Savvy Shopper: Larger space may be ticket for 'Just Be’
Christina Brown says she’s ready for a risk.
As center-city stores falter, and some close, Brown is more than tripling her retail space. After six months, her store, Just Be, is moving from a nook across from M’Coul’s Public House to an airy space that fronts on Elm Street.
Her new storefront was vacated earlier this month by Pod, a trendy clothing retailer that survived only 13 months before going belly-up. Warning signs surround Brown: Fashion retailers are closing or getting out of downtown.
But sales of handmade jewelry and art at Just Be remain steady, and Brown isn’t worried she’ll go of out business.
"I’m moving into somebody’s space that’s closing out," Brown says, "but I want to take a risk. I’ve always been a risk taker."
The new location, diagonal to Natty Greene’s at Elm and McGee streets, is a 1,350 square foot space undergoing a makeover from hip boutique to organic art studio.
The look — a tin roof inside, richly colored walls, corners hiding handmade local treasures — will be similar to what Brown put together a few steps down the street at her original location.
That first store, however, gave her less than 400 square feet to work with and Brown, who makes jewelry, used about a third of that as her work space.
Brown said goodbye to her old location Wednesday and plans to open the new one at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Shoppers will discover a seating area tucked in the back of the jewelry store, where Brown hopes to host art openings and crafts classes starting next year.
Ideas like that have helped Brown get by in a tough retail district.
When other stores closed early during downtown gatherings, she welcomed customers until midnight. During the downtown Festival of Lights, Just Be will be open late, and Brown plans to have cider for cold and thirsty shoppers.
"Staying open late has been helping a lot," she said. "I really think that is what has helped my business, especially in the first six months of nobody knowing about you except your friends. Word of mouth helped me get established."
She worries, though, about other downtown retailers hanging on. Though neighbors such as O’Kennedy’s aren’t in danger of leaving, start-ups seem to have struggled during the past few months.
"People aren’t going to get rich doing retail downtown," said Allen McDavid, who, with wife Sarah, runs Terra Blue in the 500 block of Elm Street.
And it’s tough to tell what will fly — and what will falter — in the city’s center.
Retailers such as Brown are taking a chance by opening downtown before scads of homes and offices come online. Some stores succeed, others fail.
"I think that it depends on what you’re selling," said Charles Miller, owner of downtown hallmark Miller Furniture Co.
"Certain retail things probably should not be attempted downtown, but I can’t tell you what they are," he said. "And until people move in and try different things, you don’t know what will be successful."
It appears that Brown just might have an idea.
Shopping jewelry store Cyber Monday
If you’re not wiped out from chowing down on turkey and then hitting the malls Friday, check out CyberMonday.com.
This new Web site, affiliated with the National Retail Federation, lists deals and discounts online shoppers might see Monday. There’s free shipping from stores such as Nordstrom, Sears and Target. And discounts on various things including gourmet foodstuffs and travel.
Cyber Monday gets its name from the rumor — false — that it’s the biggest online shopping day of the year.
In fact, just like the biggest in-store retail day of the year, the hot day for online sales hops around. In a recent online survey from MasterCard, about 10 percent of American consumers said they plan to shop online Monday.
But it’s worth your while to catch the online deals early. Just as brick-and-mortar retailers want to get shoppers in and out at the start of the season, so do online stores. And they’re offering deals accordingly.
So, take to the Web. Shop. Just make sure that if you’re doing it at work, you log that time on your lunch break.
Or, at least, clear out your browser afterward.
As center-city stores falter, and some close, Brown is more than tripling her retail space. After six months, her store, Just Be, is moving from a nook across from M’Coul’s Public House to an airy space that fronts on Elm Street.
Her new storefront was vacated earlier this month by Pod, a trendy clothing retailer that survived only 13 months before going belly-up. Warning signs surround Brown: Fashion retailers are closing or getting out of downtown.
But sales of handmade jewelry and art at Just Be remain steady, and Brown isn’t worried she’ll go of out business.
"I’m moving into somebody’s space that’s closing out," Brown says, "but I want to take a risk. I’ve always been a risk taker."
The new location, diagonal to Natty Greene’s at Elm and McGee streets, is a 1,350 square foot space undergoing a makeover from hip boutique to organic art studio.
The look — a tin roof inside, richly colored walls, corners hiding handmade local treasures — will be similar to what Brown put together a few steps down the street at her original location.
That first store, however, gave her less than 400 square feet to work with and Brown, who makes jewelry, used about a third of that as her work space.
Brown said goodbye to her old location Wednesday and plans to open the new one at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Shoppers will discover a seating area tucked in the back of the jewelry store, where Brown hopes to host art openings and crafts classes starting next year.
Ideas like that have helped Brown get by in a tough retail district.
When other stores closed early during downtown gatherings, she welcomed customers until midnight. During the downtown Festival of Lights, Just Be will be open late, and Brown plans to have cider for cold and thirsty shoppers.
"Staying open late has been helping a lot," she said. "I really think that is what has helped my business, especially in the first six months of nobody knowing about you except your friends. Word of mouth helped me get established."
She worries, though, about other downtown retailers hanging on. Though neighbors such as O’Kennedy’s aren’t in danger of leaving, start-ups seem to have struggled during the past few months.
"People aren’t going to get rich doing retail downtown," said Allen McDavid, who, with wife Sarah, runs Terra Blue in the 500 block of Elm Street.
And it’s tough to tell what will fly — and what will falter — in the city’s center.
Retailers such as Brown are taking a chance by opening downtown before scads of homes and offices come online. Some stores succeed, others fail.
"I think that it depends on what you’re selling," said Charles Miller, owner of downtown hallmark Miller Furniture Co.
"Certain retail things probably should not be attempted downtown, but I can’t tell you what they are," he said. "And until people move in and try different things, you don’t know what will be successful."
It appears that Brown just might have an idea.
Shopping jewelry store Cyber Monday
If you’re not wiped out from chowing down on turkey and then hitting the malls Friday, check out CyberMonday.com.
This new Web site, affiliated with the National Retail Federation, lists deals and discounts online shoppers might see Monday. There’s free shipping from stores such as Nordstrom, Sears and Target. And discounts on various things including gourmet foodstuffs and travel.
Cyber Monday gets its name from the rumor — false — that it’s the biggest online shopping day of the year.
In fact, just like the biggest in-store retail day of the year, the hot day for online sales hops around. In a recent online survey from MasterCard, about 10 percent of American consumers said they plan to shop online Monday.
But it’s worth your while to catch the online deals early. Just as brick-and-mortar retailers want to get shoppers in and out at the start of the season, so do online stores. And they’re offering deals accordingly.
So, take to the Web. Shop. Just make sure that if you’re doing it at work, you log that time on your lunch break.
Or, at least, clear out your browser afterward.
[ 04:40 AM ] [ November 27, 2006 ] [ Link ]
