Help Us Help You!

Once a month, I meet with a group called Business and Balance which is, mainly, a network for professional women entrepreneurs to exchange resources, strategies, and practical business support. The group is also committed to sharing effective tools for finding and maintaining balance in life while running a successful business.

I have found this group to be particularly useful toward that end - finding balance in my life - there are some really wonderful women in this group who run some amazing businesses - everything from Bookkeeping Services to Feng Shui Energy Consultation. I've attended most of the meetings even when I didn't feel that the topic or presentation to be discussed particularly pertained to me or GROVE STREET kids, as I am fond of the socializing part of the evening... but come last month I was unusually tired and not feeling 100%, so I thought I would skip it...

But the tagline to the email introducing the subject of the next meeting read:

"Love/Hate... Groupon? Everybody loves a deal. Except perhaps the retailer who can't afford to just give it away."

"That's me!" I thought to myself and that was as far as I read, as I already knew that this was a meeting not to be missed.

For a few weeks prior, I had received multiple emails from Groupon-like promotions - many of them locally-owned and even "mom-run." As a small-business owner I am inundated with "new and exciting" marketing strategies to extend our reach to potential customers on a weekly if not, daily, basis. So I was excited to go to a presentation that might have some suggestions and/or resources for marketing GROVE STREET kids that could be lest costly, if not down right free.

As it turned it out, it was a presentation by a gentleman starting a new marketing business venture, very similar in concept to Foursquare, which is a location-based social networking website for mobile devices, aka "smartphones." Users "check-in" at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application by selecting from a list of venues the application locates nearby. Each check-in awards the user points and sometimes "badges." Businesses, such as GROVE STREET kids, sometimes offer "Check-In Specials." Ours is that you will receive an additional punch in your Frequent Buyer Card just for checking in.

At any rate, the evening did not turn out to be what I was hoping for, but that was my own fault for not reading the entire email... What it did do was give me pause to think about what exactly I was looking for in terms of promoting my business, that I can advertise for free and does that even exist? Well, certainly on Foursquare it does, but even with 10 million registered users only 10% of those who attended the meeting had even heard of it...

So in the course of figuring this out what I came up with was a way to work with and give back to our community, that will benefit both GSK and it's customers, other than just spending money in our store. It's not a particularly novel idea, but so brilliant in its simplicity that I wish I had done it years ago. We've decided to start a "Giving Back to Schools" campaign for our local preschool and elementary schools. This goes one, if not several, steps beyond the traditional donating of gift certificates to school auctions (which we will continue to do as well), and is about creating relationships within our community that support both the local economy and our children's education.

It's a win-win.

The idea is simple. Schools who register for the program, promote GROVE STREET kids in their community as the place to shop for their kids clothing and shoes. The parents who shop with us let us know that their kids go to "x" school, and we automatically donate a percentage of their purchase back to said school, building a mutually beneficial relationship. It's down right... elementary!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

We want to wish all our customers, long time and new, a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and generally Happy Holidays and best wishes for Peace, Health and Prosperity in 2012!

No one who achieves success does so without the help of others.

The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.
–Alfred North Whitehead

As 2011 races to a close, we are, once again, humbled by and thankful for all of our patrons and friends that have supported us through this, our 5th year of business!

With the continued faltering of the economy, we have witnessed more than a few businesses shut their doors and "Space Available" signs appear in empty store front windows. We are grateful for the continued support of our customers and colleagues and recognize that, without it, we could be amongst those ill-fated businesses.

In the coming year, we hope to make some changes that will provide an even better, more satisfying shopping experience for new and loyal customers alike. Yes, we are still considering expansion, but we also hope to implement some policies and/or programs that will provide mutually beneficial results to our partners in the local community, by giving back to it.

So, stay tuned...

And a Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Is staying put... for now.

GROVE STREET kids has made a decision.

We've been talking to our customers for a while now about the possibility of expansion. The desire to increase our storage capacity as well as offer a broader assortment of maternity wear and baby gear on consignment was well-received by folks and we know that should we have the opportunity to do so, we would receive resounding support from our patrons, family and friends.

Unfortunately, the ducks did not want to line up in that perfect row for us, and expanding into the store front next door will not be happening any time soon. We are very disappointed about the turn of events but, for many reasons, we cannot effectively make the changes we would like to make here.... right now.

We still have hopes of expansion! We want to be the one-stop shop for mommies-to-be and their kids! So stay tuned, we may have more news down the road. Until then, we hope you will continue to show your unwavering support of GROVE STREET kids.

Another Anniversary!

In these uncertain economic times, we are so grateful to our customers who continue to support us with their patronage and recommendations... it's hard to believe 4 years have come and gone so quickly! As time passes, we have realized that having our own business is not unlike having a new baby, as it starts out small, relishing the moments and milestones as it grows and flourishes!

We have watched GROVE STREET kids do the same and have found our business is demanding expansion to fill the needs of it's customers. We are still in negotiations to try and make GSK twice it's current size where we can offer more maternity and baby gear as well as continuing to offer the largest selection of kid's resale in the area. So we hope you will continue to stand by us and watch us grow!

Arise, then, women of this day!

One of the early calls to celebrate a Mother's Day in the United States was the "Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe. Written in 1870, it was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe's feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.

In the years after the Mother's Day Proclamation, Ann Jarvis founded five Mothers' Day Work Clubs to improve sanitary and health conditions for working women. In 1907, two years after Ann Jarvis' death, her daughter Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother and began a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the US. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s. In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association. She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.*

This year, my family honoured me with breakfast in bed, a necklace hand-picked by my daughter accompanied by, not one, but two Mother's Day cards of her creation. To my surprise, I also received a card from my husband (being that I am not his mother...) in which the card so much as said this and "thanks for taking care of (him) anyway."

From my friends, and supporters of GROVE STREET kids, received the honour of becoming a winner in the StartupNation Leading Moms in Business Competition. I joined the competition late, and so I had no idea where I would fall amongst the ranks of thousands of mom-owned businesses across the country. My only hope was to finish in the top 200... and I did... at 134! In hindsight, it seems a little silly, really. But as most of us moms know, we do and we give and we work hard for ourselves and our families, so when a little recognition comes along for being, not just a great mom, but a great mom in business then, well, I'll take it! It seems only fitting considering what Ms. Howe had in mind...

*source: http://www.wikipedia.org/

To Expand, or To Not Expand, That is THE Question...

Recently, you may have noticed a hole in the wall.

Well, not literally, but figuratively, there is a hole in the wall. Or, rather, a space. An empty space. A space that once was the Candy Bouquet. When Jack moved his store to another location, we started getting a lot of questions about whether or not we knew if anyone was moving in... then we started getting questions like, "Are you going to move in?

The truth is, we have been thinking for a while about expanding into the space next door. Jack told us last Fall that they would be moving to a new location at the end of the year. And in the interim, we've talked to some of our regular customers about what they'd like to see or, rather, if they'd like to see us expand. The overwhelming response has been "yes!"

So, at once, we are excited and daunted by the possibilities. If we do this thing, what exactly will we do? More kids clothes? More maternity? Used baby gear? What about used toys? And once we decide, how will we do it? Many, many questions to be answered.

Meanwhile, we are working diligently to figure out how to support this endeavor because, although the desire and opportunity has presented itself, the wherewithal to do it has not. So as we peruse our options as to how to get this thing done we appreciate all the feedback we can get! Let us know your thoughts via email from our "Contact Us" link from our website or at the bottom of this blog!