It is seriously such a beautiful space & I cannot wait to see you guys in it!
]]>If you know me, you know I am a planner so this just another thing I do to stay ahead and eliminate the whole "what's for dinner?" question we as moms and wives always get. Also, this CAN save you a ton of money. It has for us. I'm just going to teach you my way of monthly meal planning.
First, you are going to print a calendar off or use an undated calendar like we have here.
When planning your meals, first, look at your social calendar and put down any days you know you're going to eat out or mark out days you don't need meals. Next, fill in days you will need to do quick meals. During sports, I always do the easiest meals on practice/game days. Also, we always have family dinners on Wednesday's so I ask my MIL what she wants to eat those days. Sunday's we always grill out, so I ask my husband what he wants to grill. You can also check your pantry/freezer to plan around what you already have instead of buying new items.
I've had the most questions about the actual weekly grocery shopping. Usually on the weekend, I sit down and write down everything I need for the recipes. Even if I think I already have it, I write it down. Once I have a list together, I then go through my pantry and refrigerator to see what I already have and mark it off. Add anything you might need to the list for snacks, breakfast, and in between and you are good to go.
This has saved me so much time, hassle, and money. Instead of wandering around the grocery store not knowing what I am buying and buying too much (then just ordering pizza because I forgot what I am supposed to cook), I know what I am getting and that's it. If you have any questions, let me know.
]]>Personally, I (Ali) had a baby, have been through lots of emotions with the business, vacationed, spent time with family, relaxed, and much much more. The store closing was the biggest blessing in disguise for my personal life. Instead of stressing myself, I got to stay home with my new baby and watch her grow. I know God did all of this for that reason.
As for the business, I really wasn't sure Lena Jane would make it through 2022. Even though we were supposed to be opening another storefront, I thought we would have to close it's "doors" permanently. Here we are though, February of 2023, and we are still chugging along. It has not been easy but we are waiting on our storefront to be completed from beautiful renovations.
We were able to attend a couple festivals at the end of the year and tell all of our amazing customers about our soon to be storefront. My ex-employee turned friend, Jorden, was such a blessing and helped out with both festivals.
After months of waiting, we confirmed the plans of the storefront with the building owner. They finally started working on it at the end of the year. I will share a sneak peek but will do a full post on it once it is officially finished.
2022 may have not been what I thought it was going to be but it ended up so much better. Life has a weird way of throwing you curve balls but isn't that the point? God always has a plan and it will never be your plan or what you think you life will look like. That's the glory of it all. Here's to 2023!
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February 2021: I leased a new storefront in our local outdoor outlet mall. It was a big move, really big. Scary but exciting. We opened March 22, 2021. I expected summer to be slower since J months are usually slow in retail but it was booming. Fall and Winter were pretty good as well since it was a busy outlet mall right on the interstate.
Fast forward to 2022 and things started going downhill. Employees came and went. We couldn't stay staffed properly. Inflation. I don't feel like I have to elaborate much on that one. Gas prices went up. Grocery prices went up. People don't want to spend money on clothes when they have to pay double for everything else. We still had rent to pay, payroll to make, etc. It was time for us to move on.
I don't know if anyone will ever read these but it is therapeutic for me to write these out. Usually it's excitement when I write but today it's filled with a little sadness, defeat, and worry.
]]>As of March of 2021, we have gone from a small weekend storefront in Flovilla, GA to opening a full time storefront in a well known outdoor mall in Locust Grove, GA. We tried to be a two storefront business but unfortunately we had to close our first storefront.
It's amazing how much can change in a year. I'm here to say that none of this would be possible without the goodness of God. Our business has been blessed so much and we can't wait to see where it goes next. If you ever have any business related questions or anything really, let me know!
XOXO, Ali
I should have written this a while back, but one of my many dreams finally became a reality. Lena Jane Clothing Co. now has a storefront and we couldn't be more excited.
It was totally a "God thing" that I was able to do this. I was honestly looking for a warehouse type space to grow my online business but the storefront fell into my lap. After calling three different warehouse type spaces to ask about renting and them turning me down completely, my friend Amanda told me to talk to her landlord about renting in Indian Springs. I spoke to her landlord and she said "when can you move in?"
I am seriously so blessed. I get to be a woman business owner alongside some other women business owners in the town with some amazing little businesses. If you're around on the weekend, you'll have to come shop with Lena Jane and The Painted Nest while also having a meal at Yahola Creek. We are going to be such an awesome trifecta.
I'd love to share all the empty before pictures since I love a good before and after. It's the cutest old home. It's close to 2800 sq ft so it's an amazing space.
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October 12: First off, we did a home wine tasting party, which was a ball. We do offer hostess rewards if you host us at your home or private event. It was a friend of a friend that I was invited by and they were so warm and welcoming!
October 26: Next up was our hometown Fall Festival which ended up being the best sales day we've ever had up to that point. It was so easy for our shoppers to come in and try on with our trailer there.
November 2: Lena Jane's next event was The Painted Nest's Christmas Open House. We didn't take our trailer to this one but we got to set up on Amanda's back porch and it was so much fun! I always have a blast connecting with Amanda and Amy.
On November 9, Caring for a Cause was nice enough to let us come to their Baseball Tournament benefiting children with cancer. For this event, we were able to donate $100 to the cause. It was such an awesome turnout. It was fun, but cold.
We'll start our next blog post with Black Friday and Small Business Saturday since those probably deserve an entire post on their own. lol.
]]>I think it was a great first pop-up where we fully set up using the generator and letting the ramp down in the back. We know now that there are a few things we need to work on before our next big event. I love the ramp in the back but it could be a hazard if it was to get wet so we're going to work on making it not so slick. We also realized that it's missing a cable to let it down. Just small things but they need to be done to make it better for our customers. My priority is getting it personalized. I want people to know what we are and what's inside. Hopefully that will come soon. I'm having a hard time finding people to do it.
I am shown in the Girl Power Top
(which I have one small left in). Hannah is wearing her Utility Vest. You can shop the Girl Power Top here. It is one of my favorite tops we have ever had. It is so flattering and we actually have it coming in black. I cannot wait!
A photographer friend of mine just happened to be at the Open House as well and took a few pictures of the inside of the trailer. If you have any picture needs whether it be family, Mommy & me, newborn, wedding, etc. Free Spirit Photography (Shandi) is your girl! Take a look at her Facebook page here. She is seriously the sweetest and I love her style of photography. Below are the beautiful pictures she took for us!
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We then painted the inside nose because it was a God awful seafoam color. We changed the curtains out and gave it a good cleaning. Thank the Good Lord it has an air conditioning unit in it so when you're in there shopping and trying clothes on, you have a nice little breeze coming in.
After everything had dried and been put up, I went ahead and started tagging and loading merchandise up. Thankfully half of our items were already tagged from the last pop-up we attended so I was able to go ahead and put them in the trailer.
We planned the first pop-up shop at my mom's house just as trial run sort of thing to make sure everything worked okay and looked good. I still have a few things I want to do to make it more personal to Lena Jane but nothing major. It went great. Everything looked great! I already have about 6 events planned throughout the remainder of the year. I cannot wait to get out there! Stay tuned for the next installment! <3
We have THREE of this top I'm wearing left in small and medium! Search "Madly in Love Top" above.
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I have been pining for a retail space of my own for months and months now, somewhere my friends & family could come shop with me and try items on. I kept finding places that were either too expensive, too small, not in the right area... There was always a reason as to why it was a bad idea. Looking back, I know God was telling me it wasn't the right time.
I started thinking of other ideas that would work: maybe a "she shed" in the backyard, maybe I'll just keep doing pop-ups, maybe I'll find a business owner to rent a small space of theirs to me....
What about a boutique on wheels? Bingo!
That's when I started my search for an enclosed trailer that could be set up like a boutique on wheels. I found a couple very used ones. I found a few brand new ones. I finally found a group on Facebook that was specific to "Mobile Boutique Owners". How cool is that? I joined and guess what I found? A small enclosed trailer that was already set up kind of like what I was looking for at a fraction of the cost.
I wanted to be sure it was a good deal since it was 3.5 hours away from us in South Georgia. After talking to my husband to see how he felt about it, I talked to my step-dad (because he knows EVERYTHING) and he said he would be going to South Georgia in the next few days for a trip to the farm and he would stop by on the way back to see if it looked good. He ended up stopping by, talking the lady down a good bit due to some unseen blemishes, and brought this baby home.
I can't wait to show you as we get it Lena Jane ready. Here are some "before" pictures:
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