the shop around the corner

Yesterday* I went to my favourite fabric store probably for the last time. It’s a relationship I’ve had since I moved back to Toronto in 1991. Yes it ebbed and flowed but it was always there and for a lot of years it really was the shop around the corner – and well down about 5 blocks.

I was emotional. In fact more emotional that I thought I’d be and I ended up hugging the clerk who had cut my 14 pieces of fabric when that emotion overcame me. I think I startled her too.

I started sewing as a teen. I am mostly self taught but one of the key factors to my success where a couple of women who ran a local fabric shop out of their husband’s sewing machine shop upstairs. In fact the entire family got me started. I bought my first new machine from them. The second hand one I got from a family friend wasn’t in any good shape so I saved to buy my first Janome at – no word of a lie – Sew and Save. But downstairs was where I flourished. With the Polka Dot as competition – think Fabricland size, they were just glad to have the customers. But they also took it upon themselves to nurture and encourage a 15 year old girl as she learned. I was brash at the beginning trying to copy designs from magazines without patterns. And doing an OK job, but dress straps would be mismatched, lopsided and sometimes things just didn’t work out. I graduated to patterns and learned as I went.

When I left the town of my youth for ‘the big city’ I found Designer Fabric Outlet as it was known then – it has since morphed into Designer Fabrics although I think they just cut the Outlet part off the famous orange sign.

Typical of a lot of Queen West West shops at the time the building was old, the sign was crooked and the inside crammed to the rafters. Perhaps left over from the 80s mantra that more was good. Downstairs was sample squares of upholstery fabric, every designer and wannabe in the city, along with their attitude and a most interesting trim shop. Upstairs though, upstairs was almost an afterthought of clothing fabric and soon my favourite place. At the time you couldn’t really see anything but if you asked for something specific they had it or something very close.

Through the times when I didn’t sew at all to the times when I needed to be inspired a jaunt down the way would feed my imagination and get the wheels going. When I was out of thread or needed a button there was a place to fill that need. Even when I moved all the way across the city I went back.

The last 'famous' list from DFO.

The internet let me know that DFO was closing. I decided to make the trek one last time. I had a rare weekday off and made plans. In the end I was called in to do a shift was a pushed my start time back so that I had time to make my trip. Walking in everything seemed as it always was except that everyone knew that wasn’t the case. The old man who owns the place with the beady eyes who watched everything and everyone was still in his chair, he’d migrated there a few years ago as I suspect age made it hard for him to stand all day. I went immediately upstairs as I always did casting an eye at the barrels at the bottom of the stairs. Upstairs I did what I always do. Headed to the knit area and started feeling fabric. Pulling out a bit here and there to see what the fabric weight was and what the texture and pattern looked like and then I started piling. It was quiet and I chatted with the staff a bit. Then when I was ready to start cutting a bird flew in. Just a typical city bird caught in a building after coming in through some old spot. It appeared to be a regular thing and the staff seemed to know how to deal with getting it out without hurting it but it meant killing the lights for a few minutes. And I think that’s when it started. Standing in the dark in this old building that I have frequented for years being forced to be still for a few minutes while they dealt with a bird that had just minutes ago flown so close to my face I felt the wind created by its wings on my face. An excited ‘we got it’ was heard, the lights came back on and the cutting resumed along with some chit chat with the clerk helping me. After all that I headed downstairs to pay and she helped me carry my piles of fabric. That’s when I hugged her, unexpectedly for both of us.

As I finished up my transaction and wished everyone there best of luck I realized that I was really leaving the last of my start in Toronto behind. I’d lived in Parkdale for 6 years and in nearby High Park for another 6 before heading east in the almost classic Toronto migration of life. I still go to High Park for a few things but this was the only reason I go to Parkdale. I waited for the 501 streetcar, outside the library and looked at the changed streetscape.

THAT orange bag.

‘End of an era’ seems to get tossed around a lot lately. We are in some sort of shift that from this vantage point does not seem good if you are at all artistically inclined. Part of that shift is an older generation ending their working lives and deciding not to sell or not finding anyone to sell to as the case may be. Part of it is an overreaching greed that fails to see how nurturing the arts does a city good and can only see the ‘value’ in commodity and real estate. Either way it makes it tough for those of us who find our creative outlet in doing something for ourselves. I wish I had a better way to end this except to say that my heart always does and will probably always do a little flutter when I see an orange shopping bag.



*I wrote this back in July. Since then I have also gone to the closing sale of the Fabricland at the Galleria Malls, where silliness also ensued. And there was a small design shop that closed and they cleared out fabric. I am absolutely swimming in it but access to decent fabric stores and other craft shops is a real issue.

good on you queensland rail - also not really a post

I tripped over this completely by accident.  And I love it.  It's clear.  The language is plain.  The message is succinct.

because canada

A friend tipped me off to Ipsy, which I’ve just joined, a fun service, that for $10 a month sends you a bag of goodies, make-up and skin care to try.  In spite of a bit of, in my opinion, misguided marketing efforts not the least of which is calling their customers ‘ipsters’ as a play on ‘hipsters’ and personally makes me go ‘ick’, I think it’s a great little service.  However, because ‘Canada’, that’s a $15 monthly fee instead.

Recently, IRL I had to send a customer a price list and as he was located in the US I had to explain that the prices would be higher as ours was a Canadian price list.  He was genuinely taken aback.  I told him to flip over a book sometime and see that generally, things just cost more in Canada - and really for no discernible reason.  Although the government is currently seeking price equality at a national level.

I’ve been grappling with how to write about the subject of online stores and their related service fees and today I realized that in all honesty the reason is probably because Canada.

I’ll preface this by saying I have not e-shopped in the US and have no personal experience with their shipping policies, but since many things ‘Canadian’ are still American, I can generally see that there are pretty liberal, at least in comparison, shipping and return policies with most US to US e-shopping.  Then again I could be totally wrong.

But here in Canada, I have some experience.  Generally most stores have a decent minimum order, or periods of no cost shipping in order to entice customers to order.  The good ones also provide amazing return policies.  So here’s the disconnect for me - if I’m not getting better prices on your web site, and I have to pay for my own shipping there and back, what’s the incentive for me to shop online?

I am a lot of years removed from my retail days but I doubt the goal of repeat business and multi-unit transactions has changed that much.  So it follows if I walk into your store, I am assuming that the cost of that store, staffing it and marketing it are part of the price of the items.  If you’re an e-tailer, you don’t incur all those costs, I should be getting a better deal to reflect that, or at the very least, have my shipping covered.  Or if a physical store who also e-tails, basically, I’m not only paying for your stores but also for you to pack that parcel; the one that I paid for?!  And that I find confusing.

Yes I know there are costs associated with running a web store.  But you can’t tell me they are near as high as a physical location.  And to that end, with your added reach to markets beyond your geography, you should have an uptick in sales to further compensate. 

Let’s take my favourite retailer of late, well e-tailer to me.  Located only in la belle provence, Simons (I’ll give them a little shout out), a suggestion for another friend, offers decent low cost knit times, which I personally pretty much live in.  Orders over $50 are shipped for free, and they seem to have frequent no limit shipping promotions.  Orders arrive nicely wrapped in a branded box, folded, not in plastic bags, and your invoice in an envelope.  But the kicker, no questions asked returns.  Just go back to your account, tick the items you want to return, print the return label and take the box to the post office and your money returned upon receipt, which they acknowledge via e-mail.  Easy.  Peasy.  So if I’m uncertain of a size, I just order two and away I go, returning the one that doesn’t fit.  I’ve never set foot in their store – although I probably will if I’m near one now, and I order from them frequently.  Bonus points for showing both the back and front of an item and including the garment composition.

Conversely one of my favourite stores at the mall, Ricki’s, which is also not so conveniently located near me, doesn’t do it quite so well.  Shipping offers of under $5 are common, usually either $2 or $4 regardless of the dollar value of the order, but the kicker is, you can return anything to the store, but via mail you have to cover the return fees.  And that bothers me.  And I can’t use my store issued gift card credit online.  They do a good job of images and views, but composition isn’t listed, so for someone like me who likes a bit of spandex in her tee’s, I have to guess a lot. 

I could go on, but I won’t.  I will say that there’s a perfect set of features out there for garment sites.  Unfortunately I’ve never run into it all on one site.  So if you’re a retailer, and you’re reading this here’s what we need.   Multiple views of the item; front and back.  And a shot of the item in each colour, not some crappy colour swatch.  On a dummy form is great, or if the manufacturer gives you a product shot that’s great too.  I clearly like to know the composition of the item.  A ‘runs large or small’ indicator is a nice to have but not a deal breaker.  But if there’s one thing I could insist every site has it would be a size filter.  A multi select size filter – so that when I’m looking at items I can filter for my sizes only and not get all excited about something that is only left in XS.  And if I could, and I know it’s in vain, a ship to Canada landed price.  Although to be honest, I’ve been burned enough by landing fees to avoid shopping in the US or outside my country anymore.

So we’re not changing the world here, just my little corner of it.  And while I have some reservations about this Ipsy thing – like do they amp up the first couple of bags to hook you, or does it last.  In the mean time; lookie what I got!

March 2014 Ipsy Bag

observations of an 8 week old twitter user

Ok, admittedly it’s been more like 11 weeks, but really my Twitter use is very much in its infancy.  At this point, we’re still counting my age in weeks.  Weeks. 

Yes I was late to the game but it took a long time before someone succinctly explained why I would like Twitter.  While I don’t recall having anyone say something specifically stunning, the suggestion that I would like the forum came from so many places in my life I finally gave it a whirl. 

Incidentally I signed up for Pinterest the same day and I’m not so much loving it.  And while I’m fessing up, with LinkedIn I continue to fail to find the a-ha so far, but I’m keeping it on the ‘not dumped yet’ list.

In many ways we are living through a very intensive and interesting change in consumer conduct and interaction.  The mobility of the average consumer makes them that much more in tune with their options beyond what is available to them.  The internet has become the best and worst gossip venue - ever.  So while you have to temper what you read with not only what value the opinion has for you but also whether or not it is an anomaly, it is now almost impossible to continue to deliver bad service without the word getting out.  Combine that with changing delivery methods for shopping as the retail space tries to figure out how keep abreast of very diverse habits, it’s almost like the Wild West out there.

As a consumer, and acutely observant of my own behaviour, and all while trying to not to get too far off on a tangent, I can’t help but notice, that I tend to browse on line but want to experience the item in person before committing to it, with rare exception.  However a liberal and easy to use return policy can be used to sway me.  And I’m slowly learning who employs a really good in-house photographer.  On the other hand I think the drug and grocery store industry is completely missing the boat.  But again I’m trying to stay on point and the point is; we’re changing the way we consume.

As already discussed in this space my limited interaction with companies via Twitter has been fascinating.  And influential.  While I’m astounded at some of the responses from companies I really don’t expect much from, I’m equally perplexed by companies that I expect to be on top of things, being not on the ball.

Influenced so much that I am considering whether or not to continue to shop at retailers that choose not to interact directly with their consumers when tweeted directly.  Ikea I’m looking at you, and I like Ikea, or I did, but now I’m on the fence.

On the other side of the coin, I’ve recently been blown away by responses from Greyhound, which is often on my top ten list of annoying but essential companies that I must deal with because I have no car.  Yes their reply was pedestrian but it was prompt.  And believe me when I say I’ve complained to Greyhound over the years, via e-mail, phone and in person essentially to no end.  PC Financial falls into this odd space too, as I didn’t even use their handle in my complaint, again a canned response but still a response.

The only issue that will come of this canned ‘thank you for your feedback’ responding is that it will quickly smell of what a good friend calls the ‘PFO’.  Back in the day when you went to a job interview and didn’t get the job, eventually you’d get a form letter, addressed to you via mail merge, basically saying ‘Thank you for your time, Please Fuck Off’ and then you knew for certain the job wasn’t yours.  Of course as I write about it, this feels so quaint.   Now you’re to assume that your resume fell into a big vat of computer rejected filters and you and all links to you were deleted upon receipt. 

So as Christmas approaches and I’m forced into the mall to shop for others on a deadline, with people who generally avoid the mall, do I consider taking up the challenge and confining my dollars to those who are harnessing the Twitterverse, early, and in novel ways?

consumption

In addition to the time I spend objecting to and about companies and the various levels of service I experience; and besides the endless hours I while away jumping from link to link on the internet I am currently spending a great deal of time considering with what my next job should be.  Of late, and after what seems to be the world’s longest mid(ish)-life crisis, I feel like there needs to be a distinct and planned approach to the next stage of my life.  And barring the idiosyncrasies of my own internal thought process, it does, at times, feel as if this task consumes me.

There was also a joke I was trying to work in about having spent the last several weeks being sick with cold and chest infection, thereby having ‘consumption’ but I just couldn’t get the tempo of it worked out.

So as I think on and about how and where I want to take my next venture; I also seem to be thinking about my new encounters in the Twitterverse and my unintentional discovery of how some marketers are using this, and other social platforms, to extend their customer service outreach. And I’m fascinated.

@TTCHelps – the online persona of TTC customer liaison is prompt in replying to people in a forthright manner.  In fact, I tripped over them very early in my app adoption kibitzing about the on train ‘are-they-aren’t-they’ announcements on the subway one morning.  To my flippant tweet that I couldn’t decide if the TTC announcements were informative or infuriating, they replied ‘hopefully more informative than annoying’ and with that simple exchange I started to get it.

Next was @CampbellCares – the soup company that noted my tweet complaining, while suffering my cold, that I could no longer find my preferred Turkey Chunky soup and that the Chicken flavor just didn’t cut it.  Not only did they respond; they tracked down stores nearby that I might be able to find my favoured flavor at.  Then @FURminator_Inc. favourited my tweet about my, somewhat, bizarre affinity for their pet brush.

Ricki’s, who is not on Twitter but does use Facebook, after announcing a sale and then having their website crash, did take the time to answer each person who commented on the issue on the FB feed.  In a world where using the comment feature to acknowledge the issue globally is available it was a decided personal touch to reply to each of, even if they did recycle their response.

The IKEA follow up, via a real live person, discussed in this blog, also fell into this sweep of service responses.  But I have to say I’m somewhat disappointed that after I lauded the employee who assisted me so well to @IKEACanada five days ago and they have yet to acknowledge my approval.  And in my estimation a bit of an error on their part.

The friend who strongly encouraged my adoption of Twitter and its little unique universe and I have discussed my interest in both this new (to me) medium and how it could move customer experience and service into the most interesting places - which in turn gets me thinking, again, and more, about where I should take my next career venture.  

The next steps are not entirely, yet, apparent to me but I do believe that service is the next great venture of business and somehow I’d like to be involved.