Start a Scrapbook Store

May 2, 2009 marks the 15th year of National Scrapbooking Day. NSD, traditionally held the first Saturday of May, has become increasingly popular. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to build community at your scrapbook store and move product on what is essentially a holiday especially for scrapbookers!

Nowadays, shoppers are even more likely to be aware of National Scrapbooking Day due to the online presence of scrapbooking products, digital papers and kits for sale as well as popular message boards and page galleries. If you don’t invite your customers to a National Scrapbooking Day event at your store, you can bet they’ll find one—and spend their money—online instead.

You could plan a special crop for May 2, or sometime that week. Make up National Scrapbooking Day signs, prize packs, page contests and so on. Use your imagination or check out the great ideas on this site. If you host crops at your store, you definitely need one for NSD!

Or, have a great sale. Put several types of products or manufacturers’ lines on sale for the day, weekend or week. Or, offer a large percentage off the purchase of one product. It should be good for at least 40 or 50 percent off, to compete with chain retailers. But unlike when they shop at Michael’s, JoAnn’s or Hobby Lobby, your customers will almost certainly fill their baskets with much more than one item.

In a recession, everyone is looking for a deal. But economists agree that one category in which people are still willing to spend is on fun, feel-good products and experiences in the under-$20 range. This describes scrapbooking to a T! Don’t leave money on the table. Serve your customers and capitalize on National Scrapbooking Day.

The Craft & Hobby Association summer 2008 trade show is coming up July 18-20 in Rosemont, Illinois. While the event covers a wide range of crafts, from general crafts to fabric (this year’s theme is Kids Crafting), the scrapbooking industry will be out in full force.

Besides the obvious opportunity to see and order new products, store owners can network and attend various business-boosting events as well as hear speakers on topics ranging from finance to how the digital era is impacting scrapbooking and other crafts. Specific to the scrapbooking industry, the executive editor of Scrapbooking Retailer magazine, Beth Mauro, will join Memory Makers magazine executive editor Beth Williams will speak, as will Renee Pearson, who is affiliated with Creating Keepsakes’ Digital Scrapbooking Magazine. Wendy Smedley of Simple Scrapbooks will also speak.

Not all scrapbook store owners attend both CHA shows (CHA West is typically held in Anaheim in January), but many do. If you go, be on the lookout for show specials and up-and-coming trends, and be sure to read our article on scrapbooking retailer trade show tips.

If you’re the only scrapbook store owner in your region, or the others aren’t really the collaborating type, you might want to check out the new forums on the Craft and Hobby Association Member Networking web site. You have to be a CHA member, but if you are you can join in on a variety of discussion forums and learn about business building and networking, or get a heads up on new products and trade show news. The forum is at www.craftandhobby.org.