merry christmas

hope you all had some time to just lay around and enjoy a day off.....

A GOLDEN TIME

this time of year is golden to me....the numbers come in, i can look at the shelves and see what happened with my product picks.., its year end!!!!

i do a lot of the yearly plan at this time....when all the parts of last years plan come to light....what worked and what didnt..what we have too much of what we didnt get enough of...... what the state of the store is...how bad last year really was...

.what saved us...dh says we cut our spending to adjust to the horrible reality this last year...and i think we picked out some pretty cool stuff last year...

. and what our goals should be for the coming year.... ...

.we have new issues this coming year....good ones....my health insurance is off the table....turned 65...thats saving us about 800 a month in insurance.....its pretty bad when your dh cant wait for you to turn 65!!! lol.... i can hardly believe it ...we are trying for almost a month off in january...im dreading it... im not good at vacations....but we have a great crew, not really worried there....

.so basically im having fun right now trying to sift thru everything and come up with

a great recipe for 2010...and im bugging everybody here at the store and lots of other folks for their opinions on everything... im asking them hard questions....like what worked best this year? etc etc... I NEED SOME WILD IDEAS FOR THE STORE!!!

here are some of the lists i will be thinking about...it helps to get it on paper....and it really helps to look at last years lists..... to see what you forgot about or let drop without giving it a good try...

1. what sold out in christmas ...whats left...
2. best sellers in the different categories....fooo foo, country, garden, key west,
3. revamping the store...?????
4. marketing .
5. ORPHAN IDEAS..the things still waiting around for their big chance...
6. what went up what went down...what to cut...
7. web ideas...site,email plans....facebook .. etsy....blog roll, how to make it all more interactive....im still looking for more store forums..... ???
8. best ideas all year...worst...
9. what to buy...i love this part...
10. events.... what worked this past year....

these are some of the lists that will be jiggleing around in my head and that i will be talking about with everybody in the next few weeks...

.and then its the big wholesale show where we make the main product decisions for the coming year...

also i keep a couple of notebooks thru the year...nothing too organized but lots of ideas....so i like to really go thru those too.... at this point all information and viewpoints are good... and i like to hear as much as i can from everybody....

all this helps me focus on the goals we have .... its fuzzy but it kind of works.... i dont want to get too organized.... so many good things for us have happened by serendipity...

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and heres something completely different ....FOR YOUR BLOG....

.VIDEo BLOGGING..... i would love to see us all do it!!! http://2minuteswithava.com/

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furniture and homes... theory.

here are some recent pictures of our store....i think the pictures show THE KEY TO
WHAT OUR STORE IS ABOUT ~furniture and homes......we hope we can be a place where adventurous people can come and find good things for their houses.........A THING THAT JUST FEELS SO RIGHT TO THEM.....SOMETHING THEY CAN REALLY USE AND SAYS THIS IS ME...and at a friendly price....we hope...

IN A WAY .....WE SELL THE RAW MATERIALS.....

we get a huge variety of people...that sure keeps it interesting to me...we try not to specialize...why limit ourselves!!!!. one week a grand piano the next a prim workbench..... we dont want to be too predictable....boring would be so wrong...

.I LOVe hearing about the customers projects...from fun junk projects using the roughest stuff, to building projects working with our antique fireplace mantles, or big old porch parts....its kind of endless... . ...sometimes i get to see them... if they get around to sending me a picture i try and put it on our pin up page here http://www.greenoakantiques.com/.... lots of customers come tell me how many compliments they got from something they got here.....

just trying to say, i think the right recipe, if you can find it, can make us really valuable to our customers... either for a cheap thrill or a big serious purchase....or maybe both, on different days... ......

so.....GO WHOLE HOG FOR THEM....imho

on the web.... son jon has a new blog... put together by terri, his wife and our webmistress.....when he brings something great home he will say its decorator approved..usually referring to what hes learned by observing the decorators bidding at auction...his goal is to have very current pictures and prices...

..so here it is.... http://www.jonsdecoratorapprovedpicks.blogspot.com/

WORD ON THE STREET..... we had a big company owner in the store today..for PROPS AND DISPLAY PIECES......and her view was that its been a GOOD SEASON and her customers, mostly boutiques or high end shops, are doing well and reordering....

. also hearing GOOD REPORTS on a store forum im on.... we are sure feeling pretty healthy right now...WEVE HAD 3 GOOOD MONTHS IN A ROW... with this month beating last year by a lot......

fads and trends....

my theory is if you name your store after a fad...you will be hurting....

example...shabby chic ...the word is over....the color and feel is a big huge trend that will hang on for a long time.........the fad of shabby is about over......the word feels over used.... its kind of out..as in its in or was in target and walmart...... but neat casual white stuff is still good...and the whole idea of shabby is still what our store is about......but still im so glad i dont have shabby in my name...glad that i didnt hinge everything on one idea....

in other words ...if your store makes it....you dont want a name that sounds out of touch and dated in a few years....

i loved the word shabby....it said it perfectly....but now when im still selling it i need a new word....now im kind of having a ball with steampunk.... but i dont want to change our name to anns steampunk parlor...

the trouble with having a business thats all about a big fad..especially if its your favorite style and you are new.... ..THE TROUBLE IS... is you dont realize its going to change/get old/ ..... i think thats where the french thing is headed....once the trendsetting buyers see it one too many places they will be looking for the next thing.... we had that situation in our record shop....we made these huge fun earrings for several years....it seemed like a sure thing....THEN the girls turned to llittle bitty stud earrings....we were toast!!!....past fads...cabbage patch...80s hair...collectors plates, collectible anything.. beanies....cutsy country...victorian....

tracing a fad...heres an example of something thats hitting boutiques right now...religious things...like statues , big serious victorian things, angels, SANTOS, ....this makes antique dealers smile....because the antique world has been after this kind of thing for at least 7 ore 8 yrs..... i really think the antique world is where the new styles bubble up ....the good show dealers sell to to the big designers and trendsetters and the buyers for the big famous stores ..... .....anyway those famous people go to the big shows....brimfield, roundtop, scotts, kane county, springfield....etc etc etc..... etc etc ..... ... and thats where everything starts ...imho.....then it filters down to the big gift companies and to the boutiques then to target, walmart and hobby lobby....

its interesting for me....because even tho i stay right here in indiana,.....we are at the bottom of the pecking order...I DO GET TO HEAR THE STORIES RUNNING THRU THE DESIGN WORLD... ..if some business does great with our stuff they dont broadcast our name... but we are always looking for something that would be right for the top of the pecking order of buyers..IM SHOPPING FOR THE BIG BUYERS ALL THE TIME, BUT FINDING SOMETHING THAT GOOD IS HARD....and we definitely sell to some people who sell at those shows..... lots of our stuff has ended up at the big fancy places.... and in magazines.....and in how to books...but not with our name...

i get to hear about the big buyers who i have seen in mags etc and thats fun too.... like martha stewart and racheal ashwell and what the anthro and terrain buyers are looking for..

so what is hot on the antique trail right now? i would say industrial....lockers, metal drawers, big metal factory tables ,..stark and mission.... ..and big church things still...and the real big fabulous stuff ....and some primitive...

my newest interest is whole idea of recycled, junk, and urban and steampunk....we are embracing that at green oak...we have a whole industrial section... its so cool!!! .the wildest parts , like my love hurts sign, probably wont be huge here...but we do have lots of outside the box customers and we do sell to some big show dealers and we can be a source for them... our country girls are always open to using outside or barn things inside..so they like some of the stuff ....

something could be here at our store and at the pier show in new york a few months later....happens all the time...with the right stuff....

thats my theory for today....

i really think your longevity in business will come from your expression of style....and i wouldnt limit your vision with a real specific word like french or shabby or whatever comes next... i would pick a vague name , an abstract name, that can still be relevant when your customers change or you get different customers......a name that wouldnt box you in to some style thats in menards and hobby lobby and walmart a couple of years down the road...

here we are big enough in space to cover lots of styles....but even in a smaller store i think you have to choose either jump on the bandwagon of a fad and go for it...then close when its over........or jump into a fad but keep something else going too....... the second choice is the healthy one imho...

so in a nutshell....lets say scarves are hot....and you want to get in on it....if you name your store scarf city....it will be over and you will have the wrong name....which might be just fine....

i wish our name was green oak home and garden...

but every time i bring it up dh gags....it would be a huge amount of work to change it...our name doesnt say what we are well at all...

if you are picking a name....GOOD LUCK... hope you can find one that wont drive you nuts down the road...

4TH QUARTER....

FOR US ITS THE 4TH QUARTER......meaning christmas in november, no thanksgiving, and finding out if all the stuff we bought was right or not....
we had our big openhouse and so thankful that it turned out great!!! actually up ...which is a wonder this year!!!!
a good thing....the store full of happy chaotic shoppers isnt something they can get on line...

i think we hit on a couple of really good ideas that fit our store and our customers....
GIFTS TO GO....WE HAD A BIG SELECTION AT 15$ or less...so good for the little gifts people need..
BATTERY CANDLES....these sold so well!! they are so useful....its a flickering bulb on top of a taper...no flame...and we have had one run for 4 weeks, non stop, in the store ...
LANTERNS...the big hit was our lanterns.... filled with christmas ....how does a big new idea come? well this one just popped into my head...last year we did snowmen under cloches...and this year we have these big beautiful lanterns out on the back porch, they have been pretty popular with a candle and berry ring...so the next step was easy.......just messing around i put a snowman in one ...and viola!!!! we probably have sold 1000$ of them.....the lesson...keep your mind open , putter around, try something.... i need another one!!lol...
the nice thing is the customer can take it apart and do something else for spring...

THE WORK PART.... transforming that much of the store is kind of a nightmare..or christmas in a blender ....we didnt close....we were very torn up for a week...the customers just kind of wallked thru the mess....and were nice about it...hopefully they didnt hear very many of the oh shits.... from the little elves behind the scenes...
we had a great crew working ...as always... and i think it turned out good.... we got a lot of compliments...we arent professional florists or decorators....but we try...

i know some stores held back for christmas this year but we didnt and it seems to have been a good decision...

MONEY TALK.... ITs TIME TO DO THE MATH... to me that means looking at the year end and seeing if you are ok...its not so much about doing the accounting different...its about
looking at finances with a cold eye.. did this year work out ? ..is it going up or down? .. are we ok?....or is it getting worse and worse? did we make the money we need to make? ....my feeling is that we made it another year..but omg...its harder and harder...
its hard times for sure....but thats the times we are in.... i want to be realistic and make it work in these times, not sink slowly while im waiting for better times.........
i want to do the math and face the music and keep on doing this!!! thats where coming up with a better plan that fits the new reality comes in.... the hard part...
maybe i could be sloppier a couple of years ago and still make it...now every penny seems to count more...

...the WEB

USING THE WEB IS SO DIFFERENT FOR ME....UNHEARD OF JUST A FEW YEARS AGO....AND NOW IM all over the place.....

im not very tekky....but IM so thankful for the internet....now it is a part of our business and my day.... FOR ME ITS A WAY TO CONNECT, A PLACE TO GET INSPIRED, A GOOD PLACE FOR ARMCHAIR TRAVEL...AND SOMETIMES A GREAT PLACE FOR BUSINESS BRAINSTORMING...and info...

.........HERE WE ARE.....
http://www.magpiecottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.greenoakantiques.com/
http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/ our etsy
facebook!!! look under green oak antiques..or friend me.. http://www.facebook.com/people/Ann-Burton-Wootten-Furnivall/1421037692
http://www.vintagevillage.ning.com/ about etsy mainly
http://www.junkrevolution.com/ all about junk and the junky world
http://www.giftshopmag.com/ some good articles on here...and a forum
http://www.small-business-forum.net/ good informative posters on all things web related
http://www.giftbeat.com/ ....just joined and really like it....good active stores on there....good nuts and bolts store talk.....

here are some of my WEB issues right now....

how to use facebook as well as possible....and how to have it interact with our other web parts ....im considering an ad for the store on there....facebook can be so local....and altho i love being all over the place on the web...my MONEY comes from people who are here in indiana and can actually drive to my store inan hour or so......and i think they are on facebook....especially my new young homeowners.... any comments on this idea sure would be appreciated...hint hint...

how many times to email customers in a month

just figured out the link within widget!!!! its pretty wierd...i dont know how it works....but its on my magpie blog....it shows you 3 related posts within your blog.....how does it pick? who knows!!!!

how to sell my junk art on the web,....new website, etsy, facebook, ?????? and would it sell.

get a better camera...and the hard part...learn how to use it better...

and last but not least.....how to connect ....cyberley... with my local customers and not be a pest...

thats about it....

decision time

WE ARE ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS RIGHT NOW.....

THE BIG OPEN HOUSE IS THE FIRST WEEKEND IN NOVEMBER....

im on line with lots of other stores ~~~~and hearing all their ideas~~~~ its putting me into OVERLOAD....

HERE ARE SOME OF THE IDEAS IVE HEARd ON LINE ;;;

PEACOCK TREES, lime trees, upside down treses, wall trees , ornaments on trees, theme trees

TRUNK SHOWS, yes or no...

SOME KIND OF PROMOTION THAT GETS THE HUSBANDS IN , INCLUDING BEER, how many promotions..

parties,LOTS OF IDEAS INCLUDING WINE AND SPIRITS..super food layouts, invitation only

COUPONS, BE BACK COUPONS, drawings,

DEMONSTRATIONS on decorating, flower displays,

GIFT BAGS, what to give your best customers.

every store does it different, and some have really wonderful events and some dont think it works at all.... ..

SO ITS SURE ON MY MIND TODAY... i really have to figure out the prop and furniture configurations very soon........we changeover so much of the store for christmas...

also

#TRYING TO REMEMBER....another problem is the stuff is mostly packed away and i havent seen our christmas merchandise since we packed away when it came in..ididntmake workbooks of the different displays as i ordered..

#MELDING TOGETHER all our advertising , newspapers, radio and ...

ALL THE CYBER PLACES... our site, blog and facebook...EMAIL making the most of it all and connecting witH as many fans as possible...my cyber work is so hard since i cant do any of it myself... thank heavens for my dh and dil....

last year i was good and made lots of notes....so its time to dig all that out and get a real plan going...

its been such a scary year but im going to try and make it as big and nice as ever...

I CAN HARDLY FACE THE PHYSICAL PART....WE HAVE TO MOVE A WHOLE SECTION OUT...

ALSO... just signed up and joined giftbeat.....it really seems nice....with lots of active stores talking....i love to hear from stores...so much better than the experts and female press....imho

heres our newsletter..... terri my dil....does it for us... http://www.greenoakantiques.com/oct2009.htm

well i got this from my antiquing buddies on http://www.rhubarb-reign.blogspot.com/.... its a game or award and im supposed to write 10 things you might not know.... so thanks guys and here are my 10...

1. im a war orphan...ww2,my dad was killed by a kami kazi
2. ......i went to arkansas by car with a black family when they couldnt even get served a roootbeer at a drivein...or stay in a motel....it was whites only.... 1950s i was little...they were helping to raise me and my sisters...
3. i was once a republican....for barry goldwater..
4. i never worked as a kid.... didnt have a job until about 27....except for about 3 weeks in college. dh an i have never worked for anyone in 35 yrs...
5. i cant fly
6. many local people, think i get a million $$$$ a year...... so not true...they cant seem to imagine that the reason i have money to spend because i sell a lot...duh...this nasty mean rumor has given me very tough skin...my family could have done something like that but they didnt....DANG...
7. no good at vacations
8. i love the dirty parts...gardening, digging thru stuff at auctions, painting ....very messy...
9. sorting is tops with me...and puttering...
10. i never grocery shop or do laundry...

too much?

my week ahead

1. DEALING WITH jons auction..he went to a good one yesterday and got 2 box trucks full.... it was a camp selling out...i think we got about 70 chairs, 10 huge tables, lab equipment, cute little metal boxes with birdhouse shape....tampon receptacles....lol... he didnt know... 5 pianos, 20 little oak kids chairs, and 27 old hickory couches and chairs....he brought 2 truckloads home...and will get the rest monday...jon gets all the fun...i had to stay at the store and work...i used to go every saturday....



2. CHRISTMAS ...... OPENHOUSE.. THE WHOLE STORE WILL BE TRANSFORMED FOR OUR CHRISTMAS OPENHOUSE IN ABOUT 4 WEEKS........INCLUDING PLANNING FOR :::::christmas gift bags ...THE TREES...... CHRISTMAS SCHEDULING, CHRISTMAS LAYOUT, CHRISTMAS ADVERTIZING...RIGHT NOWITS ALL PACKED AWAY....



3. .FLUFF UP THE STORE...we can hardly get thru the antique primitive room...



4. wreath project...carol is making the neatest christmas ball wreaths...i think they will be good sellers...



5. etsy plans...want to present it with more emphasis on steampunk....ITS GOING PRETTY WELL AND WE HAVE LOTS MORE TO PUT ON http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/ weve decided not to go for another website for selling...



6. where to go with junk art....way too many ideas in this world....but i dont even have a good place to sell....i think its a huge trend and getting bigger and bigger on the national scene....



7. THE LOGISTICS.... where to put 10 8 ft tables...just the physical part of jons sale seems pretty impossible...we are packed right now before we unload all the trucks....



8. final christmas orders



9. necklace project...ruth can solder!!!! i just bought a big collection of old matchbooks....with great vintage art....



10. upgrade my computer skills and try and use the web better...im loving facebook but have no idea where its place will be...we do have a fan page....i m on a great business forum with such good guys who are so generous talking about blogs and all things web related....im trying to learn from them......http://www.small-business-forum.net/

thats about it...once in a while i get a negative thought is we are too big for our location.... we have too much stuff , too many things going on....but like dh says it is what it is....we arent moving....somehow we just have to get more people to come here...

whenever i think we might have too much stuff , or too much going on, it passes quickly... therE is always room for more... if its interesting...

our business has been built on .if its a good price go for it..if we can sell it.....thats why jon bought 5 pianos...at least he passed on 40 boxes of books for 1$ each....if a good primitive buyer comes thru boy will i have some tables to sell....the bad part is our habits formed when we had tons of wholesale buyers who could use a truckload if it was priced right...oh well!

like mae west sayS

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THiNG CAN BE WONDERFUL....

steampunk altered art, trash to treasure and junk
thats where my head is lately.... and for a long time as you can see in our robot above...we had her made about 15 yrs ago...shes 14 ft tall...
see the baby...and the iud...
back to the junk idea

its all over our store...

#from our giant islands and counters from salvaged parts....
#to all things industrial that we stock and sell to stay at home moms as well as the big time show dealers
who come thru sometimes...

# to our rough room,aka junk rooom,aka orphan room...its is full of nice saveable stuff, so superior to the particle board crapola out there in the furniture world......

# our big signs on shutters and windows..and cutting out words from the ceiling tin...
# jons birdhouses out of old cans and garage junk
# the raw materials , like doors, windows, spindles, shutters, and getting to hear or see the neat results in peoples homes.... they bring me in pictures sometimes...
#to filling our etsy site with the fun junky vintage raw materials for the junk/steampunk/altered artists out there on the web... http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/

this is the theme im seeing in so many places...

i think its a big trend that will fit our store like a glove ...
. its in the shelter magazines,

the big antique shows,

in the most high end shops,

at the fleas,

the big altered art/junk events that just happened.... both packed with buyers ..
[.country living faire and junk bonanza,} all the wonderful texas shows you can see in the blog world... etc etc....

so our job, in the retail world, is to figure how to best make money on this big idea thats sweeping the country.... thats all...
like my daughter says...weve always been about junk.meaning green oak ,,.. .and its nice to see the rest of the world catching on....

just take a look at the pottery barns ads....you can easily see they check out the fleas and antique stores.....

wierd, but our store has been reflected in country living since it started publication.....from deep country back when we covered everywall with everything and the colors were mostly dark......to now with completely different approach and colors but the same fun reusing spirit.... i still cover every wall at home ....

funny money,,,,

value is so funny in antiques....jon got these rugs at an auction...they look great , the family was rich, one is marked made in iran.....we paid about 80$ .....they are either factory made, and worth very little, like karastan or real orientals.....i cant tell ....the pattern is on the back , the colors are great..... so whats the price..?

..yesterday i said they are between 100 each or 1000 each..... im waiting for my rug buyer , he will want them if they are good orientals, if he doesnt want them that tells me they might be worth 100.... hes the expert....and weve sold to him before...

we sent word to him thru our antique buddy network,i dont have his number, he just called, hes on his way.... now i have to decide how to handle this.....should my goal be 1000 each? what if they are 5000 rugs? should i care.... maybe ask 2000 and let him take that or offer less......i am so rarely in this position,,,,as i think its horrible and unprofessional to not have something priced....rugs are about the only thing i ever dont price by what i paid.....but he is getting to see them instead of me selling them for 100....

the last time this happened....our parting deal was him paying us 6000$ for a big filthy pile of rugs... after the deal was made, he said he would have paid $7000....and i told him i would have taken $5000.....it was pretty funny......the big one he sent to turkey to be repaired....it must have been a heck of a rug...

...but we have a good relationship...the only way i ever get good rugs is by dumb luck at auction.... i know a teeny bit , but not really enough to know w hat im looking at...

he told me on the phone that the made in iran tag meant they were after ww1....

maybe i will just throw myself at his mercy.... or offer them at 2000, for the pair...

hmmmm.

FINAL REPORT;;;;; ..basically , let him have them at any price.... one was horribly damaged...and the other also not good...i knew there was a hole., thats all jon told me and it was that plus water damage....... but big and worth sending to turkey to get repaired...costing way more than what he paid....im satisfied...and happy with the guy...he knows i know nothing....and respect his very good reputation.... .i told him i was hoping for 2 or 3000 and he said he was too....

what we learned..... since hes spending 7 or 800 to get the hole repaired and it will still have lots serious off color and worn down spots....bad ones....my guess is one like this in good condition we could sell for 2 or 3000....thats my wild guess anyway....

isnt it georgous!!!

outside the box inventory

today im at a big antique show/flea in springfield ohio.......getting great outside the box inventory..... stuff you cant get at the gift shows....things i really think make our store a destination....things that you just cant get at the big gift shows.....
we bought all day today including...
.antique ships wheels
huge baskets
locker baskets
old road signs
all kinds of antique wooden containers from china
little stools
halloween crafts
big fun carved fish
little buddah heads
big glass jars
recycled cow, penguin, and car....these are so cool!!!

and so much more!!!!
got to meet sandy and joe from http://www.rhubarb-reign.blogspot.com/ and see their cool booth in person...i love reading her show adventures....
we are close to the country living show in columbus...but are passingit up formore fleamarketing tomorrow...its a beautiful weekend over here in ohio..
the guy who sold me a lot of this sells to terain...which i gather is a big deal altho i have never seen one....

today i liked about everything junky and tried to restrain myself.....

wish i knew ....

is this what they call steampunk!!!!!

this is by an old antique buddy who is an alcoholic and fabulous outsider artist.... http://www.alcoholicoutsiderartist.blogspot.com/

wish i knew how to do some of this...DONT YA JUST LOVE ARTISTS!!! where would we be without them..

really i wish i had the clientel to sell this kind of stuff in the store.......and support the artists ....but im in corn country for one thing....and i cant get

$$200 for a darling little robot...dang!!!! i really love them....but i cant blame the artists for their prices either....

i do buy for myself sometimes....and sometimes i think hey i work for very little a lot of times..now and in the past.....so why do artists want to start out so high?....

for the inner wonk in you

heres a new place i found http://www.laurenandemira.com/ and their blog about business...they wrote a book ... the boss of you..

LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF GOOD STUFF IN THERE...

lots of interesting business info and ideas... a new place to explore. im going back tonight....now off to work..

A GREAT DAY.... we had such a good weekend....and im so glad we went to the cash and carry and got all that fall...it looked great and sold great..lots of garland, and all the misc . went out the door today.....our idea of good used furniture is paying off too....it was like a party in there today...over 10 cars in the parking lot most of the day....

. A SUPER HOT THING...those great battery LIGHTS AND CANDLES.

.we are reordering like mad tomorrow...

MAYBE THINGS ARE TURNING AROUND...

clint eastwood and toughts for the day

~~~~I WANT TO BE LIKE CLINT EASTWOOD, BB KING, AND SENATOR BYRD..or alan greenspan ....... and just keep working deep into old age...im definitely hoping for 20 more years in the business....if my luck holds out ..

in antiques, i have lots of great old role models who loved their work and never did give it up.... until their bodies just gave out....

.one old customer actually came here the day he had chest pains, by old i mean in his 80s...his wife was furious wanting to take him to the hospital... .instead she had to drive him 45 miles to come see us.........he always wanted good things before 1850 and i had one.... a big corner cabinet...he couldnt get out of the car, . we drug it out into the parking lot and twirled it around and he bought it....then said ...take me to the hospital alice.... he was so rattled he didnt even beat me down on my price... he was one of my favorites....back then...he looked down on anything made after 1850...such a snob....but he would call me faithfully every week to see if i had something for him..that was the last time i saw him....... also on a different occasion,he was blind in one eye, he fell down in my rocks on the way up the steps to the store.....

~~ SMALL WORLD.... my blog is getting me in trouble....i talk about one guy a lot..hes so much fun and gives me business and show info and stories from texas to atlanta... i never use his name...well he was somewhere in america and talking about something and his buddy said"oh, i know all about it"...and that he'd read it on here...and recognized his friend/my friend ....... my friend kind of ripped me..i was so innocent....and i dont ever tell anything i consider bad...it was maybe about the deer head he painted like a Holstein...

~~ DUH....DONT ORDER WHAT YOU CANT PAY FOR... .i think i ahave read this as a plot before...... what maybe stores dont REALIZE is that your reputation gets tossed around all over a show or on the road...among reps, among companies, between reps and other stores...... if you dont pay on time or if your credit card gets declined , a lot of people know about it...especially if you are well known.......its a bad sign.

~~~KINDNESS OF STRANGERS... there is a lot of that going around..... today a dealer called....and said she had 8 tables and just got charged for 7...shes sending a check...

.i wish i had a picture of her for you...she and her dh drove a long way to come here....in a car!! and they got 8 tables in it.... shes going to paint them up for her store....

~~~~we might have to make our thing function on fewer or lower sales.....that would be so bad....but if the economy doesnt come back right that might be our new reality.....my plots in this direction would be MAKE MORE ON WHAT WE DO SELL... but how? **** to have a few more nice big expensive things for some of the buyers........*****and to keep working at being way more careful about the buying, the shipping , the bulk discounts....and all those things that can make lots of little differences.....****keep our prices down and try to be that place with the right stuff at the good price....

having our monthly and yearly numbers not grow or even sink a little is just gross to me....and scary.... its like we are STARTING ALL OVER IN A WAY... and we are definitely in a region with horrible un and under employment......they just dont have as much money to spend as they used to....thats a fact...

whats working this week......

this week our fall is selling great..
some things that are working...

~~~on the the harvest tables, the long candle holders with garland around them , are selling

~~and im so glad i bought lanterns...we have been putting the battery tealights or tall candles in them with some fall foilage...and the are selling....

~~~~lots of wire and metal pumpkins are selling...

........we have a whole new section of fall....

its refreshing

..i think our customers hope for something nice seasonally from us....even tho they can go almost anywhere....

facebook and shoptalk

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Rochester-IN/Green-Oak-Antiques/128260302593?ref=nf

well, im trying it..... i love blogging and dont plan to give that up,and i dont quite see how facebook would be different...but im giving it a shot.....its a different venue i guess....

im also doing a personal page....ann burton wootten furnivall....or just ann burton....... AND HOPE SOME PEOPLE over 40 or business people OR CYBER FRIENDS find me and want to be friends....oh gad, i think one of my kids did just hit 40..... so far its mostly family and people my kids age......... lots of my antique buddies dont even have a computer!!

so IF YOU NEED/want A FRIEND COME SEE ME/ FRIEND ME???!!! weird words.

and from my class of 1962 only 4 are on....so im kind of lonesome on there....

but im trying to listen to Rick segel and others telling us businesses we should give facebook a whirl..so im doing a fan page for green oak...

ON MY MIND

1. THE ECONOMY...i think its getting better but will be different..... and i worry about the big stores and All their constant sales.... this is so against us....as small retailers...
2. NEED A NEW VENUE...the things i tried this year didnt work.... 2 mall booths..... we continue to have all our eggs in one basket, THE STORE, and that scares the @#*&&^ out of me....weve always had something major on the side... ..... oops i forgot about etsy....its another basket but only about 1 to 300$ a month...we cant do shows.... no people...we cant move......i dont see the Internet working at the level im talking about...... im loving junk art..and like what we are making.....but where to sell it is the question....also thinking about offereing trunk shows... with the garden iron...
3. NEW CUSTOMERS...scary thing is i dont quite get them... i dont have the seat of the pants intuition about them like i have always had about my old customers..i dont have the code words to attract more of them....they are young and like our stuff but i dont know what they do with it or how they decorate or what their ideals are....
4. PRODUCTIVITY.....we have a workforce...and i have to keep us making money not just dusting!!! but what...
5. INTERNET DECISIONS..we have a new selling site ...laying dormant....i see so little evidence of a site in my field making money...to me making money would have to mean at least 5000$$$ a month.... i cant make us put out the effort to give it a try on the info ive gathered so far........ do you know anyone making that amount on line? would love to hear...
6. WHAT to buy .....thats always a fun problem.....im going for the new girls ....and they sure arent like me in their choices............so im trying to figure it out...the good thing is they really seem to like our store....im thinking its about style, recycling, quality and saving money....AND they are kind of adventurous and outside the box...so that still feels right...

road trip

we went to saugatuck michigan..... such a neat town....and a yearly get away for dh and i......full of arty shops and clothes....and several antique stops on the way.... its always inspiring to me to see others stores and how its going and whats working......
the whole town was having its sidewalk days...thats why we went.....huge crowds...nice loud band playing in the middle of town.... some kind of sale about everywhere...end of summer and its on the lake....
we went to our favorite restaurant....and they forgot us, they sat us and never came back....and they werent busy at all....... in 2 places someone said hi....both were the owners.... have you ever been waited on by a guy from india!!!! its almost always a great example for what to do right...
lots and lots of closed shops on the way up on the red arrow highway......you would have tons to choose from if you wanted to be up there........ but we did see 2 nice busy antique places....
what i brought away....besides way too much totally bored young girls representing businesses....trying not to do their jobs...was.....
*****a big funky art sign....hanging in an art section..that might be fun here ..IM THINKING OF AN ART SECTION...OR JUNK ART SECTION
***a cute pic of little kids....in the big family restaurant that forgot us.... labelled ...FUTURE OWNERS....we have jons kids pictures on the door anyway....they might like that..
***the most gorgeous place was marco polo..in harbet.... closed for the day, but i could look in the window....it was fabulous...the total gallery affect...showing how the pieces would look in a fabulous home.....wouldnt work here we have way too much stuff but it was very impressive...kind of a mix among industrial cottage and mission...
***outside displays...one place had wonderful tall metal fountains and used arches really well...
i get so bogged down with our different spaces....i love seeing how others arrange theirs.....

not to be braggy....but our workers get compliments all the time for their friendliness and helpfulness..... i know we have awful problems like any store....but hardly any customer has ever been here and not been spoken to...at least once!!! anyway, thats always our goal....and its sincerely bought into by our workers.... we just dont sit around and look bored with you and keep talking about the party, the kids, the whatever....we know our money comes from our customers....

after we got forgotten at the restaurant we headed down to south haven and ate at clementines.....totally packed with diners and a gorgeous building all put back into its antique glory........and super super service....and reasonable prices.... it was a huge place and just doing great.....

im so into junk art now and was sorry not to see more of that.....

another business part of the day was listening to npr on the way up...... lots of talk about the economy....and how its getting better but we americans have lost equity in our homes , lost our 401ks etc etc...so we are grumpy and not in a big hurry to spend like before......and dh and i acted in the way they were describing......we like nice expensive sheets from the outlet polo store so we stopped there on the way up, at michigan city....we like high thread count but are too cheap to pay full price.....but there, at discount, the pillowcases were 69$ and the whole set would have been almost 200$....i guess we could still afford that if we just had to have them...., we bought there before, but it felt too extravagant and we didnt buy ...