Changing Spaces

The Initial Plan – Plan A

Changing Spaces was a very unique project for us, we decided to develop software for the consignment industry that would really disrupt that space and bring people into the latest age of technological advances with: E-Commerce, Social Media, Advertising, Automation, Inventory Management and more…

CJ Made Our Logo

We decided pretty quickly that the best way for us to get the bugs out of the software quickly without causing issues for stores was to start a 3 year adventure that would have us open a consignment storefront in Arkansas and use our software to run the store. We met with the largest bank in Arkansas and showed the Trust Department how we could bring more money to their clients by selling everything in our store instead of auctioning the entire house in 1 day. The first home they gave us to try our services was a 6000 sqft multi-million dollar home (go big or go home). Keep in mind that at this time, prior to the store even opening, it was just CJ and I and we spent 5 days at the house from 7am – 8pm and processed, inventoried and priced every item in the entire home.

The First Test

The test was a huge success and we brought over 20k more than the auctioneer stated they could get for the items. We also removed all items from the home and left ready for the realtor to come in and put the home on the market. After another 3 homes for this bank, they went back to working with the auctioneer instead of getting the most amount of money for their clients. We were very glad that we didn’t put all of our eggs into that basket and diversified our business model so we really didn’t take a hit when we stopped doing the estates for the bank.

2 Months in – Plan B

We decided to scrap the idea of selling the software and instead turned our attention to using the software to grow our business and expand with additional storefronts in our area and possibly nationwide. We expanded our software to handle inventory, POS transactions, sales tax, consigner logins and tracking of merchandise, custom reports, dashboard graphics and more.

Our ad in the 2019 Best of NWA magazine

In Dec 2018, just 1 month into being open, it was clear that we found a niche in the market that wasn’t being filled. Our approach with great service, honest employees and price drops every 14 days was a huge hit. We scrambled quickly to get setup with all major furniture suppliers as well as started to purchase semis of overstocks and returns. Since we put every item together and did not sell anything ‘out of a box’, the returns were a natural fit since the customers knew exactly what they were getting, even scratch and dent items. 2019 ended with us almost hitting 1 million in sales. Our business model was disrupting the furniture space and was instantly accepted by the general public.

Put this business in the WIN column, hard work and grit pays off again!

2019 was an amazing year for the business, we grew exponentially each month and topped off 2019 by winning Best Furniture Store in NWA. What an amazing experience, it was a ton of hard work, late nights, early mornings and fast learning. Nevermind we were still operating The Sparks Solution and while we were not accepting new clients, we were still supporting all of our existing clients with website redesigns/updates, social media etc…

2020 – In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

We started 2020 with 13 employees, 5 of which were putting furniture together full time during the week and helping with sales on the weekends. It was very common for us to have over 100 people shopping in our store at the same time on the weekends and 3 people carrying out furniture full time from 10am – 6pm. It was a wild time with sales triple in 2020 over 2019 over the same period. We were officially awarded our Best of NWA award on February 20th, 2020 and we had also found land to purchase to build our flagship store and warehouse, set to close in 3 weeks.

4 weeks later we let all but 1 employee go due to Covid lockdowns and the government telling people not to shop in stores and order everything online. We walked away from the land purchase (and the money we put down ugh…). Online sales didnt work for our business model and we were not in a position to compete with the Wayfair and Overstock’s of the world with their free shipping and returns. Our business took at 75% drop in sales the week of March 20th and we never recovered back to full speed due to supply chain issues in 2021. We brought another employee back so our staff went from 13 to 4 in 2020 and with CJ and I working 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, it was time for something to give.

Inside the front of the store

Plan G  (i think)

We decided the amount of work we were putting into the business was not worth the amount of money we were able to continue to make so we closed the doors at the end of the lease in Oct 2021. While the pandemic was really bad for small shops, we were glad to be able to put this project to bed and move to other projects that would be a better use of our time and energy.

This was a great earning opportunity for us to use skills that we had and also expand our skillset, we were able to utilize: Project Management, Logistics, Just In Time processes, Digital Signage, Retail Marketing, Facebook Advertising, TV Ads, Print Ads, Contract Negotiations, HR, Payroll, Sales Taxes, Shipping, Staging, Delivery and so much more.

Behind Every Great Man

Shout out to my wife CJ on this project, she was AMAZING in all aspects and especially made the front of the store modern, fresh and inviting to all customers. CJ handled nearly all of the ‘back office’ items as well such as Quickbooks, Accounts Payable, Consignors, Staging, Dog Walks and as always, taking care of me!

CJ, Boyd and Bailey

About the Author

Mokono