Getting Creative

I'm always thinking of ways to draw more people to Zoe.  And show them things that they would like when they do come into the store.  On Friday, I had been thinking about pushing one of my rolling racks outside the door so that people could see an example of the kind of clothes we carry.  I don't want to do this during the week because I believe it would detract from my landlord's entrance.

I found out on Friday afternoon that they are going to be closing at 2:30 on Fridays during the summer!  So I readied my rolling rack to put outside after they closed!  I had some challenges with it that first afternoon as it got to be a little windy and it was hard to keep it upright!  But I sold one of the items I had displayed on the rack so that gave me a good feeling that this was the way to go.

On Saturday morning, I walked down to Starbucks to ask if I could borrow two of their sandbags (they had a bunch piled up outside their door following the recent flooding).  They said "Of course".  Now, it was up to me to transport the sandbags back to the store.  Try doing that dressed up and in high heels - plus these things probably weigh 50 lbs each.  I am sure I was quite a sight.  But I managed to do it (and paid for it with aching deltoids and obliques).  Maybe it is a new fitness program I should start - the Sandbag Workout.  Or maybe we should have a Boutique Olympics and include the sandbag carry as one of the events?

All kidding aside, the sandbags did the trick.  No problems with the rack despite lots of wind on Saturday and Sunday.  And a number of people came in the store who told me they were drawn by the display.  I've toned it down slightly today - I've hung a top from the door handle and a dress from the hook where I normally hang my "Open" sign.  I'll do the rack on weekends when it won't be a distraction for my landlord.

Last week, a customer came into the store prior to picking up ice cream for her children (I've mentioned we have 3 ice cream stores in close proximity to Zoe).  She really liked the store and told me she would share information on it using an Old Town Moms Listserv on Yahoo.  Sure enough, I got messages from two Old Town friends on Sunday evening, sharing the nice blurb she had written.  There is nothing better than someone else speaking highly of you!

My customers continue to be fun and enjoyable.  I've had them share parts of their food purchases with me - I got to try salted licorice from The Sugar Cube on Saturday.  They make restaurant recommendations for other parts of Northern Virginia.  A couple who had owned a boutique in Myrtle Beach talked to me in length about the boutique business - what worked for them and what didn't.  Sometimes my past customers stop in to introduce their children to me or just say "Hi!"  It truly is everything I had hoped for as far as making connections with people.

The heat has been pretty intense here the past few days.  Customers have commented that the store feels comfortable, which is exactly what I'm striving for.  No one wants to try on clothes when they feel hot and sticky.

For those following the FedEx saga, they did finally pick up the package late last week.  When I checked the tracking information this morning, I found it should be back to the Display company on June 1st.  Hopefully, we can put this little drama to rest.

Philanthropy Continued

One of the boutiques that served as my inspiration for Zoe is Sonia Says of Athens, Georgia.  They have a motto "Looking good while doing good."  If Zoe can accomplish the same for our customers and community, I would be very happy!

In one of my earlier posts this month, I mentioned the Charity Day held by the Old Town Boutique District.  I chose to have Zoe participate as well by donating 10% of Gross Sales to the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.  I choose AWLA for two reasons - one being that so many of my customers have pets which are very important to them and my first pet upon moving to the DC area out of college came from AWLA (Muffin).

This week, I receive a very nice welcome note from the Executive Director of ACT for Alexandria, a Community Foundation.  They recently held an event during the Mother's Day weekend called Spring for Alexandria which encouraged donations and volunteerism throughout Alexandria.  I've contacted him to find out how Zoe could be more involved in the community.

I also met with a representative from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce to discuss holding a women's alumni event at Zoe.  We are currently targeting July for the event.  By keeping alums involved with the University, we establish a connection that can then turn into continued to support for the School and University, whether it be monetary or mentoring relationships.  Plus, as a bonus, I get to introduce Zoe to more people!

McIntire had a nice write-up for Zoe in the Alumni Notes in their May 2011 newsletter.  They took some of what I said in an email to them and included it in the blurb.  I was pleased with the results and have already heard from some of my classmates who didn't know I had taken the leap into business ownership!

A Day In The Life....

As I've said before, there are always new and interesting things that happen to me every day as a boutique owner.  A few over the past week....

1. A small bird came hopping into my store.  I chased it out.  I knew that it was not a good idea for either of us if it took up residence here.  One day, a squirrel almost ran into the store.  We had quite a little standoff in the doorway.
2. Today I am getting the windows cleaned at the store (inside and out).  It is a fairly involved process since there are so many individual panes.  I could ignore it when the weather was cloudy but it REALLY looked bad when the sun shines in!  I'll have this done at least once a month going forward!
3. Some of the floorboards toward the back of the store had started lifting (probably due to the high humidity over the past few days).  I notified the construction company and they sent someone out right away.  Kind of the anti-FedEx.  (they are my new Verizon/Comcast).
4. I always appreciate how my friends look out for me.  Friend Jamie reads the blog on Zoe's webpage using Google Feed Reader.  She noticed that the first picture that I put in the blog never shows up when she reads it that way (I use a function called Featured Image with that first picture).  She let me know so that I can work with my web developer to see if there is a fix (or a workaround) for this.  It is a known issue (per my web searching) but I'm hoping he can give me some guidance on how to fix it.
5. Yesterday I got to help a customer pick out birthday gifts for her sister and niece!  Those visits are always a lot of fun.  The customer was a similar size to her sister so she got to try on lots of pieces to find just the right one!
6. I knew it was a matter of time until I witnessed a fender bender at the intersection of Prince & Union.  Sure enough, a large tractor trailer could not swing the corner and managed to scrape (and then back into) a mini-van.  Right at lunchtime too!  The intersection (which is always busy) was blocked for a little while.
7. For the past two days, we had the Tall Ship Gloria docked just down the street from Zoe.  Yesterday morning, I saw all of the sailors walking down Union in their dress uniforms.  They looked so crisp, clean and nice.  A lot of people came down to tour the ship.  It was a lot of fun to look out Zoe's door and see the tall masts.
8. I've had all kinds of great visits this week!  Friends and UVA classmates Akram and Ken stopped in (within 20 minutes of each other) as well as other UVA alums (and Denmark classmates) Stacey and Dave.  And friends Renee and Michelle stopped in after taking their children to visit the Gloria!  I have not lacked for company!
9. Zoe's Spring Sale has started out well - people seem to be enjoying the opportunity to get some great spring pieces at sale prices!

FedEx

You knew it had been too long since I wrote about one of my vendors.  Most days, things go pretty smoothly.  Other days, it is as if no one can do anything correctly the first time.

Back in March when I got my big truckload shipment of fixtures at the store, I received 5 mannequins.  One of them did not work properly with the other pieces of the system so the Display company had to order a new one.  They said that they would arrange to have the "bad" mannequin picked up and shipped back to me.

Time passed and I had lots of other things on my mind.  A couple weeks ago, I got a call from the display company, saying that the new mannequin was shipping that day.  I asked when they were going to pick up the old one and they said "Oh, we did."  I said "Oh, no, you didn't!"  When they started researching it, they found that FedEx claimed they picked it up but then didn't know how to get it back to them.  Thus the saga began.

You may remember that FedEx has continued to deliver my packages to 130 North Union Street, which is a residence.  I have complained about this to no avail.  So, that week that they told me my mannequin had shipped, I took a stroll down to 130 North Union.  And there was my mannequin.  I was beyond perturbed.  All sorts of grumpy thoughts were going through my head as I hauled the mannequin back to Zoe.

When I called the Display company, they said they would get it straightened out.  Well, we know I'm not particularly a patient person, especially when gross incompetence is involved.  So, I called them every few days to complain.  Lo and behold, the FedEx Ground guy shows up and introduces himself today with the comment "Oh, I finally found you."  Shockingly, I managed to hold my tongue!  I asked him if he had a call tag for the mannequin and he said "No.".  As soon as he left, I called the Display company to tell them to get that call tag submitted since FedEx finally knows where I am.  They assured me they would.  Stay tuned...

By the way, I love my UPS deliveryman.  He has never had a problem finding me from Day One.

A Continued Week of Firsts

Jim is my blogging "conscience".  He is always asking me if I updated the blog and, if I answer that I haven't, he tells me that I need to!

Zoe will continue to have many "firsts" as the year progresses.  On Friday, I had my first return (oh dear!)  As you know, Zoe's bags are pretty distinct.  I saw a woman walking down Union Street with one and I thought "Hmmm - she is either coming to get something else (I encourage people to bring their bags back for a discount) or she is returning something."  Indeed, she was returning something.  I had contacted my point of sale software help desk not long after I had opened to make sure I knew how to process a return.  It took me a little while to run through it because I wanted to make sure I did it right and didn't create a credit card issue for either of us.  Fortunately, it went smoothly.

On a lighter note, I had the first couple kiss in my store over the weekend!  A sweet smooch!

And, I'm getting ready to start my first annual spring sale on Tuesday!  I had gone through and noted all of my upcoming shipments (through November, believe it or not) and know I'm going to have more coming in early to mid-June.  I need to start moving some of the remaining Spring items to make room for the new items.  I have sold out of several things.  I can tell you that my customers love things in all shades of blue - those have definitely been my best sellers!

I had visits from friends Martha and Alex D. over the weekend and Janice came to help me on Sunday afternoon.  I love seeing familiar faces in the shop!

Blogging, Newspapers, and Fun Visitors

Last Friday, I had a visit from Old Town Alexandria Patch blogger Tara and her daughter Sophie.  Tara had called me to ask if she could come by to write a story on items that Zoe carries that might be appealing to Alexandria Moms.  I started walking the store, thinking about what would be comfortable, fashionable, and affordable for all the Moms that I know.  I had a lot of fun making the list but even more fun working with Tara and Sophie!  Tara's blog appeared on the Patch yesterday and I loved her article!  She writes a very fun blog for all you Moms who enjoy another Mom's perspective.  I'm not a Mom and I'm hooked!

Zoe also had an article appear in the Alexandria Gazette Packet yesterday.  I am delighted to receive the press but must admit I'm a little embarrassed regarding the part about me.  I honestly don't ever think of myself as lucky - fortunate or blessed perhaps but never lucky.  And I am not sure about the quick rise part - I had always felt I had worked very hard to reach the levels I did reach in my technology career.  But of course I like the parts about Zoe!

I had several enjoyable visitors yesterday - the founder/buyer of the Shoe Hive (and Founder of the Old Town Boutique District) stopped in the store yesterday as well as the manager of the Shoe Hive.  It is so nice to meet experienced Alexandria merchants.

In the afternoon, my point of sale consultant, Pat, stopped by the store.  We had always done all the work on the system in my home so he had never seen the store.  He was very complimentary, which means a lot because he sees LOTS of stores in his line of work.   He was also happy to hear that the software, support, and integrated programs were working well.

And later in the day, Kelly, a merchant coming to Old Town stopped in my store to ask about my experience with the point of sale system.  It was fun talking to her about her business and my experiences in starting Zoe.

Each day is a wonderful surprise!

Web Presence

One of the challenges of having a new business is staying abreast of all of the different marketing and informational resources available to you.  Friend Tim recently noted that that I was not on Google Places and I took the necessary steps to rectify that situation.  In a meeting with a consultant, I was also advised to take advantage of a service called GetListed.org.  This is a one stop shop to get your business listed on Yahoo!, Bing, Yelp, and other search sites (in addition to Google).

It is interesting how high this blog comes up on Google and Bing searches when looking for Zoe Boutique Alexandria.  I've had people come into the store (that I did not know) who told me they've been reading my blog!  While I am certainly aware that anything I write here (or on Facebook or Twitter or elsewhere) is pretty much available for anyone to read, it is still amazing to me that people I don't know even want to read it!

In other store related news, I purchased some dog treats during my shopping expeditions on Monday.  And I got to give them to my first doggie customers yesterday!  Next up, leash hooks for the dressing rooms (thanks, Juice!)