Friday, April 23 2010

Linda Schantz operating the wine bar for "Business After Hours" hosted by Fitter's Furniture
Mingling is networking at "Business After Hours"









Last Wednesday we were able to photograph a very important event to Main Street in Ellensburg. Actually, it's important to all Ellensburg businesses.

"Business After Hours" as it's known, is an event where a business "shuts down" and then hosts the community beyond their scheduled hours for refreshments, conversation, and a chance for people to get to know one another.

Sounds fun, but not significant at first.

Until you think about it from this perspective.

When you invite your neighbors, who tend to be business owners to your business for a social event, a very essential component for businesses occurs. And that is networking.

Even we were involved in the networking to a degree. Meeting people who served in non-profits, government agencies, and other business owners whom we did not know previously.

Now consider this kind of event occurring on a regular basis, and you begin to see how businesses can meet and form a plan on how to survive together.

It all stems from opening the doors a little longer, and inviting your neighbors in. An oft overlooked gesture by some, but one that is not when it comes to independent business owners.

This particular event was hosted by Fitterer's Furniture, and was a great success. Linda Schantz, owner of Gifts from the Vine provided an excellent array of wine and beer, and Greg Beach, owner of the Valley Cafe provided hors d'oeuvres to the crowd of roughly 80 people.

We saw people introduce themselves to strangers, and friends catch up, and collegues share information.

It's easy to see why this event is so helpful to a community full of independent businesses.

Yes indeed, a very simple gesture of opening your doors after hours can lead to very big things.

Wednesday, April 21 2010

Donna and Alisa German discussing their salon with Matthew






What a week!

When you're busy, time just flies!

The good thing is we've been working and accomplishing more tasks. And best of all, learning. We believe learning is a life long process, but more so when you're working a project such as this.

Last Friday we had the privledge of interviewing Alisa and Donna German, mother & daughter-in-law, and co-owners of Bahama Bronze.

Alisa and Donna remind me of what we've typically come across in our travels. Hard-working people that are true innovators, who are extremely humble. When you talk to them, it's as if someone in the back of the store is doing all these great things in business.

This is a quality in people we all admire, but sometimes you want them to grab the microphone and brag a little.

But alas, that's not how it works in small towns, or Agurbs as some call them. The people here are just as innovative and savvy as those you would interact with in a big city, but here, they don't let you know about it very often.

They're more interested in action doing the talking. Maybe that has something to do with their innovation not always being front and center.

Case in point. Over at Bahama Bronze, it started off as a spray tan business. Now from our view, that doesn't sound like a very convincing business model. But there was a market for it, Alisa saw it was there, and she put it together.

Along the way she added other services, the one's that we might all be more familiar with as a stand-alone business. Those being nail service, and hair cutting.

And since then, she's added other beauty services to turn her store from an innovative, one-service shop, to a full-service salon that one could spend an entire day in receiving everything from eyelash extensions to pedicures.

To hear Alisa say it, you wouldn't think she's as innovative as she truly is. When she talks about the things she's incorporated into her salon, like "bling strands" you almost leave the subject alone.

In case you're unfamiliar, bling strands are an emerging trend in the beauty industry that serves as an alternative for people seeking to dye their hair. They are synthetic, and can attach to existing hair follicles.

Why is this important?

As we know, most work places are revamping their rules of appearance for employees with less room for interpretation.

This means that people they may want to indulge in personal expression by dyeing their hair may not be able to because their employer only wants natural colors.

So for someone that wants to add color to their weekend appearance, bling strands may give them an option to still express themselves, while maintain an appearance that their employer won't balk at.

Also, when it comes to options for kids, dyeing is not exactly in the list. For one, many school districts have policies stating children cannot attend classes with unnatural hair color because it becomes a distraction in the classroom.

So now, kids can do something "adult" with their hair, that is effective in style, easy to control, and above it all temporary.

While some salons have incorporated this into their services, many have not. And even further, Alisa and Donna had the foresight to add this service into their store from the time it started, realizing the potential from market standpoint.

It probably wasn't the most popular service when they started, and it may not be even now, but story is how it has grown from being a once in awhile request, to a regularly scheduled appointment now.

As entepreneurs, they both saw the potential for this service and have capitalized on it. This all happened on Main Street, in a small town.

It is truly amazing the kinds of stories one can find on Main Street, and we look forward to many more.

Tuesday, April 13th

Located on Main Street at 3rd Avenue, Ellensburg, WA
People making their way across Main Street










Greetings again!

This week has already been eventful.

Throughout the weekend, and into this week we've been answering questions from our peers.

I would contribute their awareness to our interview on 88.1 FM The Burg. But it was exciting to see college students taking an interest in the issues of Main Street.

We were quizzed on everything from design, to businesses and their support mechanisms, to how a community effort is beneficial instead of businesses working for their own gain.

It's great to see that there is such a wide array of interest from a younger group of people. Maybe their interest will turn into a passion for working to strengthen small towns.

The Facebook Page (Ellensburg Main Street Project 2010) has been receiving a lot of traffic.

And we are moving into another phase of photography. We know that the photos so far have been of the stores and of Main Street, but they've been missing a key ingredient: PEOPLE!

So as we transition from the "mapping" photography, we'll be showing Main Street for what it is, and that's a hub for business and social interactions.

We will also be taking profile shots of the people that will be in the film at this time. A sort of "meet the stars" portion, and we will post those photos separately.

We interviewed Michael Bello, owner of Cedar Mountain Woodwrights. His story is unique from those on Main Street because while just about every other business is involved in the retail-end exclusively, Michael's shop is where creation of product occurs.

If you haven't looked at any of Michael's creations, head on over to their furniture page and look over the array.

Michael is truly an artist, and for those that are not familiar, he built the furniture and the display cases at Puget Sound Energy's Wind Farm Visitors Center. Some of the step-by-step photos of that project are at the site referenced.

Aside the wonderful work that Michael does, he's also very well spoken on the aspects of operating an independent business. For Michael corporate chains do present a looming direct threat. They are able to reach into communities outside of their geographical area by signing on third parties to install their products.

One thing that stood out in my mind as interesting bit of information from Michael's interview was the concept of leasing a building versus owning a building.

Earlier in the day a professor of mine made the point of how a retailer of fans during the 80's on the east coast went from being a thriving outlet, to suffering during a recession.

However, what they had done differently than their competition, was that they owned every store front they were in. So they made the decision during the recession to go from being a retailer of fans, to a commercial real estate trust, because that's where the money was being made at the time.

So they supplied their product to the store fronts, and leased the buildings to independent businesses.

Since then they've become one of the biggest commerical real estate trusts in the nation.

In Michael's interview, he discussed why as an independent business it's important to own the property you operate in. And that's because it's easier to make changes, and control the look of your store front. But most importantly, commercial real estate will always appreciate, save for extreme conditions.

As an independent business, this gives you the ability to re-locate your business, while collecting on a lease on your original building. That equates to being able to diversify your business.

Instead of having to rely on your choosen trade, you can then take large steps toward the ultimate goal, retirement.

In Michael's case, there may come a time where he can no longer work with his hands. And although he has employees, he's not quite to the point where he can remain completely hands off of the products his shop produces. Owning the building he's in would give him something to fall back on if he couldn't expand his business.

That is a one piece of the gold that is the information we are getting for this project.

It may seem like such an obvious connection, but when a business owner personalizes that point, it resonates so much clearer.

And with that, we will see you later in the week.

Tuesday, April 6th

Another day, more progress!

Spring time in Ellensburg is a very interesting time.

The CWU student body is making their last push for the year before breaking for summer, restoration projects in town start to multiply, more families walk around during the weekend, and business owners start adding to their store fronts.

Most everyone has potted flowers in front of their store front. Others put in new lighting or local art in their windows.

It's a community that really commemorates the coming of sun!

Today we spent the day interviewing and being interviewed.

We started the day by interviewing on 88.1 FM, The Burg along side our advisor, Timothy Bishop. For those that may not be aware of the station, it's a radio station located on the CWU campus and acts as a college radio station. Here's a link to their site: 88.1 The 'Burg

We were on for about thirty minutes talking about our project and the progress we've made thus far, what we're going to accomplish, and other information.

If you missed the interview, or we unable to hear it, request it here: Email Chris Hull. Let Chris know you want to hear it and they'll get it arranged.

Right after that we conducted a conference call with Doug Loescher, Director of the National Trust Main Street Center. Mr. Loescher provided great information about Main Street programs, their intentions, the trends seen nationally, and kind of effort and vision it takes to shape a community.

Not too long after we were talking with Jeff Milchen of the American Independent Business Alliance. Our discussion revolved around the experience of an independent business, how it must separate itself from chain competition, what the effects of the recession have truly been, and what have been the major challenges in networking businesses with one another.

After that, we broke for dinner and then headed over to Bailey's Bibliomania and interviewed John and Mary Varner.

This set of interviews went extremely well, both John and Mary are characters who really add to the culture that is Main Street. Their story is uniquely theirs, but it's one that many can relate to nationwide.

We still have a few more preliminary interviews to go, but as we are closing out that chapter, we will be opening another. And that involves more photography. This time we'll be taking photos of each business owner and the second part to this will be photographing the businesses doing what they do most, and that's being open for business!

Yes, spring time sure is interesting in Ellensburg.

Until we meet again!