Friday, Nov. 23, 2012
Harrisonville business to get mobbed
Scrapbooking store offers more than just supplies
By Bethany Bashioum
bbashioum@demo-mo.com
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ReprintScrapbook-N-Memories is every crafty girl’s dream.
From all the supplies you might need, to classes that offer that cup of inspiration that you have been looking for, the Harrisonville boutique is the place to be.
Owned by Kourtney Osborn-Vallee, 32, of Harrisonville, the shop, located at 2003 Plaza Dr., in Gaslight Plaza Shops, is being targeted by the Kansas City Metro Area Cash Mob on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 24.
“I think it is a great movement,” she said. “No two (scrapbooking) stores have the same taste, and I’m hoping we can get the word out about our store and what we have to offer.”
The event begins at 11 a.m.
Every month, the cash mob rallies people from all over the Kansas City area to shop at a particular business on both sides of the state line, on a particular day armed with cash to give them a big economic boost and exposure.
The mob uses social media for people to vote in selecting both an independent, locally-owned retail store and restaurant each month.
The business who receives the most votes wins.
At the cash mob, there are a couple of rules - spend $20 cash and meet three people you didn’t know already.
Local entrepreneurs, Burton Kelso, owner of Integral Computer Consultants, and Kelly Dobyns Ziegler of ZiggyFranz Advertising, are the organizers of the cash mob in Kansas City.
After reading an article about mobs in the Wall Street Journal, the two companies got together to help other locally owned businesses in the Kansas City area.
Their first event was held Jan. 19 Westwood Hills, Kan.
In addition to a stock including wealth of variety among scrapbooking paper, adhesives and other tools, patrons can also make special orders for products not typically carried in the store.
Osborn-Vallee’s store will celebrate their seventh anniversary in December.
“I have always liked arts and crafts,” Osborn-Vallee said. “I did scrapbooking before it even had a name. Growing up, I always liked to cut out the newspaper clippings, photos, and kind of bind my own albums out of paper pages.”
It was while she was student at the University of Missouri, studying business, that Osborn-Vallee’s roommate introduced her to her real scrapbooking store.
“It was in Columbia, and I couldn’t believe there were stores just for scrapbooking,” she said. “I think I spent six hours in there.”
Osborn-Vallee said that for her, creating is kind of like therapy for herself, and the other women who have gotten into scrapbooking and other kind of paper crafts, such as albums, journals and cardmaking.
The store also stocks scrapbooking lasers, paper and adhesives for local school and entertainment attractions
In addition to her retail space, Osborn-Vallee offers a variety of community engagement opportunities.
Each Friday, from 5-10 p.m., the store offers “crop” sessions.
“Crops are when the girls bring whatever they want to work on,” Osborn-Vallee said. “It’s kind of like a therapy time - a time to get away from home, kids, laundry, telephone. We have tables set up downstairs and they bring their photos, albums, cards, or whatever to work on. It’s a great social time, and then if they need help with whatever they are working on, I’m here to help them.”
The Friday night events are free to attend.
Crops are also held on a Saturday once a month. Participants are also served lunch and dinner. The cost is $10 per session.
The store also hosts retreats twice a year in Lincoln. The three-day event begins on a Friday afternoon and lasts through Sunday evening.
“It’s a whole weekend cropping,” Osborn-Vallee said. “Some girls stay up 24 or 48 hours cropping. It’s fun.”
The cost for the weekend, which includes lodging, food, demonstrations, and make-and-takes, ranges from $160-180.
The store hosted their fall retreat earlier this month with 60 women in attendance. Registration for the event sold out five months in advance.
Scrapbook-N-Memories also let their customers resell their items their items they no longer need with a biannual scrapbooking garage sale.
“Girls bring in their stuff and they sell it and we give them a store credit so they can buy new stuff,” Osborn-Valle said. “It’s a huge it - it’s like Black Friday here with a line out the door.”
Special events are updated on the store’s website, www.scrapbooknmemories.net, and on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/scrapbooknmemories.
With Christmas just around the corner, women can also create a Christmas wish list to be kept on file at the store, so if a friend or significant other needs some help picking a few items out, they can use the list.
The store is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
