We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allie Launius. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allie below.
Allie, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
One of the biggest challenges to profitability in the vintage furniture industry is that big leaps can get large payouts, but the risks are always so high! With higher end pieces, the profit margins are higher, but often come with a higher initial cost, and may take longer to sell. It can be so worth it, but paying attention to cash flow and being realistic in knowing how long a piece can take to sell is key. You don’t want to get in a position where you are discounting your assets for more liquidity. Feeling comfortable with holding a piece until the right buyer comes along is something I keep in mind when purchasing pricier pieces.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Stampworthy Goods was born from Allie’s love for hunting for vintage pieces of furniture. What started as a box of leftover tile and a throw away chest turned into a refurbished statement piece that her friends all wanted to purchase and commission one for themselves.
From there, Stampworthy has continued sourcing vintage furniture from across Texas and launched a custom, made-to-order furniture line: The Primera Collection combining local craftmanship and artisan tile. Clients can become the designer themselves, and pick the wood and tile of their choice to customize their own heirloom piece.
In 2020, Stampworthy moved into a showroom space in Lockhart, Texas filled to the brim with vintage pieces and tiled furniture. Allie has grown to be the largest soley operated vintage shop in Austin and the Austin greater area.
Stampworthy provides free delivery locally and nationwide shipping for all pieces.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I moved my location to Lockhart, it was a new challenge being 30+ minutes away from my clientele and target market in Austin. I was concerned this would impact my sales and overall brand awareness in the Austin area market. I decided to add a small amount to each furniture price to include “free delivery” to make it a more appealing option. Logistically I managed this cost by using my delivery driver once a week for picking up items to bring to my shop and on his way home, having him deliver customer’s pieces. This not only kept sales from dropping, but ended up increasing my sales because customers were happy to have someone deliver a couch from Lockhart for example, rather than even picking it up themselves in Austin!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
One of the best activities I do for my business every year or so is to create a customer persona. Thinking about the type of person I want as customers – what do they do for work? What are their other interests? Where do they travel/eat out/what are their hobbies? etc etc. I then align my brand with similar brands and do partnerships so gain exposure to their clientele. For example, Clay Imports is a local tile company that focuses on handmade, high quality products. The type of customer that enjoys their products are likely to appreciate high quality vintage furniture as well. I’ve done multiple partnerships with them as a result.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stampworthygoods.com
- Instagram: @stampworthygoods