We recently connected with Maria Smyth and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

This is funny. Alex (my daughter) and I were on a picking trip and kept discussing, “the name.” It seemed a heated discussion would follow anytime we broached the topic.

I wanted a name that would fit the handcrafted goods, artwork, vintage and modern décor, with a small selection of antiques. Alex wanted a name that would encompass all the things mentioned, she wanted the name to be short and simple.

When Alex mentioned Eclectic, I hesitated. I thought we should have a name that was more colorful, a name that was simple enough to spell and pronounce and yet be all inclusive. Of course, I could not think of a name, a word, or a phrase that would describe or encompass everything I wanted.

Eclectic Shoppe was born on the way to the accountants office. I now know that the word Eclectic fits our business type perfectly. We are indeed eclectic and unique. I love our name even when we are called the electric shop. ha!

Maria, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Eclectic Shoppe was born out of the desire to share and feature artwork and handcrafted goods, vintage, modern, and antique items under one roof. I was sitting at the dinner table in Luxu (China) when my daughter and I started discussing the very idea of this unique shop. I remember thinking, hmm how will I broach this topic with Mike (my husband) as we would certainly need his backing. More on this later.

Initially, the talk was about opening up a jewelry store that would feature an assorted mix of costume jewelry; however, we quickly realized that we would have to sell a lot of bracelets to keep the lights on. Plus a Claire’s Boutique already existed and I really was not passionate about just jewelry.

One thing we both shared was passion and love of great finds. We have never been above dumpster diving, picking through the piles of trash during neighborhood cleanups, or thrifting the junkiest places. I feel our love for junking gave Eclectic the fuel it needed to become a shop. We have picked unique items such as salvage, old furniture, vintage décor, and unique items that fit right in. We were still trying to figure out how we were going to make it all work without looking like a thrift store, junkie, or flea market like. My idea was growing, my desire to give old things new life, and the ability to display old items with new kept me searching for great pieces to bring into the shop.

We opened in 2015. In 2016, the Small Business Revolution came to Wabash, IN, and Wabash won the competition by Deluxe to help revitalize the small mom & pop shops. I’m sure there is a better description out there. In 2016 we had over 40 vendors (makers & artists) and we were charging 25% commission base. While this sounds like a lot, it wasn’t. If you’ve seen our episode, you’ve heard Robert Herjavek tell me that was not profitable. ::sigh:: It was hard to hear those words. But, it forced us to look at our books and really understand our financials.

Today, we have 10 vendor/makers. We still support the local artists and makers and enjoy doing so. However, our bread and butter comes from those hard to find pieces, home décor, vintage and the occasional fabulous antique piece. We have a good following both in pedestrian foot traffic and on social media. I no longer have to go junking as much as I used to due to online auctions, estate sales, and promotion through word of mouth. We get called to go over estates and either buy the whole estate or consign parts of the estate. People know we are always looking for unique and hard to find items and they call us.

In November of 2022, we decided to close to take a break, sit back, study, and refresh. Our goal was/is to continue to feature local art/maker items but with a stronger focus on the other items we bring in. We have setup a few vignette’s to help create points of interest to those high sell through styles. We now have a primitive/antiques, mid century modern, modern, and local maker and artwork sections. We are also looking for a new building where we can expand as we are turning estates away due to lack of room. We have made decisions to get the wheels in motion for a move. The building is now for sale. We have a plan (I’m anal with details) and a contingency plan in the event the building sells and I have not found a bigger location.

We are still very much a family owned business with me at the helm, Alex stages the shop, Mike fixes and updates, and Terry (employee) is our researcher and Customer Relations person.

Life is good!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

You may hear this a lot.

In March 2020, like much of the USA, our City shut down due to the pandemic. I need you to know that I have worked at City Hall for almost 5 years, I had never been so grateful for a job outside my shop than during the time of shut down.

Of course like everyone else, I did not want to lose my business. I love my business. I have to admit, I panicked for 3 days, I cried, then I dusted it all off and went into pivot mode. I got busy on day 4!

Within a week of being shut down I started Facebook Live sales. I offered curbside pickup, delivery, and I mailed items out. My Facebook Live sales were a hot mess. I had everything from poor lighting, dropped & broke items, and I never realized how much I cussed. However, that seemed to be entertaining to the viewers. I told stories of our travels. I kept it real and genuine and they kept coming back sale after sale.

Prepping for Facebook Live sales was exhausting and hard work. By the first week of May I felt I had a good rhythm going. Going live twice a week was a necessary and it worked. Our daughters were home and would help package up orders and prepare the mailers.

I have to give Kudos to the Wabash Visitors Center. The team immediately jumped into action and started helping us and other small businesses that needed the help. They were very supportive of all small business owners. I attribute my Facebook Live sales success in part to them for helping me with tips, photography, and for their marketing skills.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I wanted to pick a few of the other topics but this one is so important to me.

In August 2014 my young daughters and I flew back to the USA for a visit and to start looking for a building for the new business idea. I thought I knew what we were doing as we had studied the process of a new business and felt confident about taking the next step. Mike and I had spoken at length about price, location, merchandise, etc.

After weeks of looking around the area and not finding that one building I had just about given up until I walked into a photography studio that had the potential we were looking for. Most buildings available were either too expensive or cheap and needing extensive work.

I was on the last weekend of my trip in the states and was to leave back to China within a few days.

We walked into the photography shop and asked questions regarding the For Sale sign. The owner took the time to show us the building and told us all about the building. I took notes and thought this building could work. If…. This was around the first week of August, 2014. I liked the building, the location, the overall appearance of the building. However, I was not ready to commit or make an offer as I was leaving and I needed time to think over what I had learned.

In October of 2014, I called the owner of this building and asked if her building was still available and to our surprise the building was still for sale. I was excited! We got the purchasing process started and made plans to return to the states.

Funding My Business –

My business plan was a one sheet of paper with many gaps. I believe I missed the whole chapter on operating expenses.

I did not earmark money for the general items necessary to operate a business. Such as:

* New retail Point of Sale
* Printer
* Thermal Paper
* Packaging supplies (bags, tissue, tags, labels, boxes)
* Shipping supplies
* Cleaning supplies
* Internet to operate the Point of Sale
* Electric, Gas, Water, Sewer,
* Advertising
* Membership to various organizations
* Display fixtures
* Inventory

* We purchased the building on Land Contract, 5 years at 6% APR with a $10k down payment

* Dropped an estimated $10k to get the retail space ready for opening
* Spent $5k on flooring – For one retail room (we have 3)
* Spent $10k on a new bathroom
* Spent $3k on a moving/delivery van
* Spent $2k on office equipment and supplies

The Smyth retirement fund helped fund the opening of the Eclectic Shoppe. We spent approximately $50k of our own money before opening for business. I was adamant I did not want to have any kind of debt. We had no personal debt including credit cards.

The moral of the story is, make a business plan and make sure its solid, then go to the bank and GET A LOAN.
I have yet to put the money back into our retirement account.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eclecticshoppe.com
• Instagram: eclectic_shoppe
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EclectShoppe
• Other: eBay – https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fstr%2F42eclectic&e=AT0iQ45DZji1hGeouopTIxyXp8vdWChdZvPwn3NV2zXB6egMjOKaRMcF_3btdzjvup7-h6ZHb4H_9C2usvDYvHrxsRUcqmZC_GBKNg

Image Credits
Photo Credit – Small Business Revolution (for the photo with Amanda Brinkman & Robert Herjavec)