My team and I have been doing inventory today.  We have at least one more day to count.  Then it all has to be entered into the computer to see what has walked out the door (UGH), what has gotten broken (OOPS) and what is in hiding (DAMN).  As we count we find things that sold exceptionally well…good buying I like to think.  Things that SHOULD’VE sold….silly customers missed ‘em.  Things that died last year, still stayed dead this year….I didn’t REALLY buy that, did I?  This, I think teaches a retailer how NOT to make the same mistakes.  It gives a retailer a chance to see if maybe something sitting in the warehouse another year is okay sometimes.  What was too forward for Christmas ’10, was right on target for Christmas ’11.  Consider yourself a soothsayer.  Got a dud?  We are all allowed a percentage of duds.  It is the retailer who has more duds than winners that needs to consider changing direction.

And then there is your team.  When you’ve got a team that comes up with ideas to streamline the warehouse, speed inventory, redesign how you do things.  That is a team that is as committed to the success of your store as you are.  I have been VERY, VERY lucky to have always had folks working with me that always wanted to help improve how we do our job “behind the scenes.”  If it weren’t for my team, I would not be as good as I try to be each and every day.

With that said I look to 2012 with lots of optimism.  We have streamlined our warehouse, buried our duds so everyone thinks we are perfect year after year, cleaned our inventory so the ghosts that play with our computer on a regular basis will have to start anew, and we feel renewed to better serve our customers as we head into year FIVE.

Thank you customers, thank you team, thank you God for helping me have more winners than losers over the last 48 months!

One of our faves — Nora Fleming gets REALLY organized!

Repurpose This!

From lamps based on vintage pictures and postcards at Found Images, to vintage transit route signs turned into pillows, chairs, ottomans, you name it, at British Route Signs Designs, I found myself falling in love with stuff all over the place!!

Marburger is one of those design events that celebrates the special and I think everyone should stroll the aisles at least once in their life. Now, let’s see how much I brought home….

Find the Kitty!

How often do we as merchandisers shift, stand and look, shift again, stand and look and move one final item just a little to the left? How often is that final move the “IT” that makes it perfect? How often does a little eight-pound kitty come along and shift it again – making it even better! Proving you can’t take this job…and this life TOO seriously!

Hello There!

Columbus, like much of Texas is under siege by the worst drought in over 100 years and now over 22 new fires have sprung up around our area. All of our volunteer fire departments are being stretched to the limits while they try to save lives, homes, animals, businesses and our beautiful Texas landscape.

I wondered how to help. I can’t donate food, I’m not a restaurant, but I can donate our store as a place for customers and friends to come and make a financial donation in our Donation Pot to help the volunteer firemen in our area. The Silver Barn is in such a great, central location just about anyone can easily stop by and drop some change into our Charity donation jar. The funds will be turned over to area VFD chiefs for them to distribute to the volunteer firefighters have chosen to continue to work the fire, save lives and homes, putting their own lives on hold. Or, since this fire has probably taxed fire department budgets so severely, the donations can offset some of the financial burden on these departments.

The store has enabled me to make many friends who have been there to help us grow. Now, it is our turn to show our thanks and give back in any way we can. Each week we’ll take whatever funds are donated and add to it to give these hardworking, volunteer families a little relief.

So, today, after months of this…that and everything else. It hit me. Literally. As we were loading a great door I salvaged from an old hotel being torn down, it fell back on me. It hit me. “You are opening a new door for me!” Without knowing, we open doors every day to new adventures, new ideas, new directions. I sometimes wonder if we choose the path we take, or the path chooses us by moving in our way. Now, a door that stood in place for over 70 years, holding secrets, opening dreams, and for the last 30 years doing its part to keep a building together, moves to our little store to become a beacon of what one little door can do…open up new ideas.

Today, our little door left on a journey to get some tender, loving care. When she returns she will do what doors rarely do….well, I’m not ready to tell you all those secrets that lie behind a door!!

Midway through our first year at Silver Barn my daughter graduated from TCU and began her own apparel boutique called Velvet Frog. Since we weren’t sure what the girls in Columbus might be interested in, Cydney formed a Velvet Frog Teen Board to give her input as to what she might want to carry. Those girls are now graduating from high school, Velvet Frog offers the best in apparel for high school to, well, everyone, and Silver Barn is starting our fourth year in business! Needless to say, these girls have special meaning. We will continue our Senior Girl Gift Registry, we will love all the girls who come in and excitedly put together a list of things they’d like to receive for graduation, but the class of 2011 will hold a special place in our heart.

Our seasonal tree features the Columbus Cardinal ornament which benefits the Columbus Booster club as well as ornaments representing the colleges of their choice. Below the tree we have filled the table and surrounding area with an array of goodies all college bound girls need to help keep them organized and ready for the beginning of a new era in their life. Each girl registered also has a frame ornament in the tree with their name, college, degree plan and career plan included. While you may not be able to read the small frames, we put them there as a symbol of pride. We are sending out into the world some wonderful young ladies and we hope each and every one achieves all their dreams.

Congratulations Class of 2011.

Sydney & Debbie

Debbie came to Silver Barn two years ago thanks to a chance meeting at a conference where I had a booth. So, remember when you are presented with a fabulous opportunity, don’t let it go by without at least putting it out there for the universe. I did and Debbie came our way a few months later.

Sydney also came along thanks to a chance conversation where we were looking for someone additional, someone special. We were very lucky….again. She has kept us moving even when we feel like sitting!

The only one missing in the picture is Karlie. Like Sydney, we were lucky to have her land in our lap. She has a flair for display, she has a love of fashion…and she likes TCU as much as we do!

As for me? I’m just the lucky dog who has an eye for talent when it walks in my door. I’m the lucky dog who got to realize a dream thanks to this awesome group who make the Silver Barn as cool as it is. Come by and say hey to the greatest group of people I ever knew. Imagine what this team could do if we organized the Astros team. Well, hmmm, we may be a team but I think we’d look more like the Little Sisters of the Poor on the field! Well, alas, I can’t fulfill all dreams with this dream team!