Clark County store owners share their first-year experience

KAZOODLES ● SELLS: Toys, books and games ● OWNERS: Mary and Bob Sisson ● OPENED: March 2006 ● LOCATION: 575 W. Eighth St., Vancouver ● TELEPHONE: 699-9200 ● WEB SITE: www.kazoodlestoys.com ● WHY THE NAME: Kids like funny words, but original choice “Kazoos” was already taken. ● OUTLOOK: Not yet profitable, but going in the right direction ● PARTING THOUGHT: “We had no desire to be in a mall. This just felt like the kind of business that belonged downtown.” – Mary Sisson

MANGIAMO DOLCE AND DI TAZZA ● SELLS: Italian pastries and coffee ● OWNER: Dana Carpenter ● OPENED: May 2007 (coffee shop); has operated bakery and catering for a couple years ● LOCATION: Commercial bakery and catering at Camas home; coffee shop at 2100 S.E. 164th Ave., Ste. D109, Vancouver (in Fisher’s Landing Marketplace) ● TELEPHONE: 449-0600 ● WHY THE NAME: “Mangiamo Dolce” is Italian, meaning “let’s eat sweets.” Di Tazza means “in a cup.” ● OUTLOOK: Too early to quantify, but “there is no failure.” ● PARTING THOUGHT: “When they come in here, I treat them like they’re coming into my home.” – Carpenter

LINGONBERRIES MARKET ● SELLS: Gluten-free and special-diet foods ● OWNERS: Harold and Dee Sandquist ● OPENED: January 2006 ● LOCATION: 6300 N.E. 117th Ave., Ste. B5, Vancouver ● TELEPHONE: 260-4411 ● WEB SITE: www.lingonberriesmarket.com ● WHY THE NAME: Harold was looking for a memorable name, and Dee’s mother always wanted ostaka, a Swedish custard, served with tart lingonberries at Christmastime. ● OUTLOOK: Not yet profitable, but going in the right direction. ● PARTING THOUGHT: “Before we were here, people would have to go to two or three or four different stores to find the products they need.” – Harold Sandquist

THE TRELLIS ● SELLS: Unusual collectibles and décor for the home and garden ● OWNER: Anthony Sharrah ● OPENED: December 2005 ● LOCATION: 103 E. Fourth St., La Center ● TELEPHONE: 904-5876 ● WHY THE NAME: Name arose from unique trellis design of remodeled building. ● OUTLOOK: Profitable from the start. ● PARTING THOUGHT: “People tell me every time they turn around, they see something new.” –Sharrah

The road to retail success often begins at the intersection of Interest and Opportunity. Sometimes the right path seems obvious, as when veteran businessman Harold Sandquist and his dietitian wife Dee combined forces to open Lingonberries Market for people with special dietary needs.

Sometimes the route opens up unexpectedly, as when Mary and Bob Sisson created Kazoodles toy store after Mary lost her job at a time when the Sissons also found themselves regularly going into Portland to buy specialty toys for their young grandchildren.

Sometimes the street is short, as when Dana Carpenter bought a Fisher’s Landing shop and transformed it into di Tazza, an Italian coffee house that showcases her existing Italian bakery’s sweet treats.

Sometimes the highway stretches out, as when Anthony Sharrah unveiled The Trellis, a unique home and garden décor shop in La Center, more than a decade after buying the property, following years of retail experience in furniture and coffee businesses.

While these new business owners hit a few bumps along the way, all expect to survive. Generally, starting a new retail business can be a perilous journey. A third of all types of businesses close within the first two years, and more than half are shuttered within four years, according to a 2005 study published in Monthly Labor Review. Retail can be especially tough. Often there is fierce competition, a large investment in inventory, a good location that carries a higher cost and employees to cover long business hours, creating a payroll. The hours are long and the general expectation is that it takes three years to reach profitability.

On the bright side, retail businesses often are labors of love, and a successful venture can bring a handsome financial reward. “They really need to think long and hard about it before they go plunking down their money,” said Janet Harte, certified business adviser with the local Washington State University Small Business Development Center office.

Going with what you know

Some of Dana Carpenter’s earliest memories are baking desserts on weekends with her Italian grandmothers. Carpenter (maiden name: Bressi) employed her family’s love of Italian cooking, and even some of the old recipes, a few years ago when she opened a commercial kitchen at her Camas home. Now she makes her own biscotti, pizzelle and tiramisu with a spoonful of that grandmotherly know-how, a cup of her own innovation and a dash of inspiration from a recent trip to learn more about Italian baking.

She already was selling specialty baked goods to various restaurants and coffee shops and at a few community and corporate events, and running a catering business, when Mari’s Gourmet Coffee went up for sale. She bought the business, added an Italian flair and the name di Tazza that distinguish it from the omnipresent Starbucks, and took over in early May, just six days after returning from that cooking vacation to Italy.

At first blush, running a coffee house might seem like a diversion from her eventual goal of opening a larger commercial bakery in Camas, when a desired parcel of commercial land becomes available in a year or two. But to Carpenter, di Tazza is not just a potentially profitable business in itself but also a showcase for her Italian desserts and catering service.

“I’ve learned to definitely do what you love,” she said. “I almost get emotional because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Gluten-free market

After running a family farm and then working in management with Safeway for more than a decade, Harold Sandquist already knew something about selling food. When he joined forces with his wife, Dee, a registered dietitian who follows a gluten-free diet due to Celiac Disease, the Sandquists assembled the perfect team for Lingonberries. The market carries more than 1,000 products made without wheat and its byproducts, as well as a selection of foods formulated for people with a variety of food allergies.

“I’ve seen the need for gluten-free products increase,” said Dee, who sometimes found it tough to buy foods to meet her needs. Their goal was to offer enough food alternatives that even people with restrictive diets could find a tasty selection. For example, the store carries a wide array of baked goods and mixes, pastas, cereals and even beers made with alternative grains (handled separately from wheat), or from other ingredients such as tapioca, potatoes, nuts and beans.

“People want fresh and flavorful foods,” Harold said. And they wanted the shopping experience to be simple, Dee added, so “it doesn’t take two hours of reading labels to shop.”

Retailing experience

Likewise, Sharrah knows the retail business – partly from years of working with a chain furniture store, where he gained experience in sales, displays and buying inventory, and partly from running several Anthony’s Coffee Co. espresso bars, two of which still operate in Kaiser Permanente buildings.

Still, Sharrah moved cautiously in starting The Trellis in a commercial building he bought 13 years earlier, when such property in now-booming La Center was still priced within his means. He rented the space until he was ready to launch his business, which started generating interest as he and his brother-in-law built the distinctive trellis structure that lends it ambience.

The Sissons, by contrast, came to retailing late, after the Vancouver School District cut Mary’s job in public information. In gearing up to open Kazoodles, they visited more than 30 toy stores and joined the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA), which gave them quicker insight into the business.

Knowing they lacked retail business experience, the Sissons took small business classes at Clark College and through the Service Corps of Retired Executives and they consulted with a SCORE adviser as well as a friend who retired from the toy business. Mary also worked a job as a clerk at Mike’s Eastside Drugs for the retail experience. (Bob has maintained his job at The Columbian.) “There’s so much help out there for small businesses,” Mary said. “It was surprising to us.”

“If you know your product, you’re going to know something about your customers,” Harte said. But the adviser cautions new retailers to make sure their selection of wares appeals to their customers. “You’ve got to look beyond yourself.”

Local business owners agreed. Harold Sandquist, for example, already has replaced 100 to 200 originally stocked products with selections their customers like better.

Engaging the customer

A major trend in retailing is what Harte calls a “bifurcating market.” What she means is that consumers are scouring Wal-Mart and the Dollar Tree for the best prices on some goods, then stopping for a $4 latte on the way home.

“The middle section is really getting eroded,” she said.

For many goods, it takes a massive budget to buy inventory in the huge quantities required to compete solely on price. So, for most small businesses, the better approach is not only to offer higher-end goods but also to make customers yearn to return. That means great service in a setting that appeals to all the senses.

“You’re not just selling a product, you’re selling a customer experience,” Harte said. “An engaged customer has a much higher probability of leaving more money with you.”

Sharrah found instant success in engaging customers at Trellis, where he combines an attractive setting, a “down home” approach to service, and little perks like an espresso bar and after-hours events for customers. He was almost too successful, because when he opened in early December 2005, shoppers nearly emptied his store by Christmas.

“They cleaned me out so much that it was embarrassing,” said Sharrah, who now has a handle on his ever-changing inventory and hit his three-year business goals in half that time. “I feel my business is successful because we offer very unique things of high quality at reasonable prices.”

That’s the kind of buzz that Carpenter is trying to build at di Tazza, where she’s not trying to be another Starbucks. “People love to come in and see the owner,” she said. “When people do come in here, they come back.”

Sometimes engaging customers means reaching out to them beyond the store’s doors, including Internet sites for Kazoodles and Lingonberries Market.

The Sissons hold special events for educators at Kazoodles, in addition to regular story times and other children’s activities, and they publish their own newsletter besides traditional advertising.

The Sandquists have hosted fund raisers for gluten-intolerance groups from around the area at Lingonberries, and they advertise in the groups’ newsletters.

“It’s coming along quite nicely,” Harold Sandquist said. “It’s going to be a good business.”

STEPS TO RETAIL SUCCESS • Understand how trends in the market affect your industry. • Focus on building customer relationships to create repeat business. • Listen to the customer when choosing inventory. • Hire friendly employees who will make the customer want to come back. • Have enough working capital tobuy good inventory, cover costs and pay yourself. CLARK COUNTY RETAIL STATISTICS • Clark County businesses grew at a faster rate than the Washington state rate 41% vs. 32% (2001-2006)* • Washington state taxable retail sales have grown 75% in the past 10 years* • 49% men and 51% women (of 308,000 adults in Clark County) have shopped specialty stores in the last 12 months** • 46% men and 54% women (of 308,000 adults in Clark County) plan to shop home décor stores in the next 12 months** • 8 of 10 adults (of 308,000 adults in Clark County) dine at Sit-down restaurants in a typical month – a median of 2.7 times and spend a median of $15.60 per person** * Source: Washington State Dept. of Revenue ** Source: 2006 Belden Associates Clark County Retail Sales by Category-2006* • General Merchandise stores $540 million • Auto Dealers $427 million • Building Materials/Garden $286 million • Miscellaneous stores $192 million • Food and Beverage stores $158 million • Clothing & Accessories stores $114 million • Furniture & Home Furnishings $71 million • Gas Stations $66 million • Electronics & Appliances stores $57 million • Non-store Retailers $56 million • Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book & Music stores $56 million • Health & Personal Care stores $52 million * Source: Washington State Dept. of Revenue ** Source: 2006 Belden Associates