Friends:

I’ve been pretty busy lately, which has given me little time to write here.  Sorry ’bout that, but there’s some exciting news:

We’re opening a retail store!

“Wait,” you say, “aren’t you in the funeral business?  How you gonna retail funeral supplies?”

Good questions and even better skepticism, which may explain why I’m not focusing on funerals for the retail project, but something I also know:  uniforms.

Working for a metropolitan fire department, I know the daily grind of finding, buying and fitting uniforms for firefighters.  And since many of these guys also have uniform-wearing wives (think nurses, vet techs, daycare workers) I know the need for uniforms in my area.

Plus, our funeral supply business is growing at an impressive enough rate that we’ll soon outgrow our warehouse-style space, making a move to a larger location painful (financially) without any benefit other than more space.

So I’ve decided to find another niche that will allow us to provide a necessary product where solutions and good customer service will be appreciated.  And I’ll “marry” that product (uniforms) to our current offerings in a single space.

First, the retail portion of the store will be completely separate from the back office functions, which will include production and storage space for our quilted cot covers.  We’ll take advantage of the storefront, giving UPS a place to pick up our packages (right now I drive boxed cot covers to the Post Office).

It’s also time for a full-time or almost-full-time employee for the business – other than me – so I figure that person can sell scrubs to nurses and pants to firefighters when there aren’t any cot cover orders to fulfill.  I’ll also use our four part-time employees to help with orders, so that big conventions and nurses’ week don’t destroy our sanity.

So now I’m busy lining up manufacturers and getting the lights turned on and buying insurance and finding 4-way garment racks and negotiating a lease and getting permits and paying for licenses and……

Going crazy!