Here lately I've been asked
many, many times "what's your story" I've now spoken to two groups, and have a
third that wants to know "our story" Many of you have been along for this entire
journey...some are just joining us, either way not too many people know the
ENTIRE story....so for the "enquiring minds that want to know" this is where our
story begins......
Chapter 1
I hope I'm the kind of storyteller that inspires, intrigues, but
most of all .....tells a good story. On a frequent basis I am
asked "what's your story" and how did I end of where I am
today?
I was reflecting on my life the other day, as I silently laughed
at myself realizing how ten years have just flown by as I remembered back to the
beginning of this journey.
It was 2002 when this all truly began. I was a
31 year old married, stay at home mom, with a part time job in a
hair salon, as a nail technician. It was a great job that allowed
me to be home...and work a little bit. I loved what I did but had
bigger dreams of owning my own business.
Something most of you don't know is a "secret" passion of
mine...writing. Since age 12 I have written over 1,000
poems. So from these writings I decided to create a line of
greeting cards. My "aspiring" greeting cards then led me to craft
shows.
In December of 2002, myself, along with three other friends
embarked on the world of craft shows. My friends quickly grew
bored, as this was not their cup of tea. At the Sacred Heart show
in Fowler there was a very talented lady who had beautiful wreaths.
So, me, being me, lol engaged in a conversations that changed my
life. From my "new" friend I learned that she did not own a
business, however she worked for one, Lamb and Heart. I had
remembered seeing the CNN news about a terrible tragedy that had happened in
September of that same year. So I asked Diane (new friend) "how is
he doing"?
To back it up a minute, if you are not aware of what had
happened your jaw will drop, and you will gasp. The previous owner
of the business we now own experienced something that no one should ever have to
go through. He lost his entire family: wife, daughter, grandkids
and son- in- law to a home explosion. Diane told me he was doing
the best he could do given the circumstances. I asked her what he
was going to do with the business and she said "I shouldn't be telling you
this...and I don't know why I am, but he has to sell the business"
So I asked her if she thought it would be ok to call and ask him some
questions and she said it would be fine.
I walked back to my booth with my friends and I said "I just got
information that is going to change my life" and my friends listened and half
jokingly said "oh there's no way you can afford that" I went home
that night, told my husband Jamie and we called the owner, Brian
immediately. We met with Brian a few days later....and were the
new owners within 10 days.
Chapter
2
At the
time Lamb & Heart was located on State Road 26, at Koehler Brothers
Nursery, in the big red barn. Because
they didn’t know us we were offered another one of their spaces, which was
located in Dayton. I knew the space
because I drove by it everyday! The
building in Dayton is absolutely amazing.
Named “Stone Castle” and built in 1894 it’s been many things over the
years. We lived just outside of Dayton
so we had seen many businesses go through this building. It had been a restaurant, an antique store, a
video store and many things over the years.
But in December of 2002 it was empty…and that’s all that mattered to
me! The first moment I walked into the stone
building it was love. The floors creeked,
the full wall length general store cabinets just completed the look. This was where our new beginning would
start. So, we painted, cleaned, packed
up all the merchandise at the barn…and moved Lamb & Heart into the Dayton
building. Our first day of “official
business” was January 11, 2003. In my mind was thinking, “ok, worst case
scenario this doesn’t work and by age 40 I can reenter the working world and
still have a 25 year career, so I did have a back up plan)
The
support from customers was simply amazing. Although many of them were
heartbroken over the loss. I was lucky to have Brian’s staff to help
me. They worked their magic and helped
teach me all of the decorating styles and ideas that you see before you today,
they planted the seeds and watched me grow.
I had no business experience. I
had no decorating experience. I had no
idea what I was doing lol….all I had was
a desire and passion, mixed with a gut instinct that this was going to
work. And my “mantra” always was
“failure is not an option” I learned
early on that I was going to have to earn the respect and trust of Brian’s
customers. They did not know me, and
many were not sure about how young I was.
Customers would come in and direct their questions to anyone but me…and
I quickly grew thick skin and knew I had so much to learn. I was very thankful for Nonie and Diane that
stayed with us long enough for me to learn just enough to grow my own wings and
“fly”.
Brian’s
girls stayed with us for the first year and half. After we lost them we hired Patty…who is
still helps us out today! Patty was a blessing when I thought I lost my team,
she came in with great ideas, an amazing work ethic, and determination like
mine…to make this work!
I LOVED
our Dayton space. Customers continued to
visit and shop. In March we did our
official kick off open house and attendance was out of this world! We stayed busy the entire year. Our first Christmas there brought tears to
all of our eyes… Friday night traffic was lined up to 65! We had two registers
going and the lines were twelve deep all night.
That open house was the biggest compliment and affirmation that we
needed….
A
s we
rolled into 2004 we continued to stay busy.
In spring we were invited BACK to the barn at Koehler Brothers. Our spring and summer had slowed down a bit
so we decided maybe Dayton wasn’t the spot for us. So we packed up…and moved into the barn. We got set up and business picked back
up. Our Christmas there was decent, but
not was as magical as Dayton. Myself,
and the girls that worked for me decided that our hearts were just not in that
location and we missed our Dayton building so much…so as you guessed it…we
packed up again, and moved back to Dayton.
Upon moving back to Dayton we decided it was time
to rename the store. Customers kept asking
us “what does Lamb & Heart mean” and although I had been told the story…to
me I just didn’t really grasp it. It was
someone else’s story…not mine. So as I
researched more about the Dayton community I learned that the building in
Dayton had originally been a general store.
In my eyes general stores are full of generations ....and traditions. The building is on Walnut Street....and so
Lamb & Heart Americana Shoppe was renamed Walnut Street Traditions.
The new sign was hung as another journey began.
CHAPTER 3
We arrived back
in Dayton just in time for them to start road construction ....and in time for
our second tornado to hit our building and take our store window
out....again. I was starting to think maybe we were not meant to
be there. We made it through a slow summer and rolled into a
busier fall and a once again amazing magical Christmas. Once again
Christmas in Dayton was just like the first one. Customers lined
up, trees, ornaments, and every other Christmas item just blew out the
door. We all breathed a sigh of relief...it was so good to be back
home.
From the time we
purchased the business people just "assumed" that Koehlers owned our
business. Trying to create our own identity was proving to be
hard. Our existing customers knew our history, but other
customers would act confused as to who owned the business, we were "at the
barn" and "in the barn" therefore they MUST have owned our
business.
By the fall and
Christmas season after moving back to Dayton the building owners started asking
if we were planning to stay because they had other plans for their space. I
had noticed over the years that being a store that stood alone was hard.
I had tried to become a "destination" on my own but without other
businesses to cross promote, it was just too hard.
We got through
that year and the following February (now 2005) announced that we were
closing. As customers stood at my counter and cried, I secretly
cried as well. We had now moved not once, not twice, but three
times. Our landlords wanted their building back. I
couldn't afford the high rents of the strip malls in Lafayette, nor did I want
to be in a "non historical" space. So...... I decided it was time
to end this dream.
CHAPTER 4
And onto 2005........
My daughter attended Super Saturdays at
Purdue so every Saturday I would drive her through downtown and over to
Purdue. On one Saturday in March I was going down Main Street and
glanced over to 1004 Main Street and saw a big FOR LEASE sign on the
window. I knew the space, I had been in it several times and loved
the layout. I dropped Courtnee off and drove back over and peaked in the
windows, and walked around and talked to other business owners as to how
business was going downtown. Everyone was very friendly and very
honest. Downtown was bouncing back, but had struggled over the
years.
We decided it was worth looking into so
within a few days we had an appointment to look at the space. The space was long
and narrow and about half the size of our current space. The
floors were carpeted. The space had a full and clean
basement. The entire space was freshly painted with new lighting
and very clean. I felt very at peace in this space.
And the best part was, the rent was affordable!
So as much as we said to ourselves "we
just cannot move again".....we did it. We knew there would be
questions. We knew we would lose some of our customers.
We knew it might be a struggle. But in my normal "mantra"
failure was not an option.
I enjoyed about three weeks off as I took
my time getting the new space ready. We reopened in April of
2005. That year was rough, I will not lie. But I
quickly learned there was a light at the end of the tunnel in the future and
that came in the way neighboring merchants, a coffee shop, and a
cheese shop.
I quickly found what I was looking for, fellow merchants that
were very supportive. It was nice to see groups of customers walk
around and go in each business and shop.
It was wonderful
being included in events...and our favorite quickly became Dickens of a
Christmas, which is always the first Saturday of December!
Our customers (and MANY new ones) found us little by
little. By 2006 we felt pretty comfortable in our new
space. We added lines as we could and participated in as many
downtown events as we could. Our new neighbors K.Dees Coffee and
Main Street Cheese and Wine opened that year, so for the first time in many,
many years our entire block was 100% occupied. The city was very
excited and impressed with this. As other businesses came in, so
did more new customers. Another thing that was happening was fewer
questions about being part of "Koehler Brothers" we finally had gained our own
identity. Although many would kindly ask "why are you Walnut
Street on Main Street" it was easier to explain than our other story.
The question of "why did you move" was often asked, as I
tried to explain it the best I could, it's taken me until now to share the
"full" version of it.
I feel as if I have made hundreds of
friends over the years. One thing that Brian told me in the
beginning of this venture "it's hard to let go of this many friends" and now
upon reaching our 10 year mark, I truly understand that.
I knew there was a
history that involved downtown and the beginning of the business we now own. So
as I told many and most...we have brought this business "full circle" It was
started in 1985, right next door., to where we are now. It started as Main
Street Country, was sold then moved onto Earl Avenue, became Lamb & Heart
Americana Shoppe when Brian and Priscilla purchased it in 1994 and then moved it
into the big red barn. This business is rich in history. It has always been
independently owned and operated. And within the entire history of this
business we can proudly say we've owned it the longest amount of
time!
CHAPTER 5
2007 was a
hopping year. Enter two "angels" named Ken & Steve aka...the
Mosey Down Main Street guys. When I moved onto Main Street, a slow
growing Main Street mind you, I was quickly assured that "help is coming" In the
fall of 2007 we had our first Mosey Down Main Street that kicked off a surge of
Main Street awareness and got the community interested once again in downtown.
We also (a group of merchants that wanted to see something
happening) organized "Octoberfest" that was a great edition to the list of
events for Main Street. 2007 was the most booming, involved
merchant year that we'd been downtown! The enthusuasim, commitment, and
involvement in downtown was simply unbelievable. It was exactly
what I had envisioned when I decided to try it downtown. I was
sharing ideas with other merchants and excited to share customers with them as
well.
2007 was the
year that we added 2 other wonderful additions to our team, Becky and
Kathy. Again, I cannot say enough about HOW lucky we have been
over the years to have the help that we've had...all have become some of my best
friends and I appreciate each and every one of them. (And in previous chapters
forgot to mention that ALL of our help over the years have been
amazing....Amber, Amanda, Carla (all now have moved on) and my BEST friend of 30
years...Annemarie
Each year
our Christmas seasons downtown have gotten busier and busier. They
are different than they were in Dayton, but I think many things account for that
and one is we have to "share" our customers...in Dayton we did not.
My world gets turned upside
down......
2008 was the roughest year of my
life. It's both a blessing...and a curse to be a business owner
when the hard knocks of life come knocking...and a parent becomes sick.
Again, I try to distance myself from the store on certain subjects, but I
quickly remembered and realized....I am human. The year started
out ok...but quickly turned as my dad had to make a life altering
decision. He chose to have a heart transplant that did not end
well and after hundreds of trips back and forth to Indy, in between juggling the
store, he lost his battle in September of 2008.
Although my
world was spinning as was my head, business continued on, as does life.
I was very grateful to my customers for understanding the times that I
had to rush to Indy and the store would open late, or sometimes just
close. My wonderful help jumped in and kept things
moving when I was at the hospital...sitting. As bad as my personal
life was going with all the problems with my dad, the store was super busy and
doing amazing. 2008 ended up being our best year in downtown so
far. I say it's because I had an angel....my dad.
There were
days I struggled putting a smile on my face. But I knew I had
to. There were lots of hugs, thinking of you cards, and shared
tears...again wonderful customers, now friends.
My wheels do spin....so watch
out!
I had always teased my landlord and
told him I was going to knock a hole in the wall and expand. He
would just laugh and say "we'll see" So in 2009 when he came in and said "were
you serious about knocking the wall out" I didn't hesitate to say YES!!!!
Looking back now I do not know HOW we managed in our original space.
Our first expansion included two rooms on the newer side.
My husband wanted to knock the walls out and I said NO...we need rooms
with walls, to create "nooks". We still have customers that come
in and say "when did you add those rooms".......... I guess they haven't been in
for awhile?
Christmas
that year was so fun! It was nice to have more room to stretch out
and let customers have space to shop. The added space was
great....but I quickly knew, it wasn't going to be enough...and so more "seeds"
were planted in my landlords head lol!
Chapter
6.....2009
Each Christmas we try to take our kids somewhere for a
few days. This year it was Michigan. On our way home we stopped at a store like
ours. The store owner was making candles so I started asking her questions. I
had really been thinking about this
(for YEARS....because Patty always told me "Traci...YOU
can do this) so it just seemed like one of life's "signs" She was very helpful
and when we arrived home I ordered supplies to try it myself! I figured if I was
going to be asked "do you make your candles" then the answer needed to be
yes...after 8 years it would be yes!
I played around with names for this little project, none
of them "fit". I wanted to incorporate my "multi generation family farming
genes" (say that 10 times lol) as I could just "hear" my Grandpa Harold advising
me on this. I knew there were photos of my mom floating around...and quickly
found "the one".....yes, the sweet little girl on the Hoosier Candle Company
tags is my mom, at age 3, in my Grandpa Harold's wheat field. My Grandma Betty
was the pioneer in scrapbooking...and didn't even know it! (That little picture
is "officially" trademarked and all!)
In January of 2010 the production and creation of
"Hoosier Candle Company" was officially launched. We started with
our wax melts, in just a dozen scents. Requests started pouring
in, as did ideas in my head! Each month we added
more scents, more jars, and fill more space. The original
plan was to make melts, I wasn't so sure about candles. I LOVE
candles and refer to myself as the "candle connoisseur" and hope I can answer
all the questions and direct customers on all areas of candles.
Candle making quickly became a great form of therapy for
me. I laugh when I say that, but it truly is. I have
my little production set up at home, my family is right there within feet of it,
and I have a poster size memorial picture of my dad
that hangs, so for me it's perfect.
The original plan was to do this "little" candle thing
so that I could reduce having other lines shipped to me and if I ran out I could
just make more. If I only knew how this would take over my
life....and my basement!
In the middle of 2010 I started dropping more hints
about expanding again. Our landlord said he wasn't completely
ready for that but I could use the rooms as "storage" so I did!
Christmas was very busy...and very full of inventory! I
think we had the most amount of Christmas items that year than any other
year...and it sold like crazy!
My faithful helpers tried to "steer" me to expand the
candles and melts but I was too busy with other things to give that my full
attention...so Hoosier Candle had a small cabinet at the front of the store..and
everyone asked "will there be more" so I knew they were right....and so we moved
into 2011....and more square footage!
We're
all very tired once January rolls around. Seven days a week for
two months solid plus working on candles in the evenings is tiring, but I love
what I do and do it because I love it. As we entered spring I was
really itching to make those rooms mine! So an agreement was reached, and we
embarked on yet another expansion...making our total 7 retail rooms (2 that are
technically workshops) and two full basements. All and any space
and/or storage is FULL! We do have a lot of stuff here lol!
So my mind
quickly started whirling into how to create this extra space for the best
use. I have two things going for me...I'm woman and a
retailer...both are subject to change their minds and often! The
rooms came together just perfectly and the added space for the holidays was just
right!
In 2011 the
candle madness really started! In 2010 the melts were the hot seller, but once I
started making candles....and many, many of them, it soon became
madness too!
Summers
are always slow around here, but this summer came a little easier...at the hand
of a random act of kindness from a complete stranger. It was the
middle of June and my phone rang. I thought it was a phone
solicitor so I didn't answer it. I played back the message to find
it was a team member from Diane Sawyers ABC World News Made in America
series. Someone had emailed them about our Hoosier Candle Company
and how our product was Made in USA. The man on the phone told me
that our story would be pitched to Diane's team IF they liked it well enough and
it fit into their route across the United States (that they were getting
ready to embark on) then we'd be included in the news, if not we'd be placed on
their online ABC World News map...either way we would get FREE national
exposure. I was shocked, excited, emotional, you name it...I felt it. When I
called to tell my mom she just sobbed..."I am so proud of you....grandpa would
be so proud of you"
We had to wait about a week to
find out exactly what would happen, and in the meantime I found my "angel" by
way of facebook. Jennifer lives in Canada, but is from Indiana. She was very
homesick and a friend liked my Hoosier Candle Page, and soon Jennifer followed.
We quickly became great facebook pals, and still to this day stay in touch. We
laugh now at the luck, as we quickly found out that her email, which she had
just sent that morning they called me, normally would not have been read. So
again, angel(s) had their hands in that one!
From that little bit of
ABC attention I also got Journal & Courier
coverage...so it was a nice little boost for Hoosier Candle Company, in a
normally slow summer. My most favorite part of the customers that came in was
the farmers in bib overalls....not one, not two, not three, nearly half a dozen
famers in bib overalls came in and bought "soy" candles and asked me questions
about my little candle company...and my grandpa. I called my mom and said
"angels have visited me today" and it was at that moment I knew...this was
bigger than me.
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