Tips for Creating an Online Store
Posts Tagged ‘store of the month’
Store of the Month – Haystack – February 2009
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
We are excited to announce that our Store of the Month for February 2009 is Haystack, a Chicago-based boutique specializing in vintage household items. Haystack is primarily a real-life brick and mortar storefront, but recently created an online version of the store using Flying Cart as a way to expand sales and keep customers informed about their new items. The store is owned by Erin Liston, John Mokate, and Phil Tadros. The online store design was done by Darren of Doejo.com. I caught up with Erin to ask her about the business.
Flying Cart: What was the hardest part of getting the store started?
Erin: The biggest hurdle we faced from idea stage to opening was staying on time and in budget. Everything cost more and took more time than we originally allowed for. The end result was wonderful, but the build out and renovation was a lot of work. For example, we walked in thinking we had one ceiling, but three ceiling demolitions later, we have our end result. In the end it was totally worth it, but it was something we hadn’t counted on at the beginning.
FC: That sounds a lot like the early beginnings of Flying Cart. How did you come up with the concept for the store?
E: The concept began with two old friends of Phil’s who had a large inventory of things they wanted to consign and approached him with the idea of opening a consignment shop. When I got involved shortly after that, I wanted to broaden that idea to local art consignment. When we started rolling with ideas, we realized that we wanted to sell things that we love, that were previously loved, at an affordable price. We strive to be a positive force in the community, where people can pass on their loved objects to those who will appreciate them. Nostalgia was another idea we talked about.
FC: I think you have to love what you sell because then all the hard work doesn’t seem so much like work. What are some of your favorite things that you have in the store?
E: We had a set of Russian nesting dolls that I loved. We currently have a beautiful 1930′s armoire that I think is just so unique. Sometimes it’s hard to part with things, I grow so attached! I am also in love with our collection of salt and pepper shakers. Of course, if there is something that I just can’t live without, it doesn’t always make it out to the floor. I certainly have increased my personal collection of vintage wears after opening Haystack.
FC: You must always be on the lookout for more stuff. Where do you find the vintage items?
E: You name it! We are always on the look out for new items. We find them everywhere. Consignors, estates, thrift stores, yard sales, auction, back alleys, great aunts, everywhere. Its amazing how quickly things started coming our way once we opened ourselves to the possibility.
FC: What is are your favorite and least favorite things about running the store?
E: My favorite thing about running the store is getting to know the people who come in. I love when they are inspired by what we are doing, and find things that bring a wide smile to their face. I like when people are inspired to be creative. My least favorite thing is keeping track of the inventory, which is very important, but also very tedious. Even that’s not so bad, though.
FC: Yeah, seeing happy customers is very rewarding and then there is always the business stuff that still needs to get done at the end of the day. You are doing well …. how do people hear about you?
E: Because we are a resale shop starting in a recession, we received some great press right off the bat. We mostly function on word of mouth. Initially we ran for months with loads of customers just based on our wonderful location in Lakeview Chicago.
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FC: You know you are doing something right when people tell their friends about you and when people want to write articles about you 
So, why did you decide to create an online store and how did you choose Flying Cart?
E: At this day in age, it just makes sense to have an online presence in order to reach a wide range of people all over the world. By going online, we no longer have geographical limitations when reaching customers, especially since all of our items are so unique. People can shop from the convenience of their couch instead of hoofing it around town. It saves them time and money. Our regular customers can also check up on us and see what’s new in the shop. We chose Flying Cart due to it’s ease of use coupled with it’s lack of fees. It is very user friendly. It’s as easy to understand as Myspace or Facebook, and doesn’t have all of the fees and limitations of Ebay.
FC: I totally agree with you. Thanks Erin and best of luck for your continued success!
Haystack Vintage
2934 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657
www.haystackvintage.com
haystack.flyingcart.com
Email: [email protected]
Fun + Folding: An Interview with The Good Envelope Party
Monday, November 10th, 2008 |
Our featured store this month is The Good Envelope Party, a collective that makes stationary out of recycled materials. I interviewed founder Jenny Rask. |
Margo: How did your group get started and how did you come up with the idea of using recycled materials to make stationary?
Jenny: We got started meeting as a group last spring. It started out as some of my neighborhood friends hanging out together socializing. Some of us have children so I felt like I wanted to create a reason to meet and socialize more often. I had been making my own envelopes for a while and it dawned on me that my friends might like learning to do it as well. We are definitely all multi-taskers. We can fold, drink and chat. We started making them for our local schools to sell at fundraisers to raise money for them. When more people joined the group we realized how many we could make in an evening and realized that as a monthly collective we could produce even more and use the money towards helping people in need. So a great equation of Fun + Folding = Helping Others.
The reason we use recycled materials is to give old books and magazines another life and to to reduce waste while demonstrating how easy it is to be creative with materials we all may already have in your home. Anyone can fold an envelope or make their own gift wrap out of almost anything. We aren’t reinventing the wheel here. We are hopefully demonstrating to the consumer that we don’t have to buy “new” from new resources, that beautiful products can come from being resourceful with everyday things around us.
Margo: Can you explain a little about how a collective works?
Jenny: Well we all are very motivated in helping others who are in need. So that is really our common goal when we come together for this party. We really felt that if we could help one person or one family locally and directly that it would be incredible! So during our party we vote on short term goals who we would like to help the most immediately and then vote on long term ideas, who we would like to see receive our money in the future. The more stationery we sell obviously the better for whoever is the recipient of the money. We also vote on how much money we will donate for each cause.
So there is a lot of voting and then I help manage and guide the group a lot about where our stuff will be sold in shops, manage the online store and work with the daily orders. I source the materials we use too. We love donations of salvaged books and magazines with great full page photos or illustrations in them as well : ) 12 inches at least in height please!!!
Our meetings are really a fun party. It really is about having a laugh, hanging out together, helping others and building community. We welcome newcomers in our area. The stationery is our way of giving back to our community through maybe a little bit different approach.
Margo: Your site says that you donate all your profits to charitable organizations. How do you choose where to donate?
Jenny: We cover our costs first with the money which are fairly minimal and then the rest of the profit is saved until we have a recipient we agree on and have the sum of money saved in our account that we agree on. We vote on the recipient at our party. We have not yet donated as our store is new and profits are just finally coming in. We have voted on who will receive the first money though and it is someone local.
Margo: How did you sell your stationary before you started your online store with Flying Cart?
Jenny: We used to donate it to school fundraisers and had our stationery in a local store in L.A. called O.K. on 3rd Street.
Margo: In a very short time, you are having amazing success with sales and have a nice fan following. What have you done to get the word out about your store?
Jenny: We are so lucky! Being published in Daily Candy has been a huge help : )
Margo: Tell me a little about your blog and about some of the other projects you are working on.
Jenny: Well, let’s see. Ask WoollyM. (www.askwoollym.typepad.com) is an eco-friendly help site that I started last year. I am a mom of two kids and had been researching living more sustainably and toxin free since they were babies. It really inspired me to help others because there is so much information out there and I wanted to take a guilt-free user-friendly approach to it.
My friends kept asking me about their toxin concerns in their daily lives so it seemed kind of like a fun idea to help them by creating this and maybe help anyone else who might need a head start on their green path. I started this site to test the waters a bit and see how I might be able to contribute in this way. It is a question and answer site. So anyone can ask a question and I will research the question and post the a personal solution with my research. It is an amazing way to learn about other’s needs in this area or what their concerns are. Kind of like going to school again, but on my terms.
I am working on a few other eco-education projects that will hopefully be accessible online soon. They are coming from a different angle than other “How to live green” approaches. Hopefully the projects will be entertaining and educational. Check out www.theguidegirls.com in a couple weeks.