Inventory Time!

I'm sitting in the store this afternoon looking at my little Scrap-To-It! Christmas tree (image pending) and reading all the 'year-end-blow-out sale' e-mail from all the vendor and retailer lists I'm on and realizing it is that time of year again.

Oh what to do.....?????

We need to have more sales and move out some product and thin out what needs to be counted before tax time.

Everybody loves sales, but there sure is a technique to it to move out the ending seasonal items so that next year you can collect what is current and not have old stuff sticking around. Scrappers are picky about the perceived 'old lines.'

This year I had some awesome holiday papers in the store. I'm hoping they will still be awesome when I put them up for 'Inventory Blow Out.' I have some awesome chipboard word books too. So if these are items you are looking for, be sure to watch the website and the newsletter for the sales and promotions on these products.

If you are looking for something else ----ummmmmmmmmm e-mail me to see if I'm in a bartering mode..ya never know!!

Besides all the inventory sale e-mail I've already (since before Christmas even) been receiving all the new Valentine release e-mail. I'm totally in love with some of the new lines and can't wait to get my orders placed. I wish I had room for more lines than I do. I love paper (of course, thats why I'm a scrapper!) But here are some questions I want to throw out to all of you (and please feel free to e-mail me your answers. I'd love to send some thank you gifts for the responses -- hint hint).

1. If there is a manufacturer you like, do you want ALL the papers in that line? Or would you pick and choose patterns that you are attracted to?

2. Do you want all the embellies and fibers and do-dah's that compliment the line?

3. How often do you by-pass the coordinating elements?

4. What about the alphas that go with the paper? Do you buy them? What do you do with the extras? What do you do when you don't have enough of one particular letter?

5. Do you like to combine paper lines from different manufacturers and if so, what manufacteres are your favorite to combine (ones you know work best together)?

6. Do you like the paper pads or 6x6 or 8x8 stacks or would you rather just buy open stock/by the sheet?

E-mail me, or post your comments here. I really want to know what you like and what things go through your mind as you are looking for papers and embellishments for your layouts and paper projects.

Get ready for a big sale.....I want to move product this year!

Snowing On My Party!!!

Does it rain on your parade when the weather is bad? It does on mine...cuz I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to going out in the muck and the slush. Slipping and sliding to work never excited me. But I am always fascinated with the snow. In fact I've hated to let my kids go out and ruin the beauty of the clean white blanket covering the yard. Especially here in Missouri, where we back up to the woods. It is so beautiful and mystical that I can just sit and look out my window in awe! Eventually I give in though, bundle them up and send them out. Before long there's a good snowball fight (and a good photo op) happening!

Its not really raining on my parade, but it is snowing and slowing me down a bit and causing me to have to choose between closing for a snow day and playing with my kids, or....

You see, today is my birthday and I was planning on having a private sale at the store today. You know, one of those kind where I put a bunch of things up for sale or for FREE!!! and let shoppers draw from the bowl or spin for their sale.

Pausing to get the day going....will be back in a while with updates to the day and more details for the store!

Living the Dream - revisited

They don't tell you when they call it 'living the dream' that the inception period of this dream phase is very tiring. Many hours are spent trying to figure it all out. I don't want to re-invent the wheel, but some things for sure aren't working or scrapbook stores would not be closing all around me. The industry is in a flux and the economy is an issue too. These two factors are the reason my store has been set up the way it has. My plan, may be visually a bit different, but I think it will keep me in business longer. (Now let's hope my DH doesn't get wild ideas of looking for work out of the state....I had one of those scares last month...but it passed...phewwww!!!)

If you happen upon my store and are looking for a great big new place to come scrapbook, you may be a little disheartened. However, if you are looking for a place local to our community, where you can find better service (than the "A" store or the big boxes) you might enjoy coming in and plopping down on the floor and going through the buckets on the grid wall. (A lot of ladies seem to get in to this! And the guys who used to be in the office across the hall thought it was HILARIOUS!!!!)

We do plan to have some classes... eventually !!!...I have a couple crops planned for the new year. If you are looking for a place to crop where the kids won't interrupt or drop off the grans...give us a call or e-mail me at shop.scraptoit@yahoo.com.

Also, I been collecting some fun things for a card class that I'd like to start. If you are a card maker and would like to be put on the wait-list for the classes shoot me an e-mail with "card class wait list" in the subjust line.

Check out the website front page and here for more details. I'm determined this year to get more into my blogs.

For now...its time to close up shop and head home and check on some homework assignments I left with the kiddos.

Hope you are all warm and the lights are on and the holidays are trimming up nicely.

Till next time....

Joi -- AKA the 'to-it hunter' (always and forever trying to get around to it!)

Living the dream...

On September 4, 2007 we opened the doors to our retail store front. Scrap-To-It! has been an online and event store for the past 5 years. In August we took the big jump and opened the doors to a small retail outlet for our online store. We began spreading the word that we were planning to become the #1 Scrapbook Resource Center in Wentzville. It's a big goal and objective. Some have been a little surprized at our size (or lack thereof), but most, have come finding a homey and welcoming little shop where they can visit, shop, share, and be number 1 for that moment. While our space my be meak, we do have hopes and plans to grow and expand. In the meantime we bring to the table years of vending experience and a good solid retail background. It has been a delightful couple of months meeting new friends and having wonderful experiences with people. We look forward to many more rewarding friendships as we continue to grow and share this wonderful experience of scrapbooking.

June 19, 2007

To day is a day to find my 'to-it' again. I hope! Wrapping up the school year took a bit longer this year than usual. (see my blog at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tendertutor/). Adding to that an upgrade to our business plan and some changes at STI.

Last year, as many know, we did a total re-mod on the storefront. Adding in a forum. It was a fun and involved project. I loved the forum, but soon it found its way to the spammers. I was spending more time deleting offensive posts than being able to post or enter our new products into the store. I sat on what to do for a while. Spent even more hours looking over various forum options. Sat on it again. Until this past week when I set up a new yahoo group for the store.

You can find this group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scrap_to_it/
For an invitation, email us at scrap_to_it@yahoo.com

We will be opening this group up to other vendors each friday as a way to offer all our members sales and specials from other sources besides STI. If you are a vendor and want to be able to post you sales and specials, please contact us.

A recruiting special will be starting this weekend. We have already begun cherry picking some awesome gifts for the winner and runners up. We hope its you!!!

A paper sale is in play at the store www.scraptoit.com
Come check it out. CHA is around the corner and we have already started to get our orders in the queue for the fall line up. We are soooo excited. But we need room and we hope the sales and savings will be beneficial to you too!!!

Sneak peak -- Christmas in July -- A continuation of our paper sale. All available papers for all the fall holidays will be listed at a ridiculously low price. Check the store (and here) for details.

Please feel free to contact us with any of your scrapbook needs.

Most scrapfully!

Joi
and the To-It! Team
www.scraptoit.com

Growing and falling behind

If it is possible to continue to progress and still fall behind then that is me. I'm happy to say that since my last post the store and its revisions have done very well. Keeping up to date on all the new inventory as well as all our crops and events has made me fall way behind on any blog sites or newsletter dreams I once held.

If you haven't been to see the store lately, check it out. I just love the changes there and still have much more to come. All a work in progress....(me as much as the stores).

It's all exciting and continues to make me wish I could be in two places at once!