2015 was the year that we really went all in on focusing on the Kansas City market, and moved away from shipping. But we couldn’t quite make the leap to stop shipping completely. It was part of our identity to be a national brand, I had worked hard to advertise on a national basis, and a good bit of our revenue had come from shipping. On the flip side, the most shipped items were of course our most popular items, shipping meant we had to book an item out for 2 weekends instead of one to allow time for transit, and we were having to turn down in town orders because items were already booked for out of town orders. So we slowly backed away from shipping, but just couldn’t quite give it up yet.
We did expand into items that couldn’t be shipped – including adding Farm Tables! We were the first rental company in town to offer them, and we made them all ourselves – no one was offering them to purchase yet.
I also was pregnant, and getting closer and closer by the day to having two kids. This, combined with the addition of farm tables to our inventory, meant we couldn’t keep using my hatchback as our main delivery vehicle. I MAY have had a bit of a breakdown about it one day while driving with David while 40 weeks pregnant. So we pulled into a used car lot and bought (with a credit card) a 2002 white cargo van with 150,000 miles on it, and named her Betty White.
GIVEAWAY: In honor of both the year we committed to the Kansas City market, and our tagline – We Love to Share – we are sharing items from some of our favorite Kansas City companies as part of a giveaway of over $550 worth of stuff!
This giveaway includes:
- My three favorite sets of earrings and favorite mask from Hazel and Ollie (The owner, Emily, used to have a great floral company that we loved to work work with, and she had a flower arranging class called Bloom Academy that was first hosted in our show room.)
- A three month subscription to White Carpet Ready (This beauty product box will get your hair and skin ready for your big day! Brought to us by my dear friends at White Carpet Bride.)
- Two jars of apple butter from Weston Red Barn Farm (Red Barn Farm is where both Kerry and I got married, it’s our go-to Fall pumpkin patch, and we also love working with them!)
- An “I found love in Kansas City” shirt from Wed KC (We have had a longstanding relationship with this magazine through MANY styled shoots and their Vendors Choice Awards – I love this shirt that they offer!)
- A dozen Chiefs cookies from Cami’s Cake Co – must be picked up from the Legends on Saturday, Feb 6 at 1 PM (Cami’s Cake Co is one of the first cake companies that I met in KC – she did my sister’s wedding and I took her cookie decorating class!0
- $150 gift card towards Inspired Occasions: At Home Dinners (Inspired Occasions is one of our biggest clients that we love working with, and their food is delicious!)
To enter, head over to our Instagram post!
