Opening A Retail Store

Research

Get to know the competition in your area. Search your area and see if there are any existing retail scrapbooking stores or rubber stamping and craft stores that carry scrapbooking supplies. If so do these stores offer classes and what is their level of expertise when it comes to photo preservation. Be aware that there is a niche for the small service oriented scrapbooking store where the employees have a good working knowledge of photo preservation and photo preservation issues. Starting a retail scrapbooking store will take anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 for startup.

Find out what scrapbookers are looking for. Subscribe to Creating Keepsakes Magazines- lots of ads from stores and manufacturers. ALSO NOTE: I would make that my first investment in advertising $$ aside from the Internet if you are planning to do catalog sales or are in a big metropolitan area.

Subscribe to Memory Makers Magazine. There are not as many ads, but you can see what is popular for scrapbookers.

Find out what is available at the wholesale level and where you will need to order your supplies from. This is one of the biggest challenges in opening a retail scrapbooking store. Call and get catalogs and wholesale information from and from vendors on the available vendor and distributor list.

Find a scrapbooking album or albums that you like and plan to sell in your store. Flex Hinge albums are available at a wholesale rate through Light Impressions. University Products/ Lineco has scrapbook pages in their album available for wholesale. (They are 8 1/2 by 11 only and I really prefer 12X12 pages.) The Pioneer Album Company has some really CHEAP albums that I do not use, but am considering carrying as a very cheap alternative for those on a tight budget. The album is 11X14 which is a plus but has a post binding. Personally I do not use the Canson Memory Books- because of the spiral binding, but they are another option. Westrim has brand new strap-hinge album that is very similar to the Creative Memories album ans has a similar lifetime guarantee. This album has becomethe new favorite for store owners.

Decisions

One of the many decisions facing a new retail store is where to obtain their products. In order to have a lower start up cost, you might want to consider buying at wholesale cost until you can afford to make "distributorship" size orders. I would HIGHLY recommend Family Treasures to you. Family Treasures sells at the wholesale level only and has a large line of scrapbooking supplies and accessories.

Another decision is the die-cut and paper vendor or vendors. I have not personally dealt with Crafty Cutter but have heard good things. Personally, I would think about the Cut It Out die cuts. Call Vicky Breslin and have her send you the intro pack. She does not use the standard Ellison die-cuts that Crafty Cutter and most other die cut suppliers use, she seems to use all Accu-cut and custom dies. She has a fabulous selection of paper as well and has been in the die cut business since before scrapbooking became a craze- so in other words, she's here to stay.

Vicky is also the woman who is conducting scrapbooking conventions, so her Union of Scrapbookers is a great newsletter to subscribe to for $25 per year to keep up on the latest scrapbooking products and news.

Frances Meyer has great acid free stickers and papers, including a new line of kits that is just for scrapbooking. They are at 1-800-FRANCES I haven't ordered yet, but they are a huge company and I do not anticipate any snags.

Zig 2 Way glue is marketed through EK success, who also has a great line of scrapbooking pens and stickers.

Light Impressions 1-800-828-6216 .... Webway (the parent co of CM) told their consultants that they would not sell the scrapbook style pages to anyone other than CMCs because many consultants found out that Webway was selling the albums and pages cheaper and CMCs were being undercut. In reality what they did is stop selling the scrapbook style pages that have a binding on them. The top loading style of pages are still available for the albums.

What classes you are going to offer, workshops die cutting machines are all other considerations. A retail store is a big investment of time and money. Most of us just are not cut out to open such a high maintenance business. If you have the time and the inclination, there is certainly a big scrapbooking market out there.

Back to Career Info Page

-Source List-

Publications:

Memory Makers magazine publishes 4 quarterly issues that are filled with terrific ideas for creative scrapbooking. You can contact Memory Makers at PO Box 1929, Broomfield, CO 80038-1929, (800) 366-6465 or email Michele@memorymakers.com. Annual subscription cost is $24.95 for a year's worth of 68-page quarterly issues, which are lavishly illustrated and all content, since the magazine accepts a minimum of advertising.

Creating Keepsakes magazine Creating Keepsakes at PO Box 1106, Orem, UT 84059-9956, email to CreatingK@aol.com or Toll Free at (888) 247-5282. Annual subscription cost is $19.95 for 6 issues; this magazine will include advertising in its pages.

An Ounce of Prevention by Craig Tuttle

The Care and Permanence of Color Photographs

Family Memories by Suzanne Mc Neill available from Design Originals
2425 Cullen Street Fort Worth, TX 76107 (800) 877-7820

Preservation Product Suppliers 

The following companies provide either archival/photo-safe products, information, or a combination of both. This listing was taken from Appendix C of AN OUNCE OF PRESERVATION: A Guide to the Care of Papers and Photographs, by Craig A. Tuttle (published in 1995; available for $12.95 from Rainbow Books, Inc., PO Box 430, Highland City, FL, 33846-0430; orders by phone: 800-356-9315; orders by fax: 800-242-0036).

The preservation supply companies listed below offer a wide variety of products useful for the preservation of papers and photographs. Write, phone or fax to request a catalog. In addition, the Museum and Archival Supply Handbook contains a comprehensive list of preservation supply companies in the US and Canada. It is available for purchase through the Society of American Archivists, 600 S. Federal, Suite 504, Chicago, IL 60605, (312) 922-0140.

Archival Products
A Division of Library Binding Service
1901 Thompson Street
PO Box 1413
Des Moines, IA 50305
(800) 526-5640, fax 888-220-2397

Conservation Materials, Ltd.
240 Freeport Boulevard
PO Box 2884
Sparks, NV 89432
(702) 331-0582

Conservation Resources International, Inc.
8000-H Forbes Place
Springfield, VA 22151
(800) 634-6932 FAX: (703) 321-0629

Gaylord Bros.
Box 4901
Syracuse, NY 13221-4901
(800) 448-6160 FAX: (800) 272-3412

G.M. Wylie Co.
PO Box AA
Washington, PA 15301-0660
(800) 747-1249 FAX: (412) 262-5254

Hollinger Corporation
9401 Northeast Drive
PO Box 8360
Fredericksburg, VA 22404
(800) 634-0491 FAX: (800) 947-8814

Light Impressions
439 Monroe Avenue
PO Box 940
Rochester, NY 14603-0940
(800) 828-6216 FAX: (800) 828-5539

The Preservation Emporium
2707 N. Stemmons Fwy. / Ste. 140
Dallas, TX 75207
(800) 442-2038

Solar Screen
53-11 105th Street
Corona, NY 11368
(718) 592-8222

TALAS (catalog $5)
568 Broadway
New York, NY 10012-9989
(212) 219-0770 FAX (212) 219-0735

University Products
517 Main Street
PO Box 101
Holyoke MA 01041-0101
(800) 762-1165 FAX: (800) 532-9281

The following companies sell hand- and cylinder-made paper that is acid-free and 100% cotton and linen rag. Some of these companies also sell a variety of related supplies such as framing materials, permanent inks and bookbinding supplies. Write or phone to request a catalog.

Carriage House Paper
79 Guernsey Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(800) 669-8781

Daniel Smith, Inc.
PO Box 84268
Seattle, WA 98124
(800) 426-6740

Dieu Donne Papermill, Inc.
433 Broome Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 226-0573

ICOSCA Studio and Paper Mill
Route 4, Box 279
Ellensburg, WA 98926
(509) 964-2341

Paper Source
232 West Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 337-0798

Twinrocker Handmade Paper, Inc.
PO Box 413
Brookston, IN 47923
(800) 757-TWIN

NOTE:

Information on paper and photographic preservation, genealogical and historical research is available from the National Archives, Washington, DC 20408, (202) 523-3220.

Information for water- and fire-damaged materials and the preservation of books is available from the Library of Congress, National Preservation Program, LMG-07, Washington, DC 20540 (202) 707-1840.

You can locate a local photo conservator by contacting the free referral service of the American Institute of Conservators, (202) 452-9545.

Wholesale sources of scrapbooking supplies:

Family Treasures sells both at retail and at wholesale to anyone with a resale tax number. Minimum first order wholesale is $100, minimum wholesale reorder is $50. Phone is (800) 413-2645

Stickers

Stickopotamus by EK Success 611 Industrial Road Carlstadt, NJ 07072

Mrs. Grossman's (800) 457-4570 Wholesale orders only. Catalog $17 (refundable)

Sandy Lion Sticker Designs P.O. Box 1570 Buffalo, NY 14240 (800) 387-4215

The Gifted Line

Frances Meyers P.O. Box, Savannah, GA 31402

Retail Scrapbooking Stores

Memory Lane, Mesa AZ (602) 844-9004

Paper Hearts, Utah (801) 272-2280 affiliated with Pebbles in My Pocket

Memories and More, Utah (801) 295-8500

Paper Rabbit

Die Cut Machines

Ellison Craft & Design 17171 Daimler Street, Irvine, CA 92614 Toll Free

(888) 972-7238

Accu Cut Systems 1035 East Dodge Street, Fremont, NE 68025 (402) 721-4134

Die Cut Shapes

Cut It Out  P.O. Box 2311, Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 482-2288

Katy's Kut Ups (619) 748-4878 FAX (619) 679-3262

Little Extras (512) 994-9191

Crafty Cutter (805) 467-2375

Adhesives

Thomas M Leddy Associates, Inc (Distributor for 3L) (508) 875-0247 Photo

Corners and Photo Fix

2.Source for Wei'to direct from the manufacturer: (708) 747-6660 [Wei'to is

one of the de-acidification sprays, said to have a shorter shelf-life than

Bookkeeper (the other d/a spray), but preferred by

archivists because it is said to be more stable; however, Wei'to is

reported to contain CFC's, whereas Bookkeeper does not].