Software and Merchandising

My afternoon was devoted to learning the software that will manage shop inventory. Focusing only on the inventory part, I was able to start adding merchandise. It was a matter of figuring out how it works and then it became a quick and easy process. Using the tab key is vital. It's such a simple thing; but if you are using the mousepad instead - its a no go. It is most efficient since you are already typing. Now, I can quickly enter deliveries into iPurl's inventory. When an inventoried item reaches a number I set, it sends an alert to re-order.

One of the most difficult aspects of merchandising is deciding where products should go - what colors should be placed next to each other is only the beginning. I make no secret of the fact that I am particular about how things looks. (to the point of what flowers are blooming outside the windows of each room in our home - why not determine the view - it's an easy thing to do) How the interior of the shop looks when someone opens the door to enter is also a view that will be given a lot of thought - it should look friendly and be inviting. It's iPurl's first impression. You never get to redo a first impression! When I go into yarn shops and yarns are piled onto shelves willy nilly; it causes chaos instead of creativity in my mind. Most people don't realize that the look of a room/area affects them on a subconscious level. A lack of order and symmetry makes me uncomfortable. Colors and products should be arranged to inspire!

Available space is a reality and must be addressed. Before opening day, as ore merchandise arrives, there will probably be a lot of moving around before an inviting, inspiring look is achieved.

I am missing Alexis. She has a wonderful eye for order and display.

The emergency EXIT sign at the entrance was replaced today with one that will actually work during an emergency in order to pass the Fire Marshall's inspection for the occupancy permit. Joe installed 2 fire extinguishers and 2 smoke detectors this afternoon. I think we can pass inspection now.

 

Still Painting

We worked at the shop on Saturday and got quite a bit accomplished! The bathroom is now a lovely shade of hydrangea blue. All shelves are in place; we will probably making another trip to Ikea at some point. Loretta flattened all the empty boxes and hauled them to the recycle center. I am still painting furniture. Spindles are an aggravation to paint.

That pesky permit is finally done. Joe will install two fire extinguishers and two smoke detectors. An electrician is making a visit to check on a fire exit's auto emergency lighting that isn't working properly.

A few pictures - Loretta, Joe and paint colors

 

 

Thursday

The most important thing accomplished today - the sign is underway! We are hoping that it doesn't take very long. The delays, if any, would be from The Woodlands and AMReit giving their approval. Our sign will match existing signs so we aren't anticipating a problem. Sometimes, it can be something as simple as waiting on a committee to meet.

Joe will finish with shelving this weekend. One shelf was badly damaged when he opened it so "somebody" has to go back to Ikea. The bathroom will be painted Hydrangea (light violet blue) Saturday also. (a big thing for me as I never "do" blue)

I Installed the software this afternoon and began reading instructions. Sigh. It is supposed to be EASY. After the E-commerce site, this should be a breeze! I hope most of the merchandise comes with a barcode.

Also, put first coat of paint on another chair this morning before going to the shop. I took a snap of the 4 new Annie Sloan paints I picked up yesterday - I was in the mood for color. I used the yellow this morning. It's gorgeous!

I Am itching to paint something Emperor's Silk RED! Maybe a cute little round table to use during Christmas?

 

 

Tuesday's Update

Working from a brand new To Do List, today was a mixed bag of a few accomplishments.

I made a knitting bag order before leaving home. The email announcing new ones arrived in my Inbox. First orders get the limited number of bags, so I didn't think I should wait until I got to the shop! The new ones are in bright, summery fabrics that no one will be able to resist! Fifteen bags should be here in time for opening or right after we open. They are my favorite knitting bags.

When I got to the shop, I said St Anthony's (Saint of lost objects - according to Joe) prayer - seems more of a rhyme to me. Anyway, It wasn't long until I found the mail keys right where they should have been! It always works!

After UPS passed, I went to Best Buy to exchange the NetGear router. It wasn't functioning properly on several levels and was really aggravating me. Even though it was the same kind of router, it was totally different to set up, of course. More aggravation. At least Joe was there to help me. BestBuy also had the printer cartridges I needed.


Joe is still working on shelves.

We stopped at Panera for supper on the way home.

Astros' Game

We took a break this weekend and went to the Astro's game. Always enjoying a good ball game, whether the Astros win or lose, we were rewarded with a win! Houston's pitching shut down the Rangers' big hitters! It was great fun to watch. The Rangers fans around us seemed surprised that Houston's rookies handed them a loss! A few pics to share - (the pics look dark but it wasn't - taken with my iPhone)

 

This is my favorite picture - the camera doesn't show the detail of all the bright colors throughout the seats!

 

The big glass wall

 

Our view for the game

We were on the second level club section - a nice place to be. There are waiters that take your food/drink orders and bring it to you so you don't have to miss anything! I think my favorite seats are still the field boxes though.

 

The scoreboard is great to watch

 

I purchased MLB 2012 before we left for the game. I like to listen to the game - there is no play-by-play in the park. I plugged in my ear buds thinking Joe could listen to one and I could listen to the other. A good plan in theory BUT Milo was a batter behind actual play! No good! I was disappointed and I hope that improves. Joe is going to be working the next few months near Minute Maid and we are planning to go to some Friday games.

 

And finally, our Nolan Ryan bobble head on the mantle -

(we saw several people go thru the door, get their bobble head and go out the door. They probably bought the cheapest ticket available to get in and get the bobble head. Wish I had done that for a couple of bobble heads I wanted last year - like Pudge Rodriguez - on of my favs.)

Saturday

This week has been a blur! There were deliveries every day this week except for Friday. I stayed home Friday needing to have a quiet day to recharge ME! The software/hardware for inventory and transactions came in. Now, we will see if it lives up to it's reputation for being easy to learn. That will be ongoing through next week. A new list of priority items will begin with our Sign and a couple of important permits. I am still working on orders and painting furniture.

Taking a break from working weekends, Joe and I are going to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros/Rangers game this evening. We are going VERY early to try and score a Nolan Ryan bobble head. I don't think our Astros will win but we will see a good game! Going to the ball park is always a good time for us.

 

UPS guys working hard

 

"You're Not Open Yet" Update

I am hearing a lot of "you"re not open yet?" So, I will try to explain.

We are locating in a retail strip center which has meant we have been working with a commercial realtor, a large retail entity, a commercial/retail attorney and a contractor. The 38 page lease was negotiated for approximately a month before we signed the lease. The contractor was in the space for a month doing cosmetic work. We just hired an architect to get the required Fire Marshall's occupancy permit - this included 3 blueprint drawings of the floor space of the shop. I went to Conroe (from Magnolia) TWICE today trying to get the documents delivered to the right place!

An alarm system is in place which means we can now write the insurance company a check.

Next on the list is signage. There are pages of sign criteria from the strip center owner, AMReit. Sign companies have been contacted for proposals/bids. Once a company has been selected and provided the necessary sign criteria to go by, their proposal has to be submitted to AMReit and The Woodlands for approval before the work can begin. I would like for the sign to be up before we open but I don't know if that is possible!

In the meantime, most of the larger yarn companies won't talk to you until you have a signed lease, a business phone, a DBA or LLC and some even require a photo of the sign on the front of your shop! Some of the larger yarn companies require large first-time orders - some as large as $5,000 - they want a good representation of their yarn in your shop. When you are opening a yarn shop with a descent inventory; that is literally a drop in the bucket. It has helped that we had a yarn shop before - some have re-opened our old accounts under the new shop name. Some have not.


I am waiting on the the arrival of software that we will use to scan inventory. It will also be used for our transactions virtually eliminating checkout errors. This software was selected after many days/hours of research. When it arrives, I have to learn the software before I can use it and teach others how to use it.

Opening wholesale accounts and working on orders is my primary work now. Think about all the yarns just one yarn company has to offer. Try to decide which yarns you think knitters/crocheters will want to buy. Is this yarn going to be a staple for the shop or is it a new seasonal yarn or a new trend in yarn? What fibers? What colors? How much should I buy? What is my budget for this particular yarn company? There are many decisions to make in working up a single yarn company order. The same goes for needles, hooks, knitting bags and accoutrement! How quickly merchandise comes in determines when we will open.

Now, you know what I am doing when you look in the door and see me in front of my iPad or Mac, pencil and spiral notebook on the table and a Bluetooth in my ear. Waiting for deliveries, alone in a quiet shop is the perfect time to do this.

As you can see, it has been a very involved process that has taken considerable time. We are hoping to open iPurl mid June but it may be more to the end of June. Right now, it's our best guess!

Unless, you buy a shop already full of yarn, it's gonna be awhile!


 

My Mother's Day

We were at Ikea at first crack of daylight...... Well, not that early but it seemed like it! I can say I have never seen so few cars and people at Ikea since I have never been there when they opened. Twelve Billy shelves will fit in the back of Joe's truck although it felt like the front wheels were barely meeting the pavement. That kept me from napping on the way back.

Those boxes are deceiving - they don't look like they would be that heavy! It took both of us to unload and carry them into the shop ONE AT A TIME! When assembled (Joe's job) they will be almost 36 feet of shelving.

Chairs with spindles are slow-painting. I have 2 chairs painted and 6 more to go. I am not sure about this color; I must have picked up the wrong can? Painting is more fun when you like the color - just like knitting.

 

My Mother's Day present from Joe is tickets to Saturday's Astros game against the Rangers! Our seats are BEHIND home plate on the 7th row! I am so excited! I have a wonderful husband! (I love baseball)

Mail Box Keys

So far, it's been a nice morning. Got a few more things on the To Do List done. Waiting to see if UPS stops by - really thinking tomorrow will be delivery day - there are two very large shipments on the way. I have two packages to go out in today's mail - just realized I have absolutely no idea where I put the mail box key! I remember getting the keys at the Conroe Post Office a couple of weeks ago. It's a blank after that! I am going to have to say the St Anthony's prayer to find it, I am sure. I can't put my mail in the drop box without the darn key!

Tomorrow is my Knit Group. I will have to start something to knit - probably something for shop display. It will be nice to see everyone.

Joe had two wisdom teeth pulled this AM. I hope he is resting/sleeping and not out doing something like working in the garden. He will be here tomorrow putting shelves together. (he's gonna be doing that for a while). I will probably be painting chairs....

YARN

All the yarn that Joe and I have been ordering has started coming in. This is the definitely the fun part of having a yarn shop - yarn company reps coming to the shop showing you all the new yarns for the coming season. (the other fun part for me is simply teaching people to knit). All the other things that go along with a shop are definitely work!

Pictured is a recent delivery. Can you ever have enough NORO? I remember the first time I saw Silk Garden; it continues to be a favorite. NORO doesn't come with a barcode on each skein. Of all the yarns, I would have thought yarn from Japan would be barcoded.

Two big items were checked off my To Do List today. A security/alarm contract is in place and a system is being installed. I had an appointment with another sign company and a proposal will be coming soon. Those were the last two big items on my list.

Tomorrow, the architect is coming by to drop off permits and drawings. I will call and make an appointment with the rep for the software we plan to use for checkout and inventory. Friday, I may actually get to knit something.

Phone Table

Joe liked this little table. They were in every household at one point in time. Thinking it had the perfect place to set a basket of yarn, we brought it home.

It has a new coat of Annie Sloan paint - a nice shade of turquoise! A cool update to a vintage piece.

Houston Zoo

Our Zoo Day with Pam, Ryan, Alexis and Jayden finally arrived. At five years old, Jayden, has been counting down the days for several weeks now. We were at the Zoo at 9:15am to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures, hoping the animals would be moving about. 

The majority of my pictures are animals with a of not-to-be-missed shots of Jayden. Captions are not necessary for most shots.

 

Porcupine with Adorable Hairdo

 

 

 

 

The elephant babies were in constant movement making it hard to get a good shot of them

Two female lions were laying right next to the viewing glass

 

 

Wild Child After a Blue Snow Cone

(he had a great time)

Alexis

(BTW is a very good knitter!)

 

 

 

 

We were not able to see chimps or orangutans; hoped to see the new baby orangutan but she was shy.

 

Fridge

Friday, during all the other stuff going on, we managed to find a fridge that had everything we need in a small size. Joe picked it up and dropped it off at the shop. Now, I can take my lunch and stash cold drinks and water. One step closer to home away from home...

 

Looking at this, I realize it looks like a stalker's view thru the car's windshield.

Making sure it is secure

See, nothing to it!

First Day at the Shop

Yesterday was my first day working at the shop. I had to be there at 8am for Comcast (I am not a morning person - I had to leave home at 7am). Phone is in and Internet is on - two absolute necessities for working there. The air conditioning guy showed up also. I was so glad to see him that I could have hugged him! I need the electrician to show up and fix the electric problem in the bathroom so we can turn on the light. (it's not easy to potty in absolute darkness)

I am loading up the Highlander every day now - its like moving on a small scale with a lot of yarn thrown in!

Bella and I are having separation anxiety. Joe says it will get better.