It is Small Business Week, and truth be told, I had no idea about it! My name is Chelsea, and I am the store manager at Ecologie. I am the one that most of you probably think lives in the backroom! The store owner, Nancie, is the one you rarely see, but when you do she is wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and is searching for her glasses. She is the creative genius that fuels this lovely store! Together, we work around the clock to run our small business!
This morning I woke up around 7:30 a.m. and answered a few questions from our Instagram story. ( Ya’ll are some night owls!) I looked at the weather and saw that it was going to rain today. My first thought was “S#!%, I have a photoshoot for Instagram/Website this afternoon. Please tell me it is going to end before 2pm! Yes! It is probably going to stop.” I got up and tossed some high waisted shorts into the washer, because I forgot to do it last night after I cut them. We sell hundreds of pairs a year, and they are all hand cut and distressed by me or Nancie.
I had tried to get out the door to go to the gym, but it was raining. We all know that rain kills any motivation to get out of your pajamas, so I texted Nancie to make sure I should keep the same photoshoot time, and to let her know I was running late. She has already been up for a few hours crunching numbers, trying to decide the best course of action regarding our new lease, the future of our store, and as always, researching current trends. Should we open another location? We need to build a wall in our store, but where should it be? Go big and take over the whole space? Should we add men’s clothing or home decor? What would our customers want to see from us? Should we send out a survey or go with our gut?… These questions go on and on, and we can’t answer any of them without creating about 100 more.
You can understand why we had no idea it was Small Business Week. We are just too busy running a small business! All of this happens before the store even opens at 11:00 am. Owning a small business is 24/7, and honestly, the pay is not amazing. However, I suspect most of you see our undying passion for our store. We are up early, work an entire day at the store, and then go home to post/edit Instagram pics while sitting on our couches. We know our customers love our store as much as we do, and that is why we strive to make it the best place to shop everyday. Not knowing about Small Business Week is just fine by us, because we embody the spirit. (But thanks Google for letting me know this morning.) This is just a peak into a day before and after open hours.
We also have a wonderful staff that keeps our world running, and yet we are still behind on a million things that need to be done. Our goal is to be the best little store around, and to love our customers the best we know how. If you need something, we want you to have it, because with out you, we wouldn’t be open. With that being said, we hope that you continue to love our store as much as we do! We are always looking for ways to improve, so please always feel free to give us feedback. Call us, email us, comment on social media, leave us a review on Yelp, etc… It is what drives us to keep moving forward and making Ecologie Vintage & Resale the best place for you!