Well it's been a
while since my last blog for which I apologise however we have been really
busy. If you remember I did mention that we were thinking of opening a
new fabric studio in Newbury. Well, that has happened! Whilst the
past year has been a complete foray into a completely different area, the past
few months have been different once again - exciting, interesting, educational
and, most importantly, fun.
Once we found the
unit that we thought would be ideal and negotiations had started to secure the
lease, we started looking at fabric to buy. Our ambition from the outset
was to ensure that we had enough fabric to ensure the unit was well stocked and
exciting so we arranged to meet with a few wholesalers - both Julie and I had a
good idea of which suppliers we wanted fabric from. Whilst we knew there
was a vast amount of material we had absolutely no idea of what was
instore for us.
Our first task was to
visit a couple of local warehouses to see the collections available.
Quite frankly we should have known then what a huge job we had ahead of
us! The first warehouse was quite gentle as we were shown the collections
but urged not to choose then so we could go away and think about it - what
great advice that was!
The second warehouse was a bit different and we
could wonder around and choose what we wanted - we bought a mere 6 bolts, the
first of nearly 1000 we have now - oh how we have changed!
Our next phase
involved inviting reps to come and visit. Picture the scene - a dining
room table with Julie sitting oneside and myself at the other, the rep at the
end of the table between is. The first rep came in with a suitcase which
he opened on the floor between himself and me. In the case he had a
mixture of cards with collections on and fabric samples - one sample of about
10 different patterns in a collection can roll up into a sausage shape
measuring about 9 in * 4 in. Have you idea how many of these samples a
suitcase can take? I didn't, and I had the advantage of seeing the suitcase
and continuous outpouring of samples. Well, it was like Mary Poppins' carpet bag,
but without the Hat Stand.
Well
this was OK for the first half an hour, but the first suitcase lasted over an
hour and then the chap went to the car to bring in two more - he was eventually
there for 4 hours!
When the next rep
turned up with his suitcase, we were prepared – we had wine chilling in the
fridge and asked how many cases he had.
You may be wondering how we chose the fabric… Well, Julie and I have fairly different
tastes and people who know me well enough will know that my expression normally
gives away what I am thinking – Julie eventually learnt not to look at me and
made her own decisions! Seriously we did
agree on most choices but respect one another enough which has created a wide
range of brilliant fabrics that we have had some great comments about.
What lessons did we learn through this initial stage of our
new business? Ask how many suitcases the
reps have! Be a bit more strict on how
long they stay – an hour is good. Consider where we'll store everything - more of that in the next exciting instalment! In the meantime, please have a look at our website to see the vast choice that we now have. www.juberry.co.uk
