The new normal in our quilt shop remains to be a fast-paced, social media driven world. We’re getting to interact more with people both in person and online. And the best news for our industry—people are still quilting and creating! As we look to 2022, I think our businesses can be excited about what is ahead of us. How do we keep up with the social media presence we need to maintain? How do we incorporate our staff into videos and posts? What information and product are consumers needing? How do we re-imagine our inventory with the continually fluctuating shipping woes.
At my shop, Hen & Chicks Studio, the unknown timing of fabric arrivals has forced us to create kits from the fabrics in front of us, rather than worrying about what is yet to come. Scrap quilts and small projects have been on the top of our to-do list. It’s a great way to use fabrics that have been sitting on the shelf into fresh and completely new kits. Increased awareness of how to run our business better must be at the forefront of our thoughts in 2022. If there is anything the past couple of years has taught us is that we must be acutely aware of our finances. Are we prepared for a pandemic to hit or to continue long term? How are we communicating with and training our staff to excel at customer service?
The Academy events we held in 2021 covered many of these topics and helped us move the dial for us to make improvements on a daily basis to our businesses. But we all know, our work is never done.
Table of Contents
- From the Editor
- 10 Tips for a Stellar 2022: Retail experts Kizer and Bender suggest steps to please your customers and increase sales.
- Connect Through Livestreaming: Sommer Leigh walks you through ideas for using livestreaming to promote your retail brand.
- Eclectic Elements: Stephanie Brandenburg shares quick tips for creating an attention-getting display.
- Simplify Systems to Bolster Creativity: Gwen Bortner leads you through streamlining tasks to enable your staff to run the business smoothly.
- Are you Pinterested in Increased Sales?: The Design Trio explains how to get the most out of a business Pinterest account.
- Materials Matter: Find the latest fabrics and designs about to hit your store shelves.
- Hot Picks: Check out products and notions to offer to your customers.
- Free-to-Use Project: Get to know Vanessa Christenson of V and Co. She shares tips for using ombre fabrics, including this issue’s free-to-use project, Star Flowers.
