Open it, and they will come
Cheryl Geschke has been the successful proprietor of Soft N Sassy in Broadview Heights, OH, for nearly six years. It is nestled in a warren of rooms of an old house, and is known throughout Northeast Ohio as a destination for fiber fans of all stripes. When the lease came up on her location this spring, Geschke considered her options — but ultimately decided to stay put. After all, her clients seemed to like the ability to meander through the rooms, examining the yarns and accessories at their own pace. They also like taking classes (or just stopping to knit and chat awhile) in such a homey atmosphere.
And while Geschke likes it, too, she’s not afraid to step out of the box now and then, as her retail-focused Web site can attest. But she really took things to the next level the week before Thanksgiving: She opened the Soft N Sassy kiosk in the Westfield SouthPark Shopping Center mall in nearby Strongsville, OH, and leased a storefront at Parmatown Mall, in Parma, OH.
All three spaces are within about 20 minutes’ driving distance of one another. The kiosk, which only ran from mid-November until Dec. 31, was set up mainly to attract passers-by looking to buy a ready-made, handknit shawl or sweater, or perhaps a set of knitting needles or other yarn accessory. It also strongly marketed the message of “Don’t forget to check out our store in Broadview Heights!”
The Parmatown store, however, has a completely different name — Creatively Yours — and vibe than its siblings. Geschke sees it as an opportunity to bring lessons on all sorts of crafts, not only the fiber arts, to the masses. That includes jewelry-making, glass etching, bead-making and even a cartooning class, in addition to such pursuits as knit, crochet and pin-weaving. It also gives her the room to hold space-eating classes like felting.
Because Parma is an older suburb of Cleveland, and the mall is near the public transportation lines, she finds that Creatively Yours is attracting a lot of seniors who otherwise might not have had a way to get to the Soft N Sassy shop. She’s also getting a lot of families, whose frequent mall-crawling means they are hungering for a different alternative to the food court and say, the Build-A-Bear Workshop. (Believe me!)
“We have jewelry classes geared for kids, and I’d like to get a birthday party concept off the ground soon,” she says, noting that the bigger space means she has room for such events. In addition, Geschke says, “I’ve partnered with the JCPenney portrait studio where we present kids with a certificate for a free sitting — bring the project you have made with you and get your photo taken with it. They’re also handing out information about our store at their studio.”
As if jumping into the fray of the holiday season with two new retail outlets wasn’t stressful enough, it certainly didn’t help matters that Geschke’s mom, Vera — a beloved fixture at the Broadview Heights store — had quadruple bypass surgery in December. The situation forced Geschke to not be as hands-on with the endeavors as she would have liked to be, although she reports that her mother has since come through with flying colors.
Setting up shop at the malls did take some adjustments. Both sites required Geschke to stay open during mall hours, which during the holiday season meant some workdays were 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. She compensated by hiring two college students over their winter break to help out her existing staff.
The Creatively Yours space was stark at the onset, and as Geschke points out, it’s “hard to get a homey feel to a rectangle.” Eventually, she filled the space to her liking and found she enjoyed the flexibility: “I can move merchandising units anywhere, anytime I want to emphasize certain sale items.”
Inventory overlaps for both stores, but Geschke can take special orders at either location. Creatively Yours is situated between the food court and a major department store, so a lot of traffic passes in front of the shop. As she did with the kiosk, she is spotlighting a few consignment artists to put already-finished baby blankets, purses, hats, and other items for sale.
“We show them off a bit, because this location lends itself better to that,” she explains, adding with a chuckle, “Let’s be honest: Men shopping for a Christmas or Valentine’s Day present for their wives are more likely to stop by a shop in the mall than drive all the way out to a store called ‘Soft N Sassy.’”
The fact that most of her inventory is American-made and -distributed seems to be yet another big attraction for today’s consumers, she says. “I want them to realize that little companies make great things, too, and that we can build on American companies. People don’t need to purchase things made overseas from a big box store.”
Geschke is glad she took the plunge, and is still processing the experience in the new year. “I’ve learned a lot, and I’m still learning,” she says. “And if the stars continue to align, I’ll keep it up!”
Tags: American made, Creatively Yours, fiber, Geschke, kiosk, mall, marketing, Parmatown, Soft N Sassy, Southpark, Westfield
