As many of you know, I used to own an e-boutique. For 5 years it was my “me thing.” It was what I did. In addition, of course, to mothering and wifing and writing and blogging and PTOing and…
I had wanted to run a boutique since I was in college when I worked in a Greek/University store. I loved the social relations. I loved the creativity of dressing windows. I didn’t even hate inventory and shipping.
So, when Big was about 13 months I was looking for something to do. I mean, life was easy back then. I wasn’t working. Big slept 3-4 hours a day and I could only clean and do laundry and make dinner for some of that time. Plus, after being baby-life-crazy-focused for all the other hours of the day, I needed something for me. It was time to live a dream.
My goal, in forming Precious Personalities, was to create a boutique for hard-to-find items. My first two products were viral in their popularity, but once they were sold to the mainstream I moved on to find other hot products.
That was the best part of boutique-ing, you know? Getting to shop for others. I loved going to the shows in New York to find products and then buying them for others.
Fast forward to the present and with 3 kids, as much as I loved boutique-ing, I wasn’t in it. My heart, I mean. Shipping took too much time. Paperwork was a bear. I had to cut back. And I chose to cut the boutique (though, officially, Precious Personalities hasn’t been shut down. I still have stock taking up space in a basement closet. Want something?) It wasn’t an easy decision, but things are going for me in a lot of directions and, I mean, I have 3 kids now, you know?
So, I cut the boutique. And in doing so, I realized what I probably already knew: my favorite part of boutique-ing is shopping for others. Then, I heard about The OpenSky Project. OpenSky allows me to have a boutique where I pick the items I want to sell, set up my own store and sell them to you, my favorite customers. Then, after you place your order, I don’t have to do the work. I don’t keep the records. I don’t worry about shipping or inventory or any of that. I get to do my favorite part of boutique-ing, they get to do the work I don’t love, and you get my fine-eye for parenting and children’s products that are, just as they were in Precious Personalities, good enough to have and use in my home, and unique enough that you won’t find them at Target.
Introducing Precious Picks by Just Precious. Go. Click. Shop. There are only a few products right now, just like there were only 2 products when I first opened Precious Personalities. But it will grow. I’m going to wait to find the right products for my readers. The unique ones. The ones that you want to gift and get.
I also ask you to let me know what you think. Tweet me, e-mail me, comment to this post. Do you have new products that I need to carry in my shop? Do you want to work on a promo with me? I’m all ears and eyes (and typing fingers) over here. Even if you aren’t wanting to shop right now, please let me know your thoughts.
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