It all began with 2 pair of shoes......
Before I get to the 2 pair of shoes story, let me first introduce my sister, Chris Force and myself, Karen Waterson. We are 17 months apart (the latter being the younger) we are highly competitive with each other however still manage to get along, somewhat, well at least enough to think going into business as partners is a good idea. Now that you know who we are, let me tell you about the Blu Gypsy name, "Blu" was our grandma's middle name. A grandma that always went above and beyond, she shared her love unconditionally with everyone she met, would give to others even if it meant she may go without and she had more swagger than any woman I have ever met. Grandma will forever be, in our hearts and cherished in our memories. "Gypsy" because we really didn't know what form this new "store" was going to take, we were and are on tight budget and did not know if we would ever find retail space to rent that was affordable, if we were going to run the carnival circuit, hit every fair in Michigan or sell out of the trunks of our cars. Essentially our store was most likely going to be a Gypsy.
Now to the real story on how this whole Blu Gypsy Boutique began.
I, Karen was shopping in Gaylord at The Old Spud Warehouse, some of you may be familiar with this adorable little store, the kind of adorable that you basically have to take a day off work and spend it there. Spuds carries everything from purses and shoes to home furnishings, I am sure you know the type, while at Spuds I resisted my temptation to purchase everything I really wanted (due to the fact that I don't have a semi to get it all home in, and yes, that aforementioned budget constraint) and purchased 2 pair of Corkys Footwear shoes. These gems are not just your ordinary everyday shoes but unique, fun and comfortable shoes. (I know, I said fun and comfortable in the same sentence, which should help you understand my desire for more.) Once home with my new little gems facing the predicament of which ones do I wear first, I went onto Corkys web-site just to see what else they might have. Okay, okay, not just to see what else they had but to feed my overwhelming desire to get more. Once on their web-site I discovered Corkys only sells wholesale. Oh-No! what am I to do? I want, they have, and I can't have unless I can buy wholesale. hmph! At this point my mind is going 120 mph, "what can I do to get these shoes?" continues to race in my head then suddenly, SCREECH! it just occurred to me, my sister, Chris is out of work due an accident on her motorcycle and this could be a "great opportunity" here, I can file the necessary documents with the State and we will open a store and she, unable to go back to work as a surgical technician due the accident can run the store, I will invest the money she can invest the time, Perfect!. Ding, Ding I think we have a winner. Trying to contain my excitement to share my new business plan I sit back and wait for the perfect opportunity to present my plan.
Several days pass, my sister sends me a text message "Hey purses are on sale at JCPenney and if you buy two you get a bigger discount, do you wanna go to Penney's?" I quickly reply, thinking this is my opportunity to let her in on "her" new career. "Um, actually I was thinking we should get into the business of selling shoes and purses, so instead of buying from Penney's I am going to file the papers with the State and we can buy our own wholesale and open a store". She hesitates for a short time as if she really needed to think about it, I however know she could have replied right away but wanted to me to think that she actually gave it some thought. She finally replies and agrees that we should give it a shot.
In March of 2014 we filed all of the documents needed and started buying merchandise. In August we displayed our little gems from Corkys Footwear, purses, scarves, sunglasses and anything else we thought people would buy at local fairs and flea markets and finally on October 1, 2014 we opened our doors in downtown Traverse City.
It all began with two pairs of shoes and two sisters too stubborn to quit.I suppose we went to extreme lengths to get the "other" Corkys shoes I wanted!
We are living proof that if you maintain sight of your goal no one can stop you, whether it be shoes or something else, always keep your eye on the prize, eventually you will get there and most often not along the path you had envisioned.
Before I get to the 2 pair of shoes story, let me first introduce my sister, Chris Force and myself, Karen Waterson. We are 17 months apart (the latter being the younger) we are highly competitive with each other however still manage to get along, somewhat, well at least enough to think going into business as partners is a good idea. Now that you know who we are, let me tell you about the Blu Gypsy name, "Blu" was our grandma's middle name. A grandma that always went above and beyond, she shared her love unconditionally with everyone she met, would give to others even if it meant she may go without and she had more swagger than any woman I have ever met. Grandma will forever be, in our hearts and cherished in our memories. "Gypsy" because we really didn't know what form this new "store" was going to take, we were and are on tight budget and did not know if we would ever find retail space to rent that was affordable, if we were going to run the carnival circuit, hit every fair in Michigan or sell out of the trunks of our cars. Essentially our store was most likely going to be a Gypsy.
Now to the real story on how this whole Blu Gypsy Boutique began.
I, Karen was shopping in Gaylord at The Old Spud Warehouse, some of you may be familiar with this adorable little store, the kind of adorable that you basically have to take a day off work and spend it there. Spuds carries everything from purses and shoes to home furnishings, I am sure you know the type, while at Spuds I resisted my temptation to purchase everything I really wanted (due to the fact that I don't have a semi to get it all home in, and yes, that aforementioned budget constraint) and purchased 2 pair of Corkys Footwear shoes. These gems are not just your ordinary everyday shoes but unique, fun and comfortable shoes. (I know, I said fun and comfortable in the same sentence, which should help you understand my desire for more.) Once home with my new little gems facing the predicament of which ones do I wear first, I went onto Corkys web-site just to see what else they might have. Okay, okay, not just to see what else they had but to feed my overwhelming desire to get more. Once on their web-site I discovered Corkys only sells wholesale. Oh-No! what am I to do? I want, they have, and I can't have unless I can buy wholesale. hmph! At this point my mind is going 120 mph, "what can I do to get these shoes?" continues to race in my head then suddenly, SCREECH! it just occurred to me, my sister, Chris is out of work due an accident on her motorcycle and this could be a "great opportunity" here, I can file the necessary documents with the State and we will open a store and she, unable to go back to work as a surgical technician due the accident can run the store, I will invest the money she can invest the time, Perfect!. Ding, Ding I think we have a winner. Trying to contain my excitement to share my new business plan I sit back and wait for the perfect opportunity to present my plan.
Several days pass, my sister sends me a text message "Hey purses are on sale at JCPenney and if you buy two you get a bigger discount, do you wanna go to Penney's?" I quickly reply, thinking this is my opportunity to let her in on "her" new career. "Um, actually I was thinking we should get into the business of selling shoes and purses, so instead of buying from Penney's I am going to file the papers with the State and we can buy our own wholesale and open a store". She hesitates for a short time as if she really needed to think about it, I however know she could have replied right away but wanted to me to think that she actually gave it some thought. She finally replies and agrees that we should give it a shot.
In March of 2014 we filed all of the documents needed and started buying merchandise. In August we displayed our little gems from Corkys Footwear, purses, scarves, sunglasses and anything else we thought people would buy at local fairs and flea markets and finally on October 1, 2014 we opened our doors in downtown Traverse City.
It all began with two pairs of shoes and two sisters too stubborn to quit.I suppose we went to extreme lengths to get the "other" Corkys shoes I wanted!
We are living proof that if you maintain sight of your goal no one can stop you, whether it be shoes or something else, always keep your eye on the prize, eventually you will get there and most often not along the path you had envisioned.
