Photos © 2010Curly Girl Design, Inc./Leigh Standley. all rights reserved.
Hello!! So sorry to have been away for so long. I was the fair city of Atlanta teaching them how to drive in the snow and ice. Tee hee. Actually, I was down there for the past week setting up and opening our very first Curly Girl Design permanent showroom.
For those of you not in the gift industry or retail, a showroom is a place where a company displays it's products so that buyers from all kinds of retail stores can come and order them for their stores in your neighborhoods. Many people refer to this as “Market”. Curly Girl Design went to our first 'market' 8 years ago this May when we exhibited at the National Stationery Show. For the past 8 years, we have set up our booth in 'temporary' booths that we set up and break down each show and then ship home. This year, we found ourselves needing much more space to display all of our wares, so I decided to take a little(ok, kind of big) risk and sign a lease for a permanent showroom at the Atlanta Mart.
So after much planning and coordinating and not sleeping, we got to Atlanta early Sunday morning, got our badges, and walked up to our new home:
Basically, the floor was down and the walls were painted and we had a LOT of work to do! A few trips to IKEA and the hardware store and we got started. We worked until late at night, bobbed and weaved with a very inconvenient and unreasonable ice storm (it was a bit like the 'end of days' down there for awhile…no kidding) drank wine from a box and mastered the Allen wrench. It is worth noting that I had an expert team of “doers” with me, armed with clever, cunning and can-do attitudes. My gratitude to them cannot be measured in boxes of wine.
So after three days and three nights and a ton of laughs we got everything put together.
The goal was to create a relaxing yet totally fun space where Curly Girl customers could come and see what we are all about. We wanted them to come in, have a seat and hang out with us. Oh, and we wanted them to fall in love with Curly Girl Design and buy lots of cards so that you never have to look very far to find your favorite stuff! I have to say, I think it turned out pretty darn cute and our plan worked! People came, they sat, and so far, we have had a pretty good show!! There was even a fancy ribbon-cutting ceremony moment! I love giant scissors!
The hope is that as we grow, this space will grow with us and become a bit of a home base for Curly Girl customers. We hope to have to buy more and more cases of prosecco each year because so many people are coming to our Saturday night party and we hope to have more and more good laughs and great visits with our industry friends and customers.
My favorite part of trade show season is getting to see all of the other vendors that have become great friends over the years. It is a bit like a traveling circus. We go from city to city a few times a year and set up our little village and put on our little show. Then we pack it all up again and see everyone in the next town. You grow to love it and look forward to catching up. I loved seeing friends Michelle, Laurie, April and Luke. And I got a great little visit in with my girl Kelly Rae.
I also spent some time at the Demdaco showroom doing a signing to promote my line with them. It is always so fun to chat with customers and hear how much they love selling Curly Girl!
My other job while I am at the trade shows is to shop for Marmalade. So not only am I a vendor, I am also a buyer. It is more than a little bit crazy and my time is always cut short. It is a lot to have on one plate and I am glad to have such a great group of staffers at Curly Girl to allow me to get it all done. I think I found some real treasures for the shop this year and can't wait to share them with you once our Marmalade website launches… one of these decades. (No, Lauren has been working hard getting it ready to go SOON!) So, that is the update. I missed the blog for sure, but it was nice to be totally absorbed with real-life things for a bit. I am glad to be home, even if it is only for a few moments. I am off to the next circus town on Friday…
xoxo
Congrats….the showroom looks devine…a place to visit and then perhap finding yourself staying for a bit!
Your showroom looks great! Cheers to your continued success. Glad you could teach those Atlanta folks a few things about Winter driving!
I LOVE the scissor photo! Sorry I missed out on box wine and snow! I’m no stranger to labors of love and with that company it must have been divine! Congrats on your new space! woot woo
The showroom is terrific—love the colors!
OMG, your journey makes me want to jump right back into retail just as I am only 4 weeks away from packing it all in with my voluntary closure of my retail store! It feels so right but I know and love the excitement of the show and designing a show room would be exhilarating even with the risk built in- I’m a risk taker to the max so would get a thrill from that! Maybe one day I’ll do a shop again with my now 5 year old daughter, who knows! and I’ll fill it with Curly Girl just so I can come hang out in this wonderful show room and drink prosecco! BIG congrats to you, it looks so happy and fun! Hope you are well, Leslie & I missed you in NYC last week- we had dindin with Natalie and had a chance meeting with Jo!-felt like a reunion! Hugs, Julie
Good Job Leigh! I want to live in that space!
Congratulations! The showroom is gorgeous. I love the fact that you made it into a living room instead of just putting up row after row of shelves. So much more cozy and inviting. Good luck!
Ohh! What a darling showroom! It’s very “Curly Girl” from ceiling to floor. I could easily picture myself hanging out in there amidst the precious items smiling from ear to ear! Great job! 🙂
your showroom looked amazing! i am so glad i got a chance to see it when i was at the mart on saturday 🙂
Oh Leigh, I wish I could have been there. The pictures are wonderful! I’m sure the showroom will be a huge hit!
You should be very proud of your efforts. The showroom is beautiful and demonstrates all that I love about Curly Girl! 🙂 Good luck with this new adventure, and don’t worry…it will be so successful you will wonder why you waited so long.
Just found your blog and very glad I did! I saw you for the first time in Where Women Create Mag, and loved what you do! I was so happy to know that you have a blog! I have to tell you that I have been so inspired by the photos of your home! I love the way you decorate!
Hope to see more posts from you soon! good luck with your business!
congratulations!
I could just live in that fun showroom. Beautiful wall colors 🙂