Help us buy Stuffington's Ceramics and More!
Donation protected
Who we are:
Hi! Our names are Claire and Colleen. We met more than a decade ago and through a shared love of crafts and geekery, a friendship grew.
Stuffington’s Emporium has been our labor of love for several years now. It started off as just the two of us and our love for crafting and bringing joy to others with the things we made. It then expanded from making gifts for friends and family to taking commissions for custom pieces. As the demand for commissions grew, we recognized the need to take this from a hobby to a business.
We both have experience managing and owning businesses and decided to put that experience to work. We opened up an online store at https://stuffingtons.com, with future plans to open a store front “someday.”
Well, the future came a bit earlier than expected in the form of an amazing opportunity. The current owner of the local studio we’ve been using to get our ceramic pieces fired has decided to retire and she wants to sell us her business. We would love to take this already successful business and build it up even further. For that, we need your help.
What we need:
Because this business is currently in operation, our needs are different than if we were opening a brand new business from scratch. Our short term needs to get this dream growing are:
- Funds to purchase the business from the current owner
- Legal, administrative, and permitting fees
- Install 3-phase electrical outlets and ventilation assessment/upgrade
- Install new signage
- Marketing to let the community know who we are and what we do
- Replacing worn out furniture and equipment
- Deep cleaning and sanitizing to meet current and upcoming COVID guidelines as dictated by the state of Washington.
We also have some long term goals to provide a solid foundation to really build the business up, but we’ll be addressing those once we’ve transitioned the business and gotten our feet under us.
Our thanks:
We couldn't do this without all your help, and we want to thank everyone who contributes to get this going with a tile on our planned mosaic Donor Tree. There are several sizes of tile reflecting the amount of donation, from 1" squares that form the foundation to large leaves (representing growth).
Our plan:
The business is currently a paint-your-own ceramics studio that has been making customers happy for over 20 years. We are planning to carry on with what has been started and add on to it with:
- Online classes and tutorials
- Paint at home options
- Craft classes taught by guest instructors
- In-store events
- Event rental space
- And so much more!
Stuffington’s Emporium, the online store, isn’t going away. We’ll still be there at https://www.stuffingtons.com to sell all kinds of craft products and to take commissions for custom pieces.
Risks and challenges:
We’ve spoken to experts (accountant, lawyer, property manager, electrician, insurance agent, etc.) and done our best to account for all needs, but we are not omniscient, so there is always a risk that something unexpected will come up and we will need to re-look at the funds we need and where they need to be allocated.
One of our biggest challenges is that we are planning to take over a retail business while the world is still battling a global pandemic. The business is currently open within the WA state guidelines and has plans in place for handling ongoing sanitizing and social distancing guidelines at all levels of business restriction. It provides options for those who are unable to create onsite and who need or prefer to work on their projects at home. If another full lockdown is mandated we have plans and procedures in place to transition to an exclusively take-home business model for as long as needed.
Other ways to help:
Because of the pandemic and, well life in general, we understand that not everyone is able to contribute monetarily. There are still ways you can help!
- Share this campaign with those you know; friends, family, social groups, church members, colleagues – anyone you think would be interested.
- Encourage those people to share the campaign as well. The more people we reach, the more likely we are to reach our goal.
- Follow us on social media and interact with our posts – like, comment, and share. Every interaction increases our visibility.
- If you have something we’ve made for you in the past, please share it and tag us!
Thank you so much for reading this, and we hope we can add you to our Donor Tree with pride.
Sincerely,
Claire and Colleen
Hi! Our names are Claire and Colleen. We met more than a decade ago and through a shared love of crafts and geekery, a friendship grew.
Stuffington’s Emporium has been our labor of love for several years now. It started off as just the two of us and our love for crafting and bringing joy to others with the things we made. It then expanded from making gifts for friends and family to taking commissions for custom pieces. As the demand for commissions grew, we recognized the need to take this from a hobby to a business.
We both have experience managing and owning businesses and decided to put that experience to work. We opened up an online store at https://stuffingtons.com, with future plans to open a store front “someday.”
Well, the future came a bit earlier than expected in the form of an amazing opportunity. The current owner of the local studio we’ve been using to get our ceramic pieces fired has decided to retire and she wants to sell us her business. We would love to take this already successful business and build it up even further. For that, we need your help.
What we need:
Because this business is currently in operation, our needs are different than if we were opening a brand new business from scratch. Our short term needs to get this dream growing are:
- Funds to purchase the business from the current owner
- Legal, administrative, and permitting fees
- Install 3-phase electrical outlets and ventilation assessment/upgrade
- Install new signage
- Marketing to let the community know who we are and what we do
- Replacing worn out furniture and equipment
- Deep cleaning and sanitizing to meet current and upcoming COVID guidelines as dictated by the state of Washington.
We also have some long term goals to provide a solid foundation to really build the business up, but we’ll be addressing those once we’ve transitioned the business and gotten our feet under us.
Our thanks:
We couldn't do this without all your help, and we want to thank everyone who contributes to get this going with a tile on our planned mosaic Donor Tree. There are several sizes of tile reflecting the amount of donation, from 1" squares that form the foundation to large leaves (representing growth).
Our plan:
The business is currently a paint-your-own ceramics studio that has been making customers happy for over 20 years. We are planning to carry on with what has been started and add on to it with:
- Online classes and tutorials
- Paint at home options
- Craft classes taught by guest instructors
- In-store events
- Event rental space
- And so much more!
Stuffington’s Emporium, the online store, isn’t going away. We’ll still be there at https://www.stuffingtons.com to sell all kinds of craft products and to take commissions for custom pieces.
Risks and challenges:
We’ve spoken to experts (accountant, lawyer, property manager, electrician, insurance agent, etc.) and done our best to account for all needs, but we are not omniscient, so there is always a risk that something unexpected will come up and we will need to re-look at the funds we need and where they need to be allocated.
One of our biggest challenges is that we are planning to take over a retail business while the world is still battling a global pandemic. The business is currently open within the WA state guidelines and has plans in place for handling ongoing sanitizing and social distancing guidelines at all levels of business restriction. It provides options for those who are unable to create onsite and who need or prefer to work on their projects at home. If another full lockdown is mandated we have plans and procedures in place to transition to an exclusively take-home business model for as long as needed.
Other ways to help:
Because of the pandemic and, well life in general, we understand that not everyone is able to contribute monetarily. There are still ways you can help!
- Share this campaign with those you know; friends, family, social groups, church members, colleagues – anyone you think would be interested.
- Encourage those people to share the campaign as well. The more people we reach, the more likely we are to reach our goal.
- Follow us on social media and interact with our posts – like, comment, and share. Every interaction increases our visibility.
- If you have something we’ve made for you in the past, please share it and tag us!
Thank you so much for reading this, and we hope we can add you to our Donor Tree with pride.
Sincerely,
Claire and Colleen
Fundraising team (2)
Claire Bruining
Organizer
Snohomish, WA
Colleen Hannon
Team member