups I mentioned above, and others that I haven't yet mentioned, all need our help. Not just some of our money - what they need is your attention and most of all, they need your participation. You can find out more about them at the websites the links will take you to. I can tell you that they can't do what they need to do without our caring about them. In my ideal world, we would all be working together for the common good, businesses and community members alike. If you live in Altadena, we urge you to take a moment, check out these sites and get invested in the town you live in.....only good could come of it!
Thanks for listening and we hope you all have a fabulous week!
Lori & Scott
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Independents For All!
As America prepares to celebrate Independence Day, communities nationwide are using the occasion to celebrate independent businesses that provide opportunities for personal freedom, local self-reliance and form the backbone of most local economies. Running from 7/1/11 to 7/7/11, WFS salutes all our brothers and sisters in independent businesses!
Public education is at the core of Independents Week. “Where we choose to spend our money plays a vital role in forming the character of our communities,” said Jennifer Rockne, director of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). By patronizing locally-owned businesses, we not only can get competitive values, but create more opportunity and wealth within our communities. "The events also help inform government officials", Rockne says. “Many elected officials aren’t aware their hometown businesses provide far greater local economic benefit from each sales dollar than chains. Our role is to help them make more informed decisions.” If you ever have questions in regard to this subject, please feel free to contact us, we'd be happy to provide you with information!
Until next week, my friends!
Lori and Scott
My Country 'Tis of Thee
Written by: Samuel Francis Smith
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of Liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride!
From ev'ry mountain side,
Let freedom ring!
Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thank You....Thank You Very Much!
These days, it's very easy to forget the word "thank you". The picture above is a book we sell at the store and it reminded me that I need to be more aware of what I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for my family, for my friends and for everything that the Lord has granted me in life thus far. Both Scott and I are grateful for the chance to bring our dreams to reality, even though the road seems unpaved and perilous. Most of all, we're grateful to you! Every day, we welcome the opportunity to delight you, so here's a big thank you from us to you!
Have a wonderful week, my friends!
Lori & Scott
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Song For My Father
A collection of rooms - four walls
a floor, some furniture - a house
a shell, no soul, empty....waiting
For someone to fill it - waiting
for a family's love, laughter - dreams
A home....a solid foundation.
You gave that to me - my father
You stood inside it and said yes
This is the place - this house.
A collection of rooms - four walls
a floor, some furniture - my home
echoes with the gifts you gave....
love
----Lori Elliott Webster
Scott and I hope all of you had an enjoyable weekend and Father's Day! Enjoy the coming week, my friends, we'll be back with normal blogging next week.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Dollars For Scholars!*
 | ||||||||
| WFS Grand Re-Opening Notice In Pasadena Star News, Sept. 27, 2008 |
As I mentioned on our store's Facebook page this morning, Scott and I were honored to attend the graduation ceremony of the Bright Future Scholars, held this afternoon at the Pasadena Convention Center. I say honored, because this is such an incredible program for high achieving school kids who would otherwise be unable to take advantage of such opportunities. In academic achievement, the Bright Futures Scholars Support Program, when compared to others with similar demographics, ranks at the top state-wide. 100% of the seniors enrolled in the program go on to enroll in college. Today's graduating seniors are going to a variety of top colleges, including Harvard, Columbia, USC, UCLA and UC Santa Cruz - and we couldn't be prouder of them!
It costs nothing but high grades to become part of the Bright Future Scholars. It does cost quite a bit, however, to mentor those kids and take them on the yearly retreat to Washington, D.C., or to Sacremento, CA. It costs a lot to make sure there are people from the Center ready to help whomever needs it, whenever they need it. It costs the students themselves, and their families who have little to spare, a tidy sum to attend college and to provide for living and school expenses as well. When the question of who would like to pledge a scholarship for a Bright Future Scholar graduate in 2012, Scott and I had to step up!
We pledged not just one $500.00 scholarship - we pledged two! One scholarship will be from Webster's of Altadena, in honor of the Webster family's long tradition of service to the Altadena community. The other will be in honor of my grandfather, Dr. Robert I. Elliott, who was Superintendent of Schools, State of Nebraska, Broken Bow County and was later president of Chadron State College for 40 years. Chadron State College is celebrating their 100 year anniversary this year.
As you can see by my family's history, education is important to us. It's even more important that those who are doing well in school be able to go on, despite their economical or situational challenges. You know I've been saying that our businesses should all be working together toward a healthy community, and making sure that our non-profits stay viable is a top priority. No longer can we think of ourselves only - I advocate for a more holistic approach. That's why we're putting our money where our mouth is. Now, we've got to get busy and make enough so that we can honor (there's that word again!) our commitment.
In other news, this next Saturday is our monthly wine pairing event with OddBallGrape.com. This time it's "Cabs For Dads And Grads" and we'll highlight different combinations of Cabernet Sauvingon with grilled meat (or grilled vegetable) sliders. Amy's Patio Cafe will be providing the sliders and there will be much merriment as we learn which wine tastes best with what! Mark your calendars now - the fun starts at 4:00 pm and lasts until 7:00 pm - a whole hour later than we normally close. If you haven't been to one of our wine tastings, you're really missing out - Anne Bannon and Mike Holland of OddBallGrape.com are lively, funny and extremely knowledgeable about the vino!
Have a fabulous week ahead, my friends!
*We have collection jars in our store, at each register, for customers to drop their change into, to benefit The Quality Of Life Center. Please make it a point to drop yours in next time you're at the store - we appreciate it!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Community At The Table
We're celebrating the fifth Fancy Food Truck Fridays this week and in honor of the occasion, I'd like to take you on a little history trip - one that looks at food truck origins, their sudden burgeoning popularity and the way food binds us as humans together.
One of the earliest pioneers of mobile kitchens, entrepreneur Charles Goodnight, was primarily a famous Texas rancher. Deemed the "Father of the Texas Panhandle", Mr. Goodnight was also a banker, silver miner and the founder of a college, among many other things (entrepreneurs back in those days were serious multi-taskers and were themselves most likely the model for today's venture capitalists). In 1866, Mr. Goodnight saw the need for food-on-the-go for his ranch hands as they worked the cattle drives and thus, the "chuckwagon" was born.
Of course, food vendors had been on crowded city streets since time immemorial. From ancient Greece and Rome to Paris' storied Monmartre, purveyors of salty, savory, sweet and spicy deliciousness from carts abounded. The genius of Mr. Goodnight's invention was putting size into the food cart equation and making it a place where food was prepared and cooked. First the patrons of the chuckwagon were the cowboys of the day, then others followed suite and the ubiquitous lunch wagon (more commonly known as the roach coach) was born.
Fast forward to 2008, when Mark Manguera, a Filipino married to a Korean woman, his sister Alice Chin and friend, chef Roy Choi, started Kogi BBQ Taco Truck. Mark's concept of Korean barbeque (or Bool Kogi) in a taco, arrived at while drinking with friends, took off like lightening and today's gourmet food truck was born. And what a platform it's been, and continues to be, for the enterprising entrepreneur, and how exciting it is for us to experiment with these new recipes!
As humans, we are hard-wired to gather around good food. Again, from ancient times to modern, community is found around a dining table. Breaking bread is one of the oldest human tradition and we all hold true to that psychological imprint. This is why all of us here at The Shops at Webster's host Fancy Food Truck Fridays. We hope that by providing this communal experience, Altadena will be enriched. Enriched by more people connecting, laughing......eating......together. From our house to yours, we hope you'll enjoy yourselves this Friday night. Come by, say hello to your friends and neighbors and meet someone new - maybe even browse in the shops and meet us! We'll be waiting for you.....
Enjoy the week ahead, my friends!
Lori and Scott
One of the earliest pioneers of mobile kitchens, entrepreneur Charles Goodnight, was primarily a famous Texas rancher. Deemed the "Father of the Texas Panhandle", Mr. Goodnight was also a banker, silver miner and the founder of a college, among many other things (entrepreneurs back in those days were serious multi-taskers and were themselves most likely the model for today's venture capitalists). In 1866, Mr. Goodnight saw the need for food-on-the-go for his ranch hands as they worked the cattle drives and thus, the "chuckwagon" was born.
Of course, food vendors had been on crowded city streets since time immemorial. From ancient Greece and Rome to Paris' storied Monmartre, purveyors of salty, savory, sweet and spicy deliciousness from carts abounded. The genius of Mr. Goodnight's invention was putting size into the food cart equation and making it a place where food was prepared and cooked. First the patrons of the chuckwagon were the cowboys of the day, then others followed suite and the ubiquitous lunch wagon (more commonly known as the roach coach) was born.
Fast forward to 2008, when Mark Manguera, a Filipino married to a Korean woman, his sister Alice Chin and friend, chef Roy Choi, started Kogi BBQ Taco Truck. Mark's concept of Korean barbeque (or Bool Kogi) in a taco, arrived at while drinking with friends, took off like lightening and today's gourmet food truck was born. And what a platform it's been, and continues to be, for the enterprising entrepreneur, and how exciting it is for us to experiment with these new recipes!
As humans, we are hard-wired to gather around good food. Again, from ancient times to modern, community is found around a dining table. Breaking bread is one of the oldest human tradition and we all hold true to that psychological imprint. This is why all of us here at The Shops at Webster's host Fancy Food Truck Fridays. We hope that by providing this communal experience, Altadena will be enriched. Enriched by more people connecting, laughing......eating......together. From our house to yours, we hope you'll enjoy yourselves this Friday night. Come by, say hello to your friends and neighbors and meet someone new - maybe even browse in the shops and meet us! We'll be waiting for you.....
Enjoy the week ahead, my friends!
Lori and Scott
Monday, May 30, 2011
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
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
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Trust Issues
"I've learned to listen to myself, to listen to truth, to not be afraid of it and to not try and hide it"
----Sarah McLachlan
In our talk about sustainability last week, I mentioned a survey about businesses in Altadena that was conducted by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce . News of the survey and links to it appeared in AltadenaPatch.com and Altadenablog several months ago. The survey results have been compiled and will be presented to the public at the Chamber's next mixer, at the Community Center, 5:30 pm on Thursday, May 26th. This is great news, for we finally have some information to use to build our case for some County attention our our neck of the woods, not to mention our own internal need for forward motion. After the mixer and the release of the survey, you'll get a guided tour of the results, a la Lori.
I spoke about my having picked up some inspirational reading material last week, as well. Scott and I both listened to Seth Godin's newest book, Poke The Box, on audio tape and we're so inspired. I love that we can listen to someone who advocates standing up and making a difference - and I love even more that we both agree that's something we can do together! We are also reading Jeanne Bliss' newest book, "I Love You More Than My Dog". While I haven't yet finished Jeanne's book, I can say that these books, in combination, are proving to be invaluable to me. I see clearly that we've been depressed these past several months, letting the pressures of owning this store affect our relationship with not just each other, but the relationship we have with our customers.....you.....in a not-so-positive way.
At our crew meeting tonight, we talked about these things. We talked about trust - the trust between the public and our store and also the trust between our crew and us. We want our store to shine on every level, most importantly customer service. We've decided that we can't have excellent customer service if we don't trust our crew members to instantly respond to customers' needs. Returns or problems of any kind can be handled by any one of our able crew members at any time and we absolutely trust their judgement.
Our no-cell-phone policy was brought up as we discussed trusting our customers. I think that in our zeal to provide a restful, calm shopping experience, we ticked a few people off when we asked them not to use their phone in the store. We've rethought the message we were sending when we enforced that policy and would like to issue a sincere apology to anyone upset by it. We believe that our customers can be quiet while on the phone in the store and we'll leave it at that.
Our monthly Fancy Food Truck Fridays event on the 13th went very well - 6 food trucks, including the Border Grill Truck, and a record attendance! Beautiful weather helped along with the complimentary Tarot card readings by our lovely gypsy fortune tellers.....everyone wanted their fortune told on Friday the 13th! Yesterday was this month's wine tasting event with the publishers of the blog OddBallGrape.com and we paired several Syrah's with picnic foods (deviled eggs, fried chicken & potato salad) provided by DD's Chick & Cat Shack. This was a fabulous pairing - those attending were very impressed with the lovely wines and the accompanying food! The next wine tasting will be on Saturday, June 19th, and our theme will be "Cabs For Dads and Grads". Make sure to look for our event announcements in your email or on our Facebook Page! We're also working on a follow up to our Social Media 101 event last October - we'll let you know when we will be scheduling that.
Until next week, my friends.....have a wonderful week ahead!
Lori & Scott
----Sarah McLachlan
In our talk about sustainability last week, I mentioned a survey about businesses in Altadena that was conducted by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce . News of the survey and links to it appeared in AltadenaPatch.com and Altadenablog several months ago. The survey results have been compiled and will be presented to the public at the Chamber's next mixer, at the Community Center, 5:30 pm on Thursday, May 26th. This is great news, for we finally have some information to use to build our case for some County attention our our neck of the woods, not to mention our own internal need for forward motion. After the mixer and the release of the survey, you'll get a guided tour of the results, a la Lori.
I spoke about my having picked up some inspirational reading material last week, as well. Scott and I both listened to Seth Godin's newest book, Poke The Box, on audio tape and we're so inspired. I love that we can listen to someone who advocates standing up and making a difference - and I love even more that we both agree that's something we can do together! We are also reading Jeanne Bliss' newest book, "I Love You More Than My Dog". While I haven't yet finished Jeanne's book, I can say that these books, in combination, are proving to be invaluable to me. I see clearly that we've been depressed these past several months, letting the pressures of owning this store affect our relationship with not just each other, but the relationship we have with our customers.....you.....in a not-so-positive way.
At our crew meeting tonight, we talked about these things. We talked about trust - the trust between the public and our store and also the trust between our crew and us. We want our store to shine on every level, most importantly customer service. We've decided that we can't have excellent customer service if we don't trust our crew members to instantly respond to customers' needs. Returns or problems of any kind can be handled by any one of our able crew members at any time and we absolutely trust their judgement.
Our no-cell-phone policy was brought up as we discussed trusting our customers. I think that in our zeal to provide a restful, calm shopping experience, we ticked a few people off when we asked them not to use their phone in the store. We've rethought the message we were sending when we enforced that policy and would like to issue a sincere apology to anyone upset by it. We believe that our customers can be quiet while on the phone in the store and we'll leave it at that.
Our monthly Fancy Food Truck Fridays event on the 13th went very well - 6 food trucks, including the Border Grill Truck, and a record attendance! Beautiful weather helped along with the complimentary Tarot card readings by our lovely gypsy fortune tellers.....everyone wanted their fortune told on Friday the 13th! Yesterday was this month's wine tasting event with the publishers of the blog OddBallGrape.com and we paired several Syrah's with picnic foods (deviled eggs, fried chicken & potato salad) provided by DD's Chick & Cat Shack. This was a fabulous pairing - those attending were very impressed with the lovely wines and the accompanying food! The next wine tasting will be on Saturday, June 19th, and our theme will be "Cabs For Dads and Grads". Make sure to look for our event announcements in your email or on our Facebook Page! We're also working on a follow up to our Social Media 101 event last October - we'll let you know when we will be scheduling that.
Until next week, my friends.....have a wonderful week ahead!
Lori & Scott
Sunday, May 15, 2011
It's A Question Of Sustainability
Sustain: verb 1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure
2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.)
3. to undergo, experience or suffer (injury, loss, etc.), endure without giving way or
yielding
From the Middle English suste, derived from the Anglo-French sustenir, Old French < Latin sustinere -
to uphold
Synonyms: carry, support, bear, maintain
Legal Definition: 1. to support as true; legal or just 2. to allow or uphold as valid
Sustainability is a term that has become fashionable to use recently. So many different entities use it blindly, though, telling us their _____(insert name)_____ is sustainable this or sustainable that and I'm a bit tired of hearing it. I don't think a lot of people truly understand the term, however, so I'm starting this post with the dictionary definition of it. We can now see that the true meaning of the word sustain is to "bear" or "endure".
With that definition in mind, I'm happy to report to you that the shopping survey being conducted by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce has been closed and the results have been compiled. While I'm not at liberty to disclose any particular information, I can say I'm glad we did this survey. We received just under 400 responses and it gives me, a business owner here in Altadena, a chance to see and hear what our residents want. It gives me a chance to see how much our residents actually know about what's available where they live, and most of all, it gives us a chance to improve. By us, I mean our store, of course, but I also mean the Chamber of Commerce. As a Director on the board of the Chamber, it's vitally important that we know where we're headed as a town. This survey gives us leverage when we meet with the County, but we'll talk about that later, after the survey results have been made public.
I do want to take a moment, though, and discuss the word sustainability in conjunction with Webster's Fine Stationers. Sustainability is important to us, obviously because we would like our 85-year old family business to still be around when we reach 100 years of age. To reach that venerable age, though, we have to be very careful. Because we took over part of this family business at the beginning of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, we experienced an immediate loss of business. However, it wasn't just the recession that affected us, it was the lack of communication from Webster's Pharmacy Corporation about why they decided to break up the stores. But all that is water under the bridge now, and to make a go of this business, we made a pledge to move forward, with or without Webster's. It turns out it's without Webster's, as my father-in-law sold the pharmacy to Michael and Meredith Miller at the beginning of the year.
To allow our store to be more sustainable, we've had to give up a few things. The economic situation as it relates to other businesses also had a hand in shaping how our store will be continuing. Many customers don't realize that the poor economy has forced quite a few wholesalers to go out of business, which reduces what's available for us to order. We've had to reevaluate what we're carrying in the store - those things that moved slowly aren't on our shelves anymore. Changing what our store offers has some confused, as well, but we saw a gap to fill in our community, and we're filling it. Especially now, as the Hallmark store next door to us has gone out of business, we have an opportunity to work with the new owners of Webster's Community Pharmacy to fill that void.
However, we all want our businesses to be sustainable. That means not putting all our bets on one horse, such as office products, greeting cards or tchotchkes. We can't have an almost 5,000 sq. foot store full of Hallmark cards and gifts, because it's proven that the community can't support it. We won't rely on office products to make our store profitable, because we're not attracting the thousands of people necessary to make it so. What I believe we can rely on is a carefully curated selection of cards, gifts, office essentials, books, children's toys & games, and of course stationery to make our store sustainable and profitable now and in years to come. I believe that our local businesses can work together with our Chamber of Commerce and Town Council to help our community become more vibrant and that will also make our businesses more sustainable.
Next week I'll be talking about more specific numbers from this survey and I hope you'll join me. It's fascinating reading and I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity to help shape Altadena into the best it can be! If you're reading this and you don't live in Altadena, keep in mind that we could be Anywhere, USA. I don't think we're that unique across the nation, so just insert the name of your town for my town. I believe we all have many common values, problems and hopefully, solutions!
Until then, my friends.....have an enjoyable week ahead!
Lori & Scott
2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.)
3. to undergo, experience or suffer (injury, loss, etc.), endure without giving way or
yielding
From the Middle English suste, derived from the Anglo-French sustenir, Old French < Latin sustinere -
to uphold
Synonyms: carry, support, bear, maintain
Legal Definition: 1. to support as true; legal or just 2. to allow or uphold as valid
Sustainability is a term that has become fashionable to use recently. So many different entities use it blindly, though, telling us their _____(insert name)_____ is sustainable this or sustainable that and I'm a bit tired of hearing it. I don't think a lot of people truly understand the term, however, so I'm starting this post with the dictionary definition of it. We can now see that the true meaning of the word sustain is to "bear" or "endure".
With that definition in mind, I'm happy to report to you that the shopping survey being conducted by the Altadena Chamber of Commerce has been closed and the results have been compiled. While I'm not at liberty to disclose any particular information, I can say I'm glad we did this survey. We received just under 400 responses and it gives me, a business owner here in Altadena, a chance to see and hear what our residents want. It gives me a chance to see how much our residents actually know about what's available where they live, and most of all, it gives us a chance to improve. By us, I mean our store, of course, but I also mean the Chamber of Commerce. As a Director on the board of the Chamber, it's vitally important that we know where we're headed as a town. This survey gives us leverage when we meet with the County, but we'll talk about that later, after the survey results have been made public.
I do want to take a moment, though, and discuss the word sustainability in conjunction with Webster's Fine Stationers. Sustainability is important to us, obviously because we would like our 85-year old family business to still be around when we reach 100 years of age. To reach that venerable age, though, we have to be very careful. Because we took over part of this family business at the beginning of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, we experienced an immediate loss of business. However, it wasn't just the recession that affected us, it was the lack of communication from Webster's Pharmacy Corporation about why they decided to break up the stores. But all that is water under the bridge now, and to make a go of this business, we made a pledge to move forward, with or without Webster's. It turns out it's without Webster's, as my father-in-law sold the pharmacy to Michael and Meredith Miller at the beginning of the year.
To allow our store to be more sustainable, we've had to give up a few things. The economic situation as it relates to other businesses also had a hand in shaping how our store will be continuing. Many customers don't realize that the poor economy has forced quite a few wholesalers to go out of business, which reduces what's available for us to order. We've had to reevaluate what we're carrying in the store - those things that moved slowly aren't on our shelves anymore. Changing what our store offers has some confused, as well, but we saw a gap to fill in our community, and we're filling it. Especially now, as the Hallmark store next door to us has gone out of business, we have an opportunity to work with the new owners of Webster's Community Pharmacy to fill that void.
However, we all want our businesses to be sustainable. That means not putting all our bets on one horse, such as office products, greeting cards or tchotchkes. We can't have an almost 5,000 sq. foot store full of Hallmark cards and gifts, because it's proven that the community can't support it. We won't rely on office products to make our store profitable, because we're not attracting the thousands of people necessary to make it so. What I believe we can rely on is a carefully curated selection of cards, gifts, office essentials, books, children's toys & games, and of course stationery to make our store sustainable and profitable now and in years to come. I believe that our local businesses can work together with our Chamber of Commerce and Town Council to help our community become more vibrant and that will also make our businesses more sustainable.
Next week I'll be talking about more specific numbers from this survey and I hope you'll join me. It's fascinating reading and I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity to help shape Altadena into the best it can be! If you're reading this and you don't live in Altadena, keep in mind that we could be Anywhere, USA. I don't think we're that unique across the nation, so just insert the name of your town for my town. I believe we all have many common values, problems and hopefully, solutions!
Until then, my friends.....have an enjoyable week ahead!
Lori & Scott
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Adoption Song - A Post For Mother's Day
I was an adopted child. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was a source of fascination to my friends who had “real” moms. My friends would even quiz me on walks home from school. “Doesn’t it feel weird?” they’d ask me, expecting a different answer from the simple “no” that I gave them. “You don’t look much like your mother” was a phrase I heard many times when I was young, or “you and your sister look so different”. We did look different as night and day, with my mom and dad being dark haired and my being blonde. My mom’s olive skin tones didn’t relate to my fairness, and my sister’s obviously Irish heritage confused people next to my Scandinavian features.
I always knew I was adopted, because my mom started telling me as soon as she figured I’d understand. There wasn’t a big family talk about it, there weren’t any feelings of my being abandoned, or angst about missing the birth mother I’d never known, it was just a fact of life, not a big deal to me. Of course, both my parents acted together in this, but I’d like to credit my mom with making sure that I knew, down deep where it counts, that I was wanted. That she and my father waited 10 long years on a list until I, and then my sister, came along, and that they, in fact, prepared for us.
She kept this poem, cut out of a newspaper article, on the old cork message board next to the wall phone in our kitchen, a thumb-tack stuck through the top:
“Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously
My own.
Never forget
For a single minute:
You didn't grow under my heart
But in it.”
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously
My own.
Never forget
For a single minute:
You didn't grow under my heart
But in it.”
Back next week with another post....enjoy your week, my friends!
Lori
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Opportunity Knocking
As many of you know, I'm a big fan of Seth Godin. His marketing advice is spot-on, but I enjoy him for so much more, especially his pithy takes on what's happening in the world today and how it relates to having an impact. He's written two such blog posts recently, here and here, that exemplify this, and I highly recommend your reading them before we continue.
In the body of the second blog post, Seth says "the opportunity (to make a difference), though, is the biggest of our generation (or the last one, for that matter). The opportunity is there for anyone (with our without a job) smart enough to take it - to develop a best in class skill, to tell a story, to spread the word, to be in demand, to satisfy 'real needs', to run from the mediocre middle and to change everything". He also says "the old economy offered a guarantee - time plus education plus obedience equals stability. The new one, not so much. The new one offers a chance for you to take a chance and make an impact".
This, my friends, is essentially what we're doing at WFS. Running from the mediocre, not relying on the way things were done "before", we are mapping out a new territory in retail land - one that espouses cooperation over competition. One that demands we take a stand for the things we believe in, such as buying locally to reduce our carbon footprint. One that demands we buy U.S. made products to invest in our own economy and one that demands we buy ethically produced products if they're made overseas. Most of all it demands the utmost integrity; our name denotes longevity but it will now be synonymous with fairness and a willingness to go the extra mile to ensure you a comfortable shopping experience. Trust is not given easily, that we know. Time will prove our mettle, and we ask that you give us a chance.....a chance to show you exactly how we can make an impact on our corner of the world, and maybe change everything.
Thanks for listening and we hope you have a lovely week ahead! Remember, Mother's Day will be quickly upon us and WFS can help you with that. We have American-made cards that are perfect for giving moms of all sorts and we have some wonderful items for gifting - come on in and let us show you!
Lori and Scott
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