PDF Article Entry

CAN
THIS
SHOP
BE SAVED?
38 AUGUST 2015 --- stitches.com
?
Stitches In Time in Concord, NC, is all about the
monogram. The charming retail shop, with a small but
growing corporate wear division, has a loyal following.
But owner Pat Fortney and daughter Marianne Baker
have struggled to increase their reach, and the stress
of the job has put a strain on their relationship. Stitches
sent The Embroidery Coach, Joyce Jagger, to chart a
successful course for the business and help ease some
of the tension between mother and daughter.
By Theresa Hegel / Photography by Michael A. Anderson
I
t’s a quiet April morning in Concord, NC, an hour before custom
embroidery
and
monogramming
shop Stitches In Time opens. At the
sound of Joyce Jagger’s brisk, efficient
knocking on the glass-front door, shop owner
Pat Fortney – a yellow tailor’s tape draped like a
scarf over her purple cardigan – bustles over to
welcome The Embroidery Coach – inviting her
inside for two long – and often emotional – days
of evaluation and education.
Before settling down to business, though,
the diminutive Fortney, her close-cropped steel
gray hair sweeping across her forehead in a soft
wave, is all Southern charm, offering a pastry
ring and hot tea to the imposing Jagger.
stitches.com --- AUGUST 2015 39
Cover Story
“Is it decaf? Don’t forget, I’m an old
lady,” Jagger jokes. As she waits for her
tea to brew, the 76-year-old – trim, toned
and full of energy, thanks to an unflagging
exercise regimen and a strict gluten-free
diet – browses the bright and airy shop.
Stitches In Time is packed with unique,
charming gifts: A nook in the corner houses
bibs, blankets and other baby items, and a
claw-foot tub at the other end of the showroom is brimming with duffel bags in loud
prints. There are floppy hats and fauxleather purses, a rack of raincoats, whimsical hooded towels in a wicker basket, and
monogrammed earrings and pendants.
The beige walls are festooned with
wood-carved initials: a yellow swirling “B”
inside a stylized sunburst, next to a fuchsia
tulip bearing the letter “W.” The enticing
retail displays are the brainchild of Fortney’s daughter, Marianne Baker, a frazzled
mom with blond highlights, a friendly
smile and a sharp wit. Baker is often the
face of Stitches In Time, dealing with customers and ordering, with Fortney preferring to stay in the back room, focused on
embroidery production.
“It’s definitely all about the monogram,” Jagger says as she surveys Stitches
In Time. “Your shop is adorable. … Your
place is clean. You look organized.” She
bends over to examine the stitching on
a knit bib, fingertips tracing the slightly
puckered design. “We’ve got to work on
quality a little bit.”
Fortney, who trails behind, one hand
gripping an oversized travel mug of coffee,
is eager to learn: “I’m an open plate.”
“Good,” Jagger replies. “Because if you
don’t listen, I get tough, and I’m older
than you.”
The High Cost of Low Prices
A lifelong seamstress looking for work
after an unexpected layoff, Fortney
was intrigued by the defunct Concord
embroidery business she routinely drove
by. The “for sale” sign seemed like a good
omen, and Fortney seized the opportunity, opening up Stitches In Time in
2008. Over the years, the quaint shop has
developed a fierce and loyal following –
many in town, Baker says, consider it their
small “hidden gem” – but even 2014’s
record sales of over $100,000 weren’t
enough to sustain Fortney and Baker, and
the daily stresses of running a struggling
business have stirred up a complicated
cocktail of emotions between mother
and daughter. Fortney, who seriously
considered installing a Murphy bed in
the back so she could take up permanent
residence at Stitches In Time, lives and
breathes embroidery. Baker, paid a parttime salary for full-time hours, feels guilt
for not being able to contribute more,
but that guilt is tinged with resentment.
“I can’t be married to the job,” she says
in tears, the morning of Jagger’s first day
at the shop. “I can’t keep working here if
I’m not making more money.”
The resentment reached a boiling point
a few months ago, as Fortney considered
acquiring a nearby contract embroidery
shop. For the last year and a half, Baker has
been picking up extra shifts at the second
shop to learn the ropes – and help supplement her income. After having the business
appraised, however, Fortney determined
the shop wasn’t worth the asking price
and nixed the merger. Baker, left out of
the decision-making, was upset that she’d
invested so much of her time into a fruitless
endeavor. “That’s why she’s so mad at me,”
Fortney says.
With the shop expansion out of the picture, Fortney and Baker turned to Stitches
and the indomitable Jagger to help them
figure out their next move. Jagger spends
her first morning poring over Stitches In
Time’s books, with Fortney at her shoulder. The first step, Jagger says, is to repair
the strained relationship between mother
and daughter, and that means finding
money in the budget to help Baker make
ends meet. “You’ve got to bring up these
numbers,” she tells Fortney, while Baker
is occupied with a customer. “You’ve got
to give her more money to stay. You need
her, she needs you. Right now, she feels
like a second-class citizen, and that’s not a
good feeling.”
“That’s mutual. We’re too much alike,”
Fortney replies quietly, but she listens attentively, as Jagger explains how she determined Stitches In Time’s hourly break-even
rate. The shop must bring in $50 an hour to
stay afloat. Incorporated into that figure is
more money for Baker and payment for a
second embroidery machine. In April, Jagger says, Stitches in Time brought in a little
more than $30 an hour; its prices, she adds,
need to increase. “Every single department
needs to make money,” Jagger says. “Time
everything out. That’s going to be a huge,
huge eye-opener.”
Jagger points to monograms, the
shop’s bread and butter. Fortney is currently charging between $6 and $8 for
each monogram. “It costs more than that
to wait on customers,” Jagger says. If you
add in design setup, hooping, sewing and
trimming time, how much money did you
make for that three-letter job, she asks.
How the Winning Shop Was Selected
For the second year in a row, Stitches asked readers with struggling shops
to submit a summary of their obstacles and challenges for a chance to
make over their businesses with the help of Joyce Jagger, The Embroidery
Coach. Jagger reviewed videos and other information about vital stats and
pain points provided by each shop, and chose the business she felt had the
most potential for improvement. Stitches In Time in Concord, NC, won a
prize package worth over $8,400, which included two days of personalized
onsite training, plus six months of follow-up calls including planned action
40 AUGUST 2015 --- stitches.com
steps with Jagger. For details about all of Jagger’s personal coaching
services and her subscription-based online embroidery business tutorials,
visit her website, www.theembroiderycoach.com. Following Jagger’s visit,
Midwest Products sent Stitches In Time a HoopMaster kit, along with an
8-by-13-inch magnetic Mighty Hoop and fixture, at an overall value of
around $1,400. More information about the products is available at www.
hoopmaster.com and www.mightyhoop.com.
The showroom of Stitches In Time in Concord, NC, is packed with unique
imprintable gift items, from raincoats to towels to purses. The back room,
shown above, houses a one-head embroidery machine and other supplies.
stitches.com --- AUGUST 2015 41
Cover Story
A sober Fortney replies: “Nothing,
absolutely nothing.”
Jagger recommends charging at least
$10 for the shop’s smallest monograms,
with a $25 minimum charge when clients
bring their own items in to be monogrammed.
Time-Saving Tricks
After sorting through the shop’s paperwork, Jagger examines the production area.
Though everything is tidy and well-organized, a few spots make Jagger wince. The
heat-transfer area makes her stop dead in
her tracks, mouth agape. “You’re not using
the heat press on the floor, are you?”
“Where else am I going to put it?”
Baker asks.
“Oh, my gosh,” Jagger replies. “You
have to get on your hands and knees to
check the temperature. Find a table for it.”
Another sore spot is the fact that Fortney has been using spray starch rather than
a steamer to finish garments. “A steamer is
so much better,” Jagger says. “You don’t
get residue.”
Jagger also recommends covering
the rainbow array of embroidery thread
hanging from pegs on a wall adjacent to
the machine with a sheet of plastic to help
protect it from dust and dirt, which can
lead to rot. She advises Fortney to use
only white bobbins to save time. When
Fortney protests that her machine tech
told her to use black bobbins on dark
thread, Jagger cuts her off: “Don’t listen
to him. Listen to me. … You never need
black bobbins or black backing. I like to
keep it simple.”
Throughout her two-day visit, Jagger shares countless time-saving tricks,
like keeping your machine loaded half
with ballpoint needles for knits and half
with sharp needles for wovens. That way,
she says, “They’re always there, always set
up.” She demonstrates her trick for quickly
changing thread color: In a procedure Fortney describes as “slick as snot,” the machine
operator loads the new cone of thread,
throwing the end strand over the old thread,
then tying the old color around the new and
pulling through. No need to waste time
rethreading the needle.
Next, Jagger brings out her trusty hooping grade and a slim bar of bone-white hotel
soap and shows Fortney how to measure
and mark logo placement, ensuring accuracy
every time. “I love it already,” Fortney says.
Hooping, Jagger says, can make or break
a design. She recommends Fortney use a
hooping system, like the HoopMaster from
Midwest Products, in conjunction with the
hooping grade. The HoopMaster holds
Hooping Quick Tips
Hooping is one of the most critical parts of the
embroidery process. Follow Embroidery Coach
Joyce Jagger’s advice to improve your technique,
save time and increase accuracy.
Invest in a hooping system. Jagger recommends the HoopMaster from Midwest Products to ensure quick and accurate
design placement. It’s especially important to have a system in
place when training employees. “Trying to eyeball it is not a good
practice,” she says. “You may have been hooping for years, but
once you need help, you cannot train them to eyeball the way
you do. … Every shirt needs to be embroidered in the exact same
location.”
Consider buying magnetic hoops. Jagger calls the magnetic
Mighty Hoop “one of the greatest inventions that’s come along
in years.” The hoops allow for a tighter grip without marking the
fabric, and help decorators hoop thick, heavy garments with ease.
Hoop tightly. Some embroiderers are afraid to hoop too tightly
and mark the fabric, but it’s imperative to get your fabric taut to
prevent puckering in your embroidery design, Jagger says.
Use a hooping blanket, or cover the entire design with topping to
help prevent hoop marks on thinner fabrics.
Steam everything. A quick pass with a steamer can easily
remove hoop marks and excess topping from a garment. “Never
wet your topping,” Jagger says. “It gets gummy.” Instead, use the
steamer to form extra topping into a ball, steam the design for a
few seconds, and then press the topping ball into the embroidery
to lift off excess topping.
42 AUGUST 2015 --- stitches.com
Above, an old sign overshadows the
branding of Stitches In Time, making it
difficult for the shop to lure foot traffic. At
left, Stitches In Time owner Pat Fortney
makes some adjustments before sewing
out a monogram. Below, her daughter
Marianne Baker waits behind the counter
for customers to enter the Concord,
NC, shop. Baker set up most of the retail
displays in the shop.
stitches.com --- AUGUST 2015 43
Cover Story
A Stronger Network
Joyce Jagger, the Embroidery
Coach, says networking is one of
the easiest and least expensive
ways to grow your business.
Here are some simple ways to
get the most out of networking
events.
Wear your logo. Make sure your
logo is prominent whenever you’re in
public. Choose garments that you offer
in your shop, rather than retail clothing.
That way, when strangers admire your
togs, you can let them know you have
similar items available for order at your
business.
Prepare a “signature speech.” When
people ask about your business, have
an engaging “signature speech,” or
elevator pitch, prepared. Make it conversational and anecdotal, rather than
stiff and rehearsed. You’re not just a
decorator; you create unique branding
opportunities for clients.
Have a servant’s attitude. Don’t
make your networking interactions all
about you, Jagger says. Instead, show
an interest in the person you’re speaking with. Find out all you can about
their business and how you can help
them grow it.
Consider breakfast or evening
meetings. If it’s difficult for you to get
away from your shop during the day,
seek out networking events before
or after hours so you don’t cut into
productivity.
Network everywhere. Networking
isn’t reserved just for chamber of commerce or Rotary meetings, Jagger says.
“You can network every place you go,
even in church,” she adds.
Bring a gift. Giving gifts is a great way
to build goodwill and help keep you
top of mind with the people you meet.
Try offering something that shows off
your area of expertise. Jagger creates
felt coasters with her logo and contact
information embroidered on them. “I’ve
been doing these for years,” she says.
“People love them.”
44 AUGUST 2015 --- stitches.com
“ Every single department needs
to make money. Time everything
out. That’s going to be a huge, huge
eye-opener.”
Joyce Jagger, The Embroidery Coach
the top and bottom ring of the hoop, the
backing material and the garment, helping
to properly align and apply the hoop for
fast and accurate repeat placement. Magnetic Mighty Hoops ensure easier hooping, especially on heavier items, like work
jackets.
By the second day, Fortney is able to
procure a steamer, and Jagger demonstrates a foolproof method for removing
topping from a logo. First, use the steamer
to ball up a wad of unused topping, and
then move to your stack of waiting garments, starting at the bottom of the pile.
Use the steamer to remove hoop marks,
and then let it hover over the logo itself.
After a few seconds of steaming, you can
dab the embroidery with the tacky ball of
topping to lift the excess from your design.
As Jagger’s visit draws to a close, Fortney is overwhelmed by the onslaught of
expert advice and time-tested tactics, tearing up as she tries to thank the Embroidery Coach: “I’m just grateful.”
“You’re not grateful,” the no-nonsense
Jagger replies. “You’re just teachable.”
Taking Control
Jagger spends nearly as much time behind
the counter with Baker, critiquing the
shop’s embroidery files, with Baker taking
copious notes. Baker has been teaching
herself the software, but there are big gaps
in knowledge – which sometimes translate
to literal gaps in the embroidery. Oftentimes, Baker has been using a fill stitch
for monograms, running them without
much underlay. That needs to stop, Jagger
says. “A true monogram is a satin, not a fill
stitch,” she says.
Jagger shows Baker how to break up
the letters in a monogram into small segments – assigning stitch types and adjusting angle lines. “Sometimes you need to
change them because they don’t always
flow beautifully,” she says, as she clicks and
drags the mouse. “You can get everything
looking so elegant by doing little things
like that.”
Baker shudders as Jagger manipulates
the nodes outlining each letter: “Those
dots give me anxiety.”
“They give you control,” Jagger retorts.
“That’s what they give you.”
Jagger and Baker are working on a
script monogram, “MJA,” going on a
set of plush, ivory towels. Because of
the thickness, the design needs a lot of
underlay – zigzag, perpendicular and
contour – so the embroidery doesn’t sink
down, Jagger says. “There’s a reason we
use them all,” she explains. Perpendicular creates two lines through the center
of the design, zigzag covers up the loops,
and contour gives the letters a nice, crisp
edge, she says. After tinkering with the file
for a few minutes, they send the design to
the machine, where Fortney has the towel
hooped and ready to be loaded. All three
watch the edited monogram design sew
out in gleaming gold letters.
“Look at the difference in quality,” Jagger says.
“I’m standing here in awe,” Fortney
breathes. “You can see it just off the bat.”
Get Noticed
Though Stitches In Time has a prime location in the fast-growing city of Concord,
Fortney and Baker have struggled to expand
their customer base. Part of their low profile may stem from the confusing signage
Above, Joyce Jagger, The Embroidery Coach, (right) points out areas where
Pat Fortney (center) and Marianne Baker need to improve the quality of their
embroidery. Top right, Fortney follows Jagger’s instructions on how to easily change
thread colors. Bottom right, Jagger gives Baker pointers on how to edit digitizing
files to optimize embroidery results.
“ It’s been a pleasure to work with Pat and Marianne
because they’re so willing to learn and are eager to make
the changes to put out higher-quality embroidery and
make their shop more profitable.”
Joyce Jagger, The Embroidery Coach
on the building itself. Though a Stitches In
Time sign is posted along the side of the
building and in the front window, the red
brick façade boasts the words “G.E. Lentz,
Inc.” in giant blue lettering, overshadowing
the embroidery shop branding.
“The sign on the front has to come
down,” Jagger says, noting that she nearly
missed the shop altogether that first morning, despite the assistance of the GPS.
Removal could be a problem, however.
Fortney is renting the building from a
resistant-to-change retired plumber, who
still considers it his “puttering place” and
cried during a visit when he saw Fortney
had moved his desk from the spot it had
occupied for years. In the final year of
her lease on the building, Fortney must
decide whether the low rent and ample
space are worth the landlord’s emotional
About the Series
Last August, Stitches ran the first “Can This Shop Be Saved?”
feature. The in-depth article, which included multiple videos
and a photo slideshow, would go on to win a prestigious Jesse
H. Neal Award for Best Cross-Platform Package. Due to the
story’s overwhelming popularity, we decided to expand the
concept for 2015, running shorter profiles of shops Embroidery
Coach Joyce Jagger has worked with, in addition to a second
installment of our “Can This Shop Be Saved?” contest.
involvement in the building.
In the meantime, however, Jagger says
there are other ways for Stitches In Time
to get its name into the public eye. She
recommends beefing up the corporate
logo-wear division. For higher-volume
work, the embroidery can be farmed out to
a shop with multi-head machines, and the
markup from selling the apparel itself will
still boost overall profits, she adds. FocusScan this code to
check in with Linda
Gadwood, owner
of Logo Linda in
Omaha. Featured in
January, Gadwood
followed Jagger’s advice to jumpstart
productivity and elevate the quality
of her embroidery.
stitches.com --- AUGUST 2015 45
Cover Story
Joyce Jagger, The Embroidery Coach, called Stitches In Time in Concord, NC, “adorable.” She praised
the owners for maintaining a clean and organized space and advised them to add more corporate
logo work to supplement their retail sales. “Most people in the corporate world can’t do retail stuff,”
Jagger notes. “You’ve got the best of both worlds.”
46 AUGUST 2015 --- stitches.com
Online Extras
Want to learn more about what happened during Joyce Jagger’s whirlwind visit to Stitches In Time in
Concord, NC? Head over to Stitches.com to watch a video and see more photos from our second annual
extreme shop makeover.
Video: Can This
Shop Be Saved?
Slideshow:
Two Days at
Stitches In Time
In a video interview, Pat
Fortney and her daughter Marianne Baker
reflect on the difficulties of running a family
business, why they were
nervous to ask Stitches
for help and what
they’ve learned from The
Embroidery Coach Joyce
Jagger. Visit Stitches.com
to watch the video.
ing on corporate clients is a great opportunity for cross-marketing as well, since they
need to buy gifts in addition to logo wear.
“Most people in the corporate world can’t
do retail stuff,” Jagger says. She indicates
Stitches In Time’s well-appointed retail
showroom. “You’ve got the best of both
worlds.”
Jagger suggested Fortney and Baker
create a board in one corner of the shop,
posting the logos they’ve done for corporate clients, much like the font board
behind the counter is displayed for monogram clients. “It gives you credibility,”
Jagger says. Once that’s established, create a brochure to insert in every single
bag that leaves the shop, she adds. Give
customers a discount for every successful
referral they bring. “You have to motivate
them to start telling more people about
you,” Jagger says.
Jagger also advises the mother and
daughter to begin regularly attending networking events, whether with the local
chamber of commerce or through some
other organization. “Don’t go in with the
attitude of, ‘Here I am.’ Go in there with
a servant’s attitude,” she says. Instead of
talking about yourself, ask other attendees
about their own business and find out how
you can help them expand.
During her two days in North
Carolina, Joyce Jagger showed
the mother-daughter team at
Stitches In Time some timesaving embroidery tricks and
software essentials, as well as
unlocking the mysteries of
pricing for profit and foolproof
marketing strategies. Check out
some pictorial highlights from
Jagger’s visit on Stitches.com.
“Networking and referrals are the fastest and cheapest way to grow the business,” Jagger says.
The Verdict
Jagger left Concord, confident that she’d
set her newest pupils on the right path.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Pat and
Marianne because they’re so willing to
learn and are eager to make the changes
to put out higher quality embroidery and
make their shop more profitable,” she says.
“I absolutely do think they’ll be successful.”
In the weeks that followed her twoday visit, Fortney and her daughter have
already started to make changes. They
raised their prices, and have started using
Jagger’s forms to track how long their processes take. April was a strong month for
sales, with Mother’s Day and graduation
orders coming in. Several new corporate
orders also helped boost the bottom line.
Baker attended a chamber of commerce meeting to network with other
business owners, and the shop worked
with Meals on Wheels, sponsoring a duck
race fundraiser. Customers who chose to
adopt one of the ducks from Stitches In
Time received a store coupon along with
a chance to win a prize in the Meals on
Wheels fundraiser.
As part of the “Can This Shop Be
Saved?” prize package, Midwest Products sent the shop several products,
including a Mighty Hoop that Fortney
has fallen in love with. “It’s so much fun
to work with,” she gushes. “I can’t wait to
get more sizes.”
The biggest change, perhaps, is the
confidence both mother and daughter
have gained from Jagger’s continued
guidance. “We know we’re giving good
quality,” Baker says. “And we’re not selling ourselves short by keeping our prices
low.”
With sales picking up, tensions
between Fortney and Baker have diminished. Each now has a firm grasp of
their role in the shop and how to work
together to grow the business. “We know
our strengths,” Fortney says.
In the months ahead, there is still a
lot of work to do, Jagger says. She’ll continue to work with Baker on mastering
the editing software and help Fortney
develop written embroidery procedures
and standards. “I’m pretty excited about
them,” she adds. “They definitely are
doing what I asked them to do.”
THERESA HEGEL is a senior staff writer for
Stitches. Contact: [email protected]; follow
her on Twitter at @TheresaHegel.
stitches.com --- AUGUST 2015 47