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Sloppy Kisses owner shares her success secrets.
By Kerri Danskin
Sloppy Kisses, a dog bakery and boutique in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., recently opened a second location, defying the common assumption that all pet boutiques are suffering huge losses in this struggling economy.
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Shop owners Melanie and Eugene Dallas
(photography by Mark Bolles) |
Shop owner Melanie Dallas, who opened Sloppy Kisses in 2006 with her husband, Eugene, says there have been some key ingredients in the success of her business.
Number one on her list was staffing. Despite the success of the business (2008 was her best year so far), Dallas has always done all the work herself. From manning the register to marketing, inventory and accounting, she has handled every detail with some help from her husband so the business would not have to invest in payroll before it was ready and before it was absolutely necessary.
She says with the opening of the second store, that will change, but it has been an essential sacrifice to this point.
Community involvement has also been key for Sloppy Kisses. In a tony town like Saratoga Springs, the ultimate sign of success is a presence on the society pages in the local newspaper, so shortly after opening, Dallas held a society event for dogs in a local ballroom, with all proceeds benefiting a local rescue organization. A dog fashion show took place, with two local high-society ladies judging. The event was a smash hit, and got the store some coverage in that influential local paper.
Dallas says that the event resulted in zero direct profit for her store, but “The PR was huge.” Now she does a community event for every holiday and “yappy hours” and the like in between. None of them is designed to make money for the store, but the public relations benefits are incredible, she says.
With a background working in corporate retail, Dallas is well-trained in the importance of frequently changing the layout and appearance of a store, which she says she does about once a week these days. Another factor in her success, this practice helps her to keep customers interested and get them through the door.
Dallas also says keeping accurate and complete accounting numbers for her business is a basic requirement.
“I can tell you what I made this day last year, the year before and the year before that,” she says. “You have to know where you’re trending. If not ... you’re just kind of swimming.”
When she sees a downward trend, Dallas says, she sends out an e-mail to her list of 500 customers with a coupon or a special deal and that’s usually enough to get things back on track.
Knowing what her customers want has also been important, Dallas says, although in the beginning that involved a bit of a guessing game.
“When I opened, it was kind of bare,” she says. “I didn’t spend a lot of money making the store look full.”
After that, she says, “I just listened to customers. We have a client request book and any time someone says, ‘You don’t have this,’ I say we can get it for them.”
Although Saratoga Springs is an affluent area, Dallas says her business model never included high prices.
“We have an eclectic mix of people who live here year-round,” she says. “They probably would spend $50 on a sweater for their dogs, but that wasn’t my plan.”
Every piece of apparel on the racks at Sloppy Kisses is under $30, Dallas said, with the most expensive being a double extra large dog coat priced at $29.95.
With a newly opened store in Clifton Park, N.Y., Dallas will have a lot more work on her plate, but her husband, Eugene, an Ivy League-educated nuclear engineer, recently left his full-time job to pitch in.
“After things went so well for 2008, we said let’s look at the future, what’s the next step,” Dallas says.
The ultimate advice for struggling boutique owners, Dallas says, is to focus on the positive.
“I don’t mean have your head in the sky, but stop complaining,” she says. “Look into your business and see how you can fix what’s not working.” |