This week, I launch, Chronicles of My Retail Life, a weekly series of blogs about what’s happening with me at Calabar Imports. It’s a short synopsis of the life of a retailer in Brooklyn and Harlem from day to day events, insights on what happens in the store and what ideas are implemented and dropped. This series will be written every Tuesday and will contain some discussion on the changes and growth we are experiencing. Some customers and people will not be named but initials will be used to protect some of their identities and privacy.

Week One: October 14-19

I begin my week on Thursday after taking two days off – I call this day the first of my travel days as I spend it going to at least two stores to update windows, bring in merchandise, talk with staff and new initiatives. I begin it on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights where all our merchandise arrives each week. This is Calabar Imports’ headquarters.

At the head quarters, I sort out what merchandise has arrived and place them into four piles. Each store gets one pack of items or what I feel best fits that location. We are in four different yet similar locations in Brooklyn and Harlem. The one thing I have not added to this process that staff needs to do is log in all merchandise in the Square system that is now available in all stores.

Franklin Avenue:

Crown Heights is interesting – This is Heloise’s store – she is the point person there and runs it in her own special way. I have been her child too long to know not to interfere – but there are days I try to. This is the store that we relocated our Washington Avenue store  to after the fire and it is the store where I began to plan to expansion and growth of Calabar Imports into 4 stores.

I leave Franklin Avenue and head for Boerum Hill to the Third Avenue Store, this was the third store we opened after the fire – in a new neighborhood that I watched for a year. It was a pleasure to open this store here as it was something that was missing on this strip. Third Avenue is the smallest of our stores, it’s cute and quaint and comes with the contrasts of New York extremes – the Gowanus Houses and Extreme Luxury Apartments on one side. So, imagine the customers we get. All good, but it is REAL New York.

Boerum Hill: Third Avenue

At Third Avenue, I do the window on Thursday – use the new clothing and new products that come in to showcase what we have and what’s new. The challenge is to keep this inviting for the two exteeme demographics, it’s a balancing act.

This store is in proximity to the heart of Brooklyn – and in the midst of the development of hotels in proximity to Barclays and Atlantic Center, and two blocks from Atlantic Avenue. This is the store I have to bring my innovative ideas and I will be looking to partner with others to do some creative things here. After I finish with Third Avenue, I decide if the day is not gone to go home to do some more marketing or to head to Harlem or Bed Stuy. This week, I went on to Bed Stuy – it was important to re-examine that store. Ariel is now fully settled into Third Avenue – I think this pace has given her time to ponder her goals and what next. Sometimes you make your business a place for your employees to take their time and grow themselves, build their careers, finish school and make their next move. That was what my first job in the US did for me. I hold that memory dear and a learning lesson.

Tompkins Avenue:

I love the journey from Third Avenue to Tompkins, I intentionally take the B52 bus as it weaves me from Fulton Street through Fort Greene into Bed Stuy. It is in this bus where I write my to do list for the next week after reviewing what’s on the list for this week. These days – my to do list always has 7 items – one item for each day of the week. I have found that has been the solution to all my best laid plans. If I achieve one item a day – I have done a lot. And if I do more – I have over achieved. I use to have 10 things a day – and accomplish 2-4 – so it became clear that the list did not work and so a new approach was discovered. I celebrate getting one item done each day – I am much happier and my list does not pile up. It’s the simple things that make life so easy. It is on this bus I remember the B52s band and hum their songs often.

When I arrive at Tompkins – Cassandra is at helm of this space. If you have not me Cassandra – I would say a trip to Bed Stuy is a must on Thursday and Friday. Like my mother, Cassandra is a retired teacher, she loves her freedom and working at Calabar gives her time to be out of her apartment – meet new people and help grow a business, she made that commitment to me a year ago, and I value that. At Tompkins Avenue, we sit and talk about what happened last week, what needs to be accomplished this week and month and also when she plans to travel again. Yes, scheduling is a conversation I have frequently with the four women I work with and my business partner. Each of us have lives outside the store and making sure everyone gets to do the other parts of their lives or businesses is vital to a working ship like Calabar Imports. Some days it is a challenge – other days – it works out so smoothly. I typically head home after a few hours to actually cook dinner – yes, I do cook – usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But this week, I head up to Harlem to get ready for Women’s Writers of the Diaspora hosted by Celesti Colds Fechter.

The Weekend:

Saturday for me is in Bed Stuy while Sunday and Monday are in Harlem and these are the days I work in the stores. I chose these two because there are the event spaces we have and I am looking to grow that part of our business into a community asset. I think space is a premium but it belongs to a community who exercises the use of it. And my spaces belongs to the communities we are based in. It’s getting them to see its value and buy-in to ownership of it; it’s an interesting puzzle for communities that are usually challenged about rights and ownership. As someone who has acquired space, I know how hard it is to get and see that providing access to it is crucial for those working on creative endeavors. I made a decision to do it sometimes for free depending on the individual, project or idea – and other times for a small fee so that the individual owns and sets value to it. The key for me is simple – are you going to give this gift to someone else for free too, it’s just that simple. Free is not free but it’s growing someone else besides yourself.

By Monday in the stores, I have re-calibrated and worked on several new initiatives, this week was to begin the Holiday marketing campaign, send out newsletters and engage all social media parts of the company. I have taken over the social media part of the company after a year of a staff running it. The goal here was to re-brand it – as both an educational forum and a sales platform. It’s a lot of work and hectic but it’s vital as I plan to build it to a complex and defined platform for the business. My day ended late on Monday and as I complete this first blog today, I am please to say that it has been a good week, so please join my adventures: Chronicles of My Retail Life, follow me and share this blog with others today.