jan 26th

Today was very busy. casey and I are very excited about how amazing and well we are doing. we have yet to really look at the numbers but we are getting close to averaging around 400 a day. THANK GOD. We have around 7 people bring us in consignment today. We are getting pickier about what we purchase and people are bringing in better stuff. There was three guys and four girls. One of the guys brought in some of his girlfriends stuff. i am very interested in getting more old band shirts. We should look into getting new band shirts from local bands as well. Today a girl named bird sold us a lot of totebags i wish they were less expensive but they are very nice. Casey and I went to Edos to celebrate the success of changing out whole business model in a week. I hope this week goes well. We have yet to check out account balance. We need to get better at documenting stuff. we need a book receipt just for cash. We need to take better care of our receipts. We need to see how much money we are spending and how much we are making. we need to start working our way up to making a 150 to 200 percent markup on items. We have to advertise better and flyer much more. we have been slacking on handing out coupons and putting up birthday flyers. All of the events are going very well. We close a little early but the store was dead after 5pm. We have much more men coming into the store now. It looks great. We think we will be able to pay off most of our debt soon if we keep working hard

jan 25th

today was a sunday we were closed but we had a highschool show with Kaviar the villian. hes not really a villian but I like calling him one. Well I should have been at the store early in the morning to start cleaning up from the huge art show the night before but casey and I had better things to do like take care of my little brother and spend around 400 dollars thrift store shopping for the store. We went to rugged warehouse where they still had two of our labels who have promised us prefusely that they are not being carried their LIAR. well rugged had a 5 dollar and up sale. It was amazing sorry Platos Closet looks like you've got two people trying to take your bizness. Well we got the clothing casey dropped me off at the store. She had a photo shoot. I went to the store and began hanging out a million of our items. Ofcourse the show starting off horrible but it ended well. We are so stoked on the new store. I bought a million hangers at the dollar store they were 6 for 1 dollar. sweet deal. we still need pants hangers. all the work im doing for ligerbeat and the work casey is doing for rva is taking up all our personal time. which was little already. We are work horses. work horses in love. We are taking on more assistants and interns immedietly. We need to figure out how many we need and what we need them to do. I want to have print out sheets and a head assistant in charge of them. We need to train people in our store. But we need to have a day to day schedule first.

jan 24

today i was in the store most of the day by myself. our new consign ad in rva mag just came out and we have been working heavily on getting more people in here to sell us items. We were slammed today. I could barely breathe or eat or drink. I was famished by the end of the day we did over 500. There is a show tonite and casey is coming in to work it. We need to both be here during the weekends this shit is crazy. casey is good at telling people to leave and come back but i like to do it when they are their. Its more about having less mess for me than it is about getting them their money quickly. I dont mind messes its just i hate all the bags and cords around my feet. We need a new bar asap. I am looking forward to tomorrow i think we will be getting SLAMMED AGAIN. Casey had a shoot today for rva.

marshe

jan 20

today is obama day. we have a party. the store is busy. everyone is in a good mood. all our pre purchased merchadise is 50 percent off. I hope the sell goes well. we need to get rid of more local shirts. Or give them back to their designers. Noone is going to pay over 20 for a tshirt anymore. we are closing the store early to go the party. I am pissed at rvamag.

january 15

jesus christ max can talk. i love the boy but damn can he talk. Today has been good we had a over the phone sale from someone who works for VOGUE. I am so excited about the store going mainly consignment. Today we have already made over $300. Most of that is from the Vogue sale but people seem really excited about the change and the prices. We have been busy all day with people. Harrison st coffee really helps out our foot traffic. I told a girl today she could use an outfit for Saturday for a photo project. GOD MAX CAN TALK. Casey is working at home trying to find better ways to get people to bring their clothing into the store. We are so heavily booked this month for shows. I am glad sales are staying steady.

january 14th

I came in late today. The store was pretty busy for most of the day we sold a little over $200. We had a show that night and it was fairly packed. A few people brought in items to sell but not as many people as we need to fill our store by the end of next month. We are trying to sell as much of the independent clothing as we can 40 percent off isnt emptying the racks fast enough. Casey has been attacking customers and helping them shop. This is working very very well. I will attempt to do this tomorrow as annoying as this technique is to the both of us. I will try to find a way to get more people to sell us clothing.

-marshe'

january 12th

SUPER BUSY DAY. IT WAS PERFECT.
all day bought thrift, sold thrift, and sold lots of sale items. Talked to every single person who came in. Sold things to hardcore band kids too.
Had a fantastic show where they gave us $50 even though only $55 was collected. I want these older hardcore kids to book more shows, they run so smoothly.

January 11th

Way tired, mad i didnt get to sleep in at all this week.
went to store to clean up the mess of our business.
threw out the broken part of our counter...while i was doing this, 3 people came in to sell consignment and 2 people bought stuff. $71 total, $54 in consignment credit.
Got some good stuff in, im excited about the way this is going. Christian from Vice said that when he 1st talked to them about Richmond, they said, oh, rumors is from there right? coooooll.
Tried to let a young guy make an ad for us but it turned out terrible, so davids working on one that will maybe appeal to people who dont consider themselves fashionable that totally have good closets.
went to volunteer at Firehouse but it was a different event happening...

January 10th

Great day in the store, all things considered. Cleaned up then people came in immediately, bringing in consignment all day. Did over $300 for the 1st time in ages, or so it feels. Didnt even turn on the computer til 4.
THEN.
we had a shitty show. we got $275 from it, but our counter broke. our computer is scratched. and my mood was ruined.

January 9th

slow day. marshe was in there, she'll update. I came in at 4, and nothing sold between then and close....i set up the shop for a dance party booked by J...lots of drama in tonights event due to a guy named Kaviar...then i left to do the door for No BS Brass Band in Hampton. Made $80.

January 8th

This year is going by so slowly.
I had a meeting with RVA Magazine today and worked out details for our event together, as well as talk about my involvement with the magazine. They're into me writing more, and even offered me a position in sales/ads if i feel like i have enough time.
Marshe and I went for the Census job testing and people never cease to find our business interesting and amazing....i wish that translated into money. It doesnt.
I have the 1st RVA shoot tonight, Marshe is at the store while i eat my 1st real meal in 2 days.

January 7th

Another slow day in the store. all the businesses around us closed by noon because it was so dead. Met an awesome couple who bought a thrift item, then a mother/daughter came in and made our total over $100. You really do have to chat customers up and make them like to to make sales happen sometimes. Marshe and I are applying for Census jobs tomorrow, and I'm applying at Metro Bar tonight. We are meeting with the owner of the camel to plan the inaugural ball with RVA Magazine tonight.

january 6th

today was very slow. $58 total. gave the village $100 more towards rent. stayed working at the store til midnight. marshe and i are both working ourselves tired, and i dont even know what we've been doing.

It is almost 10pm Casey is at the store working and I am at home working. We are getting together information for our website. We should have taken care of this a year ago but because of lots of unreliable people and and hectic schedule it has taken until now to get it done. I am glad we waited we are revamping the whole store and the new website will give us a better edge. Yesterday we were taking down decorations at the Chesterfield mall until 3am it was actually quite exciting we were the only girls there. Every store had signs that read 70% off entire store. And LOWEST PRICES EVER. How do we compete with that. When you can get a 300 dollar dress at Guess for $30 and a full new wardrobe for under $200 bucks on karmaloop. It almost makes you want to throw your hands up and quit. We laughed with the crew and talked about recession and labor ready jobs and getting any gigs we can find.


The photo shoot went very well. The photographer was great and easy to work with. The models all felt very comfortable with her and we even had a friend come and do makeup. Here are a few of my favorite photos. The whole thing was sort of a gimmick at first too get new people in the store to buy things. We assume each model will buy at least two items. We were correct. All the models work for free, the photographer works for free, the makeup artist works for free. We get the pictures within two days on flickr.com and put them on line and send them to everyone involved. We get photos for our website they get photos for their look books and we all win.

January 5th

Cleaned up from the show, took 2 hours. traded consignment, lots of chatters came in. sold new clothing at 40% off. looked for new jobs, figured out bank situation. gave $650 check to the landlord, told them we'd pay them as often as we could until both months are paid off (December check bounced). Marshe worked at Labor Ready, after work we cancelled a photography party to go take down mall christmas decorations for $10 an hour. Did that til 2 am.

January 4th

Wrote back to myspace/facebook requests regarding the website shoot, listened to bands that wrote us about shows, commented on facebook pages, read business blogs. Got to shop at 2 to do photoshoot. Etsy local seller came in to talk about terms. Met a few hairdressers who loved us and want to work with us. Worked with a bunch of models and offered them 50% off anything they wanted to buy. Bought more consignment. Used gift card to get chinese food, had show at night. a pretty disorganized show that seemed to take all night booked by someone who had never booked a show before.

January 3rd

Saturday, January 3rd
Opened at noon, and people dropped off consignment all day. Took phone numbers and said I'd call the back on Monday. Put up posts about a photoshoot for our website on Sunday on Facebook and Myspce. Got lots of responses and picked and chose according to who was "rumors like". Looked on Etsy for local sellers and wrote to a few. Bought a ton on thrift on Consignment from labels such as April 77, Nudie and other upscale mens lines.
Catie and Josh came in to hang out around 5, and I continuously broke away to talk to customers. Bands for a show came in around 6:30 and bought a few thrift items. I sat at the door during the show and collected $70 total, gave $70 to the band. I went home and went to bed, Marshe came out and went to a party at CousCous.

Jan 2nd : the beginning of my end

Today has been so slow. I've managed to generate at least $200 worth of sales by excessive compliments and giving ludicrous discounts to new customers who I think may become regular customers. My land lord just informed me that they waited a month to cash our rent check so of course it bounced. The rent is now a month and three days late. I am reluctant to call Casey she seems like shes having a good day today.

We made sure that we paid all of our local labels before the new year so they could go Christmas shopping. Casey and I went to a few thrift shops and consignment shops to buy dresses to sell in our pre-loved section in hopes of last minute new years eve shopping sprees. The turn around on our preloved items is incredible. I'm so glad we made it to 2009. Granted we made is kicking and screaming but we've made it. The store needs to be changed. NOW!!

Business's left and right are shutting down. It does not matter how great your product is when there is an economic crisis. We must become more useful, more affordable but at the same time still a type of luxury. We have to cut our costs. Casey and I are constantly trying to come up with new ideas and gimmicks to get people in the store.

Casey and I decided to have a big photo shoot for our website. We are going to invite at least 10 people to model. I am assuming each person will buy 2 items. Money is money. And a Sunday open is an extra day to make more money to pay off our debt.

We are trying to stay positive. There are no jobs. We are trying to do anything to make money. I want to find the person who told me going to college was enough. I want to send them all my bills and rejected employment applications. Over all it was an okay day. The weather was cold but it was sunny. We had less than 20 people come in but most of them bought items from the consignment shop. I tried to call a lot of venues. I am very interested in booking some events to make money. We need more plus size items in the store. Size 5 aint what it use to be.

I got really upset about the economy today. Casey cheered me up. We have the best relationship.

2009 is here.

January 1st
Opened at 2 pm, well aware that the area might be dead. Posted "sale" bulletins on facebook/myspace offering 20% off thrift and 45% off new clothing. Only gave the sale to people who knew about it on myspace/facebook. People I hung out with on New years eve came in and spent the majority of what we made. Researched meetups.com. Personal shopped for lots of people, meaning they walked in and I got excited and showed them what I thought would look good on them. Almost everything that sold was thrift. Marshe and I went to Platos closet on the 31st and bought up a bunch of stuff.