Last day of class! So wish that I had known a lot of this entrepeneurship information when I opened "Caron's...the finest in coastal living" in May of 2002 - we might still be open in Poulsbo, who knows? Have lots of theories why we are not open, grew too fast, didn't understand that the web customer was different than our store customer... had to carry too much inventory for both kinds of customers. The economy, price of gas... again, who knows? Spent 2 years analyzing and picking apart every single thing that we did wrong. Forgot about all of the things we did right, and we really did a lot of things right.
At the same time, my gut instincts were right about our target market of beach/seaside homeowners, boaters, customers who vacation on the coast, or customers who simply like living in coastal areas. Having always lived close to, or on the beach and having such a difficult time decorating my own home in coastal style, I was constantly searching for something that was real home decor and not just seaside reminders. One day I realized that creating a lifestyle, niche home decor store with a beach theme might really work in our area, and also as a retail outlet on the web. Of course this was after 9-11 and our Seattle earthquake - time for a new life
This time around, first attempt will only be a web-retail store. Maybe when I get brave, reopen a retail location somewhere on the coast in Northern California. Open for location suggestions!
Stay tuned as I am fine-tuning my written business plan! E-mail me with product ideas, and coastal stories, beachgirl@everythingcoastal.com Hoping to build an online store for a community of beach lovers - not just somewhere that you can buy a wooden pirate. (Not that I am opposed to wooden pirates!)
At the same time, my gut instincts were right about our target market of beach/seaside homeowners, boaters, customers who vacation on the coast, or customers who simply like living in coastal areas. Having always lived close to, or on the beach and having such a difficult time decorating my own home in coastal style, I was constantly searching for something that was real home decor and not just seaside reminders. One day I realized that creating a lifestyle, niche home decor store with a beach theme might really work in our area, and also as a retail outlet on the web. Of course this was after 9-11 and our Seattle earthquake - time for a new life
This time around, first attempt will only be a web-retail store. Maybe when I get brave, reopen a retail location somewhere on the coast in Northern California. Open for location suggestions!
Stay tuned as I am fine-tuning my written business plan! E-mail me with product ideas, and coastal stories, beachgirl@everythingcoastal.com Hoping to build an online store for a community of beach lovers - not just somewhere that you can buy a wooden pirate. (Not that I am opposed to wooden pirates!)
3 comments:
Caron I am so behind you, you did an incredible job with your store downtown Poulsbo. Whatever you need let me know. Donna
Caron - great to see you revisiting and re-inventing... good for you! You go beach gal!
I loved the store, I live about 6 blocks walking from it, and miss all the things you offered.
I look forward to seeing your "phoenix" in action, arising again from the ashes to fly!
Aaron D. Murphy, Architect, AIA
www.ADM-architecture.com
Aaron -
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! Every day is the path is becoming just a little more clear. So tired o of living in the ashes - see you tonight at class.
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