 Betsy Alice with the Sheboygan County Chamber. Welcome to Love Where You Live, our monthly magazine or your monthly magazine of all the very special things happening in and around Sheboygan County. This morning's guest, I have Beth Smith. Pam Smith, she told me her name was very easy to remember so I just forgot it. Pam is the newest entrepreneur in downtown Sheboygan and has opened a wonderful shop called The Lost Sheep Yarn Shop and it is right on the corner of Pennsylvania in 8th, just around the corner from 8th Street. Very colorful, lots of fun and we're gonna talk a little more about it but first I'm gonna ask how did you come up with that name? The name is really special to me. I was contemplating doing this for a very long time and last fall, my husband said to me, I am behind you 100% if you wanna do this, let's do it but you have to do the work and my husband is a pastor at First United Lutheran Church and I was sitting in church on a Thursday night and he was preaching and he started talking about The Lost Sheep because I knew how to sell the yarn I didn't know how to get to the business through the business part of it. And he was talking about The Lost Sheep in a sermon and I thought, wow, that's exactly how I feel. I feel lost, I don't know how to get from point A to point B and I just, I felt this release, this like, Pam, you can do this with a lot of help. God's help, my husband's help, my family's help and I got in the car after worship that night and I said to my husband, I'm gonna do this, I can do this and I'm going to call The Lost Sheep Yarn Shop. I always wanna remember where that name came from and the help I've gotten along the way. I call them a lot of God moments along the way. Wonderful story, wonderful story and no wonder the shop itself seems so inspired. The name is really personal and every day when I walk in there, I still can't believe it's actually happened. It actually comes together with a lot of help and a lot of support. Before the show, we were talking a little bit about the idea of the business plan and the process that you went through. Can you just tell us a little bit about that? Cause I think that's the part people kind of take for granted and I want them to know what kind of work it took. It is a lot of work. When I got past the part where, you know, I knew I was gonna do this, I talked with Jacqueline Stewart from Vintage Wine out in Elkhart Lake and she said, I know where you're at, you're like, you're standing right there ready to jump but you have to make sure you have everything in place. And she said, you don't have to go through this alone and she put me in touch with Jim Schuchler from the Sheboygan County Economic Development Center and I met with Jim the last week in September and... Of this past year? Of this past September, everything came together very quickly and he said, wow, you know, you seem like you're ready to go, like you really thought this through. So he said, you know, we talked about a business plan and the business plan was extremely important. I would not recommend anyone jumping into anything without doing a business plan. There were no surprises, but they really made just, you know, put you through a thought process that you really need to think through a lot of things that, you know, you might not if you just jumped into it and you really have to know that your plan is well written. So with Jim's guidance and Chuck Bryce from the SBA, they guided me through the process. They had, you know, I wrote it and I worked a lot of hours on it. Took me about six or seven weeks to put it all together and meet with them and by the time we were finished, we had a really nice plan to build from. That's exciting. So then somehow you decided to be in the location that you're in. Can you tell us a little bit about how one goes about doing that or what kind of magic there was involved? That was a process too. Once a business plan was done, they asked me, you know, do you have a place in mind? And I didn't, you know, it was like each step I kept waiting for someone to say, you know, Pam, this isn't a good idea, but no one did. They just kept saying this is really a good plan. So I was, my husband and I were walking downtown just looking at different businesses and stopping at different places and kind of taking it all in. And Pat Ortlieb, who did all the work at the site I'm at, had art and soul in the front. And we saw him standing outside, he waved to us. And when we got done, my husband said, let's go see what Pat's done to Junes. So we walked in there and Pat asked what we were doing downtown. And I told him I was looking for a spot to open a yarn shop. And he thought for a moment and he said, come here and he showed me the back area and he said, what do you think of this area? And that's how we ended up where we're at. So that was one of my many God moments that we weren't looking there, we just happened to walk in there. So it fits really well. Very nice. So you brought with you today a few of the things that you feature in your store that I should say that other people can knit also that you brought us samples. And I was particularly, so we had a ribbon cutting at your shop a couple of weeks ago. And I walked in and what she's wearing right now was on a sort of a mannequin in the pond and I just fell in love with it and thought, wow, even I would like to learn to knit, to be able to do that kind of work. I mean, it's a work of art. Thank you. My sisters have been huge in helping me put together some shop models. I had quite a few pieces that I have made. And all of my, I have three sisters up in the Green Bay and north of Green Bay area. They've come down to help. And each time they come down, they take something back with them to knit for the shop. So we can show, my goal is to have a sample of each of our yarns so people can see what the yarns do. And so you can see how they feel when they're knit together. And it's so much different than seeing them on a, whatever you call the ball of yarn. On the skein, yeah. So yeah, so let's just take a look here. That's actually made with sock yarn. Okay. And there's one sock yarn. Right, okay. So it's a thinner yarn. And with that one, the lime green runs through the entire piece and the other colors just kind of mingle in with it. But the lime green is taken through the whole piece. And it's, you can't see this, but it's very soft. So yeah, that's a beauty. And then here we have, that's a pretty advanced piece. That's made also with a thin yarn with sock yarn. That's made with charts that where you read charts back and forth. All of these pieces we have on display. We have the patterns available. And everyone who works in the shop knows how to knit. So we have a full support staff. If you run into any problems, you can come in and ask for help in classes. Tell us about those. We have everything from beginning knitting and beginning crocheting all the way to advanced. Right now we have a, last month we had a beginning knitting, actually we ended up having two of them because we had so many people interested. So we ended up splitting the class into two. We have workshops this past week. We had a workshop on striping your yarns without having a little jog in it. So we have a hat that we worked on on Saturday morning. We have a class coming up this Saturday where we're going to actually take, it's this wool. It's a bag that you make large and then you felt it into a felted bag. So it would be kind of like washing a wool sweater. And so pretty much if I were going to learn to knit, I would come to your shop and I could find really anything I need to do to accomplish a pattern or to begin to make socks or whatever it is I would like to do. Absolutely. We have the needles, the yarn, the patterns, the support with the staff. Which is the most important part of it. We have a lot of people coming in just asking you for help if they've made a mistake or if they're stuck on a pattern and we can keep them moving on it. But they've never held knitting needles? If they've never held knitting needles. I love when people say you'll never be able to teach me to knit because I'm left-handed because that is not a problem and we've always been able to get through that. Well, I want to just congratulate you and for all your hard work and your entire family and friends, all the people who have supported you. I know you have, I feel you're so lucky that you have so much family close by. I am. Be able to help. I am. And we had a lot of help from friends. We had friends from Appleton come, take vacation days to come and help build some of the equipment, the checkout counter. We've had friends, while we're in the process of getting, receiving our yarn, we had friends walking off the street and just say, I have a half hour, what can I do to help? Wow. It really came together quickly, so. Well, many congratulations to you. Thank you. And I look forward having you back on the show in another couple of years and you can give us a progress support. That sounds good. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks so much. Welcome back to Love Where You Live, the Sheboygan County Chambers. Look at all the wonderful things happening in Sheboygan County. This morning, we have another wonderful guest, Jane Davis Wood, who is the owner of one of my favorites, the Relish Kitchen Store in downtown Sheboygan. Jane, thank you for being with us this morning. Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, congratulations on being nominated for the top retailer of 2016. It was really an honor. We had a lot of fun at the Gala, too. Oh, good, good, good, good. One of my favorite parties. So, you've been here since 2013, that hardly seems possible. It went by so fast. Yes. I know, and people are still discovering us. Like, when did you get here? Yeah. Four years ago. Tell me about your evolution, how you came to be. Well, I've been in retail for in many levels of retail from assistant clerk, all the way up to corporate. I mean, everything in between. So, I've been doing that for 21 years. My daughter, who's my partner, has been in a corporate level her entire career. So, between us, we have like 60 years of retail experience. And retail is changing. And when you're at the store level, and I was running a very large department store here in Sheboygan, and then I went to a corporate at a discounter in Green Bay. And the hours that is required, especially during the Christmas season, you know, I mean, it was getting to be, you know, there's a better way. You know, I've really learned everything I need to learn about this business. And started researching, you know, because, you know, when you're in a department store, it's many different areas at its own store. So, actually, I've run a clothing store. I've run a shoe store. I've run a furniture store. So, which one of those stores, one, doesn't Sheboygan have? And two, would be the most successful because it's, you know, and that came down to the housewares and that because the great thing in my research was that it's one business that does not ever see a recession because when times are bad, people eat at home. And when times are good, they want better stuff. So, it's always very even. Matter of fact, during the height of the depression, our industry continually saw a 14% increase every single year. So, and then it's like, well, Sheboygan hasn't seen a shop like this for quite a while. They've had a couple in the past, but not experiential. So, and then it was finding a location. And the Economic Development Corporation really helped me with traffic counts and presented me with an 80-page study to add to my business plan. And it landed that downtown is really where you need to be. And I took that information and went to my buying group because we discovered there buying groups out there for this world. So, our buying group has 500 stores across the country. The most successful ones are in the downtown. So, given the type of kitchen store we are, we're not a warehouse kitchen store. We're not, you know, a restaurant supplier. We are the gifted kitchen. So, and with all the amenities that are downtown existing and the new things that are coming with, we're very excited about having 80 new kitchens right next door. Yeah, and then the, right. And then the new apartment buildings down on South Pier and the projected one closer to Sierra Leone Methodius. So, there's a lot. And people are going back to the kitchen in a big way. They don't want that frozen lasagna anymore. They want all the fresh ingredients and they want to, now they don't know how to do it. So, that's our job as an experiential retailer is to do a lot of hands on and really wanna play with that knife, let's go. And so that it sets us apart from buying online and makes it a more fun experience. So, a site came available in downtown and we really just jumped on it because it was in what I consider the trifecta of the downtown area, the area that's bounded by John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Stephanie Weil Theater and the library in that triangle and our store landed in that area. And it was just like, it's been a great location. So, we're very happy we landed there. It took a while to get there, but we got there and the store has been so much fun ever since. Well, and I'll particularly point out some of my visits to the store. I always go in really with nothing special in mind. I love to cook. So, I'll always go away with something unique and unusual or brand new, some new way to think about some process that I've been doing by hand. And you mentioned earlier a garlic twister. I had purchased one of those probably a year and a half ago, I use it all the time. Any other? Well, the garlic twister is our number one selling gadget in the store followed by two things. One was the cheese knife. The cheese knife is a cantilevered rosin knife that cheese will not stick to. And so, we will go out to Kohler Food and Wine every year and we'll lay out a nice chacuneuré and have people start slicing. We lay out four of the knives and they think, oh, a treat. What kind of cheese do I want? They pick up a nice and nice slice. They go, what? And so, it will sell 50 in a day. The other thing is we were just talking about is the angry mama. She was such a fun little hit this year. When I was in the working world, I always seemed to be the manager who had to take care of the employee lounge and I was the angry mama with the microwave. Things exploding in there. So, the angry mama is this little tiny girl and she's just so mad. She's got a scowl on her face. She's got holes on the top of her head. So, you fill her with vinegar and then water and put her in the microwave for six minutes as she starts spinning around her pretty soon. She's steaming mad at that dirt and all you do is just wipe it clean and to the beautiful microwave again. Wow, I think it's time for me to make a visit again. Sounds like, now there's another reason it's time to make another visit and that is all of the new expansion. You mentioned the word experiential retailer. I think that's really important and that differentiation with internet purchasing. Now, you're opening next door and it's going to be an amazing new addition to your ability. We have opened up at least another 1200 square feet of selling space. But in the rear of that is teaching kitchen. It is just beautiful. So, the space is, we partnered with all of our local partners. So, Jordan Dassau did the original kitchen design. Richardson's followed through with the, with the cabinetry and the countertops. We partnered with Bitter Newman to help us with the culinary side of their business to get the range tops and ovens. Dalmas with the floor. So, the colors and they're beautiful. Sinks and faucets. So, this is a local kitchen. Eps, it sounds like a chamber of commerce kitchen. It is, it's just beautiful. It turned out so gorgeous. And in that space, we will be offering very shortly, we should have our class schedules up by May. We'll be offering first of all demonstration classes where we will watch a chef and get plenty to eat but learn techniques by watching. Our favorite will be the hands-on where you're actually gonna make the pasta. How do I make spaghetti? How do I use this knife safely? How do I bone a chicken? How do I do, what are tapas? And how can I make them for my family? And the, our focus will be healthy cooking for your family. You know, it's a treat to eat out. Not always the best ingredients, the best ingredients going obviously, but too much of the good stuff sometimes. So, I mean, it's not something where you wanna eat every single day, that is a treat. So, we wanna show people that there's a healthy way to put your meal together. How do you batch cook? That's turning into a really big thing right now. It's the batch cooking on Sundays. For busy families. For busy, busy families. Or how do you shop a farmer's market? So, here's a bag, here's $5. Go get it, bring it back. We'll show you how to make it, or you will have a chopped. We also plan on doing team building sessions with some corporations and offices, get the team together, and let's all make something as a group and have a little competition. We're doing canning classes, which will be very nice in the fall. We'll also be an entertainment venue for some of our resorts. So, their guests can sign up for special sessions just for the guests. And we'll also be renting it out for showers, bridal parties, cocktail parties, whatever. It's a beautiful venue for 30 people or less. So, it's hard to find a small venue. So, that being said, it is a beautiful spot. It is the normal second phase for a successful kitchen store is to add that venue where people can gather. And it's also a place where Laysum is really on the edge about a product, whether it be an air fryer or a Vitamix or that $165 chef knife. Well, let's go to the kitchen and try it out. Why don't you make a smoothie? It's right here. There's a cappuccino machine. You don't have to take it home and learn it. Let's learn right here. And then you can go home and think about it and decide. You don't just go home and set it out on the counter and look at it for a couple of weeks? Right, that's that. I've done that before. Or buying knives online, that's a concept that's always baffled me, because every knife has to fit your hand. And it doesn't have to be an expensive knife. It can be the $29.99 knife if you prefer the feel of that. But how are you gonna know? You're gonna be taking and returning and taking and returning and taking and returning. And what kind of a carbon footprint is that? So we expect a lot of people to come and play with us. Excellent. Well, we're glad you're there. We're glad you're expanding. And I encourage everyone, your hours are... 10 to 5.30, we'll be... We just ran a huge survey for people to tell us when they would take a class. And there's a lot of evenings or what nights they would like to take classes. So we will be following that schedule. So you'll be seeing us open more evenings now. That's fabulous. So, for the audience, Relish Kitchen Store, one of our nominations for the top retailer of the year in 2016. And Jane, thank you so much for being with us. Looking forward to your expansion and to future success. Well, thank you. And thanks to the chamber for all their support. You're so welcome. Welcome back to Love Where You Live, the Sheboygan County Chambers Monthly Magazine of What's Going On. One of the best things to see and do here on the Lakeshore. I'm Betsy Alice. And I want to put in a little plug today for an organization that if you know anyone, a young professional between the ages of 21 and 40, definitely they should be a part of this organization. It's called Coastal Young Professionals Network. And what it is is an opportunity to experience a whole range of activities with other young professionals throughout Sheboygan County and even in the state of Wisconsin. It is no cost to join. You simply go to sheboygan.org slash coastal and sign up, very simple to sign up. And then you'll start receiving notices about the events that are going on. If you're a parent of someone in that age group, please send this message to them because it's really a valuable connection to make. And on that note, I want to talk a little bit today about YP Week, Young Professional Week, in Sheboygan County. Every year for the past three years, this is our third year, we host a number of events each day of that week to commemorate and to engage the young professionals and other business people in our county. This year's event is going to start with a huge, a very big kickoff event that will be inviting young professionals from all over the state of Wisconsin, 25 other communities to attend. This event is called Very Big in Sheboygan. It's going to highlight a lot of the products and services that we have here that make us a special place to work and live. They will, the other young people will be coming in on buses from these communities. And we will have a variety of top leadership in our county at this event. There will be lots of brats and cheese and lots of other young people to meet as well as some of the leaders in our community businesses. There will also be great entertainment. This is going to be a very big, that's the name of it, a very big event in Sheboygan County. We are the first of the communities to host this kickoff event, and it's on Saturday, April 22nd. And again, all of this is at sheboygan.org slash coastal. Then on Sunday, that's the next day, the 23rd, we are going to have an event called Sundays are for brunch. Another chance to get together in a less formal way for all the young people to have a great meal and to get to know one another. On April 24th of Monday, we have behind the scenes at Torquay Coffee, one of our historic and very successful family businesses in Sheboygan County. You'll be able to have a wonderful tour, sample some coffee, which we all like to do. And again, this is for the young professionals in our region. On April 25th, we have a workshop with a special guest speaker talking about leading across generations. You know, if you're a young professional, how do you deal with the baby boomers in your workplace? You know, how do you deal with those Gen Xers? How do you work most effectively using everyone's greatest talents to the best effect? That's leading across generations on April 25th. Then on April 26th, we have a lunch and learn with the power of Google Apps. So they're going to talk about and show as examples some of the most powerful Google Apps that you can use in your business and your personal lives. And this again is for our young professionals group. But others are also invited to these events, especially the workshops. I should make that note. The workshop on April 25th about leading across generations and this power of Google Apps are both open to anyone of any age, any professional in Sheboygan County. On April 27th, we have a pop-up and that's just a quick meetup kind of event around a new endeavor in Sheboygan called SUP, S-O-U-P. And this is an organization that forms around a project. They develop an important project that needs to be accomplished. And people meet up to make that happen. On April 28th, again open to the public, we have an event called Food for Thought with Trig Jacobson. Trig is a longtime Sheboygan person whose family used to own a major advertising agency here and who now is part of Jake's Cafe. And Trig will be doing that Food for Thought session on April 28th. I have heard him speak. He's amazing and you'll want to be part of this opportunity. And then on April 29th, to round out the week, we have what's called a young professional experience and it's going to focus on defense. This will be some members of our law enforcement organizations coming to teach young professionals how to take care of themselves in case something should happen. So that's our YP week. You can find that information on the Facebook page for coastal young professionals or on the website at Sheboygan.org slash coastal. And we have some special sponsors for this whole week of events that I want to thank. One is Kohler Company, also Thrivent Financial and Sargento have all stepped up to be partners in this week of incredible opportunities for our young professionals. So please make a note and pass it on if you know someone who'd like to attend. Everyone is welcome. Thank you very much. And I'll see you next time. I love where you live by the Sheboygan Times.