Laurie Roe's Blog

Emotions Run High

From what I read, it appeared as if pregnancy would do a number on my emotions. And, indeed, there were a handful of times my emotions overcame me during those nearly-forgotten 9 months; but nothing prepared me for the emotions I would feel closing a business. Many books exist on how to open a business, I have yet to find one that discusses how to close one. And how to deal with the emotions of closing a business - well, you might as well not have emotions because I don't really think anyone wants to talk about them.

I've asked a family friend/counselor for a good recommendation for a grief counselor. Grief is what you go through when you close a business. Grief is rarely discussed - at the death of a loved one nor the death of a business. And yet, grief is a natural emotion, a Biblical process, and a human experience. I wrote an article once for a women's magazine about the process of grief after I went through a relationship break-up. Of course, that was 17 computers ago and so I am not sure where that advice is now, but boy, I'd love to re-visit that article and take some of my own advice!

The store was opened for the last day this past Saturday - March 28. I worked from the very start of the day, and was the last one to leave at night, after all the penny-pinching women had come to dig through our racks for the last time. It's like darts through the soul when women complain about the price of something when it's so far below what I paid for it!

The most common question right now is: What's Next?

It's typically followed by one of these statements...

Are you just gonna be a stay-at-home mom?
As if to imply "just" means you get to rest all day!

Will you open up another store somewhere else?
Since the economy is doing so well and we decided it was simply our location that caused our sales to drop 65%!

Is someone coming to buy your leftover clothes?
Because that's exactly what TJ Max does, right? Yeah, they spend all their time going to boutiques going-out-of-business for their goods.

What's your next venture going to be?
Implying I have enough money and energy to actually venture somewhere!

Granted, these are all natural and normal questions, but when someone's grieving, they aren't received very "naturally."

So, to answer the question, "what's next?" here goes: We don't really know. We have a lot, lot, lot more debt that assets presently and so now we begin the negotiation process of figuring out how to pay for a business we just closed, a business we never saw a dime from, and a business we will be paying for years after it is a far-away memory for our customers and employees.

But for now, it's all pretty raw. And so, this short, little "business widow" is going to have good days and bad days throughout her grieving process. She's going to focus on finishing these negotiations well. And until there's a firm answer on how much money is due and a plan of how to pay it back, she's gonna enjoy "just being a stay-at-home-mom!"

Closing Up Shop

After 25 months of business, Petite Boutique is closing its doors. Simply put, the economy has trumped our novel concept, creative branding, and tireless efforts to clothe the shortest of stylish women. Our business started exceptionally strong, but since November of 2007 we have been fighting a nasty bug called a "recession," and despite frequent visits to our "business doctor" and lots of pain killers (reducing inventory), vitamins (focusing on our core customer), steroids (renewed business credit), and eating lots of fruits & veggies (re-vamping marketing), we are forced to give up the good fight. 

We are very sad about our decision, but the bottom line is that we are not able to sell in one week what we used to and need to sell in one day. Women have stopped spending money -- at least "our women." So, in the end, when Lori and I, along with our incredibly faithful husbands, made the decision to close the doors, it became easy -- as we had taken all the meds prescribed and still found ourselves running a business with rapidly declining sales. 

As a friend reminded me, it's important to think about the wonderful dividends that the business produced. These are non-monetary dividends, of course! Here's a few that come to mind: 

1. We employed a total of 9 different women over 25 months, plus a cleaning crew and two seamstresses. 
2. Nearly 2,000 petite women joined our mailing list.
3. We dressed some of the most amazing women -- from politicians to musicians to teachers, lawyers, healthcare professionals, CPA's, bankers, stay-at-home moms, and so many more!
4. We have laughed, cried, and laughed again with some of our customers -- both the ones we saw regularly and those we saw only once.
5. We have seen customers get married, become parents, become grandparents, get new jobs, pass the bar, go on first dates, go on blind dates, fight cancer, beat cancer, and the list goes on.
6. We have seen women come into Petite Boutique with absolutely no confidence about their bodies, only to leave with their heads held high and an armful of clothes -- that fit!

I could go on, but I'll stop at that. Needless to say, we're sad, but we also know that none of this has taken God by surprise. While we're not sure what these next chapters of our lives contain, we are confident that He, who began a good work in us, will be faithful to complete it.

Our liquidation started this morning at 10 am. We plan to -- and need to -- liquidate the entire store, so if you're in the area, please stop by. For all you non-petite women, we have furniture, office supplies, and lots of other great stuff!

I'll close with the notion that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. ... I'm sure in a few years I'll believe the same is true for owning a store ... we can only hope!