The Shop Refurbishment is complete (almost!)

After several weeks of brain storming, discussions, planning, designing and head scratching we finally ceased trading after business on Saturday 4th September 2010 in order to begin the refurbishment and transformation of the shop.

Good Bye 'Sewing Centre Settle' 



Saturday Evening
First job was to completely empty the shop of all stock and fittings



So much stock to pack away!
(Thanks to Ann for all the storage boxes)

Sunday
All the fittings were taken away into temporary storage.
(Thanks to Tony for the use of his van and to David for the use of his storage unit)

Sue dismantling the last of the display units

Sue removing some old stickers from the window

Monday
The Joiner, Plumber and Electricians all turn up as promised

Its surprising what you find when you strip away the panelling.

Stud work is soon assembled and installed and 'frosting' is applied to redundant side window

Steve (the Joiner) carefully sizes up the situation!

Tuesday
Slat Boards are delivered on schedule

Steve (the Joiner) wastes no time in installing the first slat boards

Another surprise revealed when the old cladding is removed

Suspended ceiling is installed in the front of the shop

Suspended ceiling is installed in the rear of the shop

New carpet being laid

Really beginning to look the business!

Yarns are the first products to be retrieved from storage

More stock is brought back to the shop.
Where are we going to put everything?

Steve (the joiner) fits out the front window.

Our new signs arrive
The transformation is almost complete

Hanging Signs are installed on both front and side walls

HELLO COTTONTAIL CRAFTS

A proud and happy Sue

The Yarn & Haberdashery section

Card Making & Work Boxes

Knitting

It's time to refurbish the shop!

We must be mad!

Having spent the past 12 months compiling our website, we have now decided to completely refurbish our shop. We have been inspired by watching the BBC Programme  'Mary Queen of Shops'. The ideas she has for transforming small retail shops such as ours are fantastic.

Steve has been busy measuring up and experimenting with different layouts on the computer. We are very limited for space and so it is a real challenge to come up with a format and design that allows us to offer a wide range of fantastic crafting products without over crowding and cluttering the shop. We want to be able to display more inspirational crafting ideas and to make it easier for customers to browse through our wide range of products.

We have bought several books on retailing to seek out ideas we can adapt and we have been visiting other retailers to see what they are doing - we are certainly not too proud to 'steal' their best ideas. Earlier in the week we visited 'Inspirations' in Preston. 'Inspirations' is a relatively new venture by Ann Newhouse, an old friend of Sue's.  Ann made us really welcome and it was great to catch up on all the news. It's the nice thing about the crafting industry - even though we are competitors, everyone is really friendly and supportive and willing to share ideas and experiences.

After leaving Ann, we spent the rest of the day at a shopfitters in Preston looking at the vast variety of diplays and fittings that are available.

We ended the day with heads full of new and exciting ideas which Steve is now incorporating into the design layouts.

A Short Tour of Our Shop

Our shop, currently called 'Settle Sewing Centre - A Crafters Paradise' can be found in Settle - a lovely market town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. We are located on the corner of Duke Street and Station Road - not far from Settle Railway Station, the beginning of the famous Settle-Carlisle Railway.

Sue - outside the shop

Although the shop is quite small, it is crammed full with crafting products of every description. (It was only when we came to load them all on the website that we realised how many there are - over 5000!)

Customers describe it as an 'Aladdins Cave' - it has an 'old-fashioned' feel to it which is just how we like it. We don't want it to feel like a 'sanitised' chain store that you can find on the high street of any large town. It is a 'specialist' shop, owned and run by an enthusiastic expert crafter (Sue - not me!) who places customer service and satisfaction right at the top of the list.

Let's have a look around the shop:

Our display of threads - over 300 colours!!

Needle Craft Kits by all the major suppliers

Ribbons Galore - every colour and style imaginable!

Haberdashery

"if they make it- we stock it! (or can usually get it for you)"

A small selection of our extensive range of Knitting Yarns

Crafts for Kids!

All of these pictures are taken on the ground floor of the shop.

Upstairs is where Sue has her office and workshop where she does 'alterations' (anything from shortening a pair of trousers to the remodelling of an 'ebay bought' Wedding Dress!).

Also upstairs is our stock room and packing area which we have recently had great fun (if you are a masochist!) refurbishing.

So there you are - that's our shop and that's where your purchase from Cottontail Crafts is picked, packed and despatched.

Welcome to the Cottontail Crafts Blog

Welcome to the first entry in the Cottontail Crafts Blog.

My name is Steve and I am the husband (of 5 weeks!) of Sue, the owner of Settle Sewing Centre (which will shortly be renamed Cottontail Crafts).

This blog will provide a means for our customers to be kept informed of developments, news, gossip, new products etc associated with Cottontail Crafts and will also provide a useful record of the journey we are about to embark on as we get ready to 'go live' with our e-commerce website.

Over the past 12 months, I have been building the e-commerce website www.cottontailcrafts.co.uk. Over 3500 products have been photographed and loaded on to the site. It has been a mammoth task and much more demanding than we ever thought. I have never done anything like this before so it has been quite a steep learning curve - It's a good job that I enjoy a challenge!

In preparation for the launch of the website, Sue and I have also been doing some work in the shop. A new storeroom has been created from what was 3 separate rooms. This involved knocking down partitions, replastering walls, rewiring the electrics, laying new floor covering and installing new pigeon hole shelving units. It was hard work, especially as it had to be fitted around 'business as normal', but the end result is really good and will enable us to more efficiently deal with the massive rush of orders when the site goes live (we hope!!).

As I write, we are just awaiting the necessary information which will enable us to take on-line payments. We are told that it could take 10 days! In the mean time, Sue is double checking accuracy of pricing, stock levels and product descriptions and I am continuing to add additional products that keep appearing in the shop!