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Posted on 11/27/2005 7:34:17 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 by request :-) As we near our first year as eviiiil capitalists we can look back and see mistakes made. They weren't all huge, not all small but part of the learning process. We learned from them immediately. This experience will make next year go much smoother and hopefully profitable by next Christmas season. The trick is to be able to hang on (pay bills and eat) until we get the customer base we need to sustain us. We still believe in what we are doing and we believe it will work. The store is moving upward ever so slowly. We've learned where to spend our advertising dollars and where not to. What ads work and what doesn't, what "sales" work and what doesn't. We've learned about consumer spending habits and what works in what month as far as product. Summer was much slower than expected and that set us back a bit but we learned from that also. We need to work summer different than last year, offer different products and carry less inventory than we initially thought. This will also allow us to bring in more items for the Christmas season. We will also probably take Sunday's off during the summer. Yippee! We've changed our hours on a few occasions trying to get an idea of when folks shop here at this type of store. I'm building a chart with customer counts so we can see the trends and the growth. I think I can safely say we both have gained confidence in ourselves and our abilities. This shop is the kind of place customers like to stay in and chat awhile. We have folks staying and talking for 30 minutes to an hour. They are comfortable with the store and us and they get attention they don't receive in the "box" stores. We learned about location. Mind you, we knew it was important and our problem here is that there is no "good" place in our city to place a business so we had to pick what we thought was the best with what was available in this "no growth" state we are in. It isn't ideal but then again, there is no ideal place, at least not around here. We really like our short 2.9 mile commute. We've learned to balance our strong points against each other, we each have certain tasks we do but make sure we both know the "other's" job. We still have a lot to learn but I think we have the major areas covered. We need to be able to afford and take the time to go to trade shows, increase our vendor contacts and continue to get the word out that we are here and do all that while spending as little money as possible. We are still happy about going to work everyday and though some days seem horrible and we get worried, the next day or week will surprise us and we are again encouraged. I can tell you it is something we both wish we had done earlier in our lives but the timing would have never been just right, in our case, this time in our lives, it was this or McDonalds. LOL. Health insurance is outrageous when you have to pay for it yourself. For anyone thinking of going out on their own, keep this in mind and save money ahead of time to cover it. We didn't and it takes a good chunk of change at our age to cover it even with very high deductibles. We have some really wonderful loyal customers, just not enough of them. Word is spreading and word of mouth is the best kind of advertising but it is slow going. The economy in Oregon doesn't help but like I said, if we can just hang on we know one day we will be able to make the store pay our personal expenses. We don't need to get rich or own more than one store, we just want to be able to pay for a roof over our heads and food on the table. Don't think we aren't aiming high, a nice vacation would be great too but we will be happy with not ever having to work for "someone else" again. We do it all, too. From cleaning the store, buying and placing orders, managing and stocking inventory, bookkeeping, banking, window displays, cashier/sales clerks, advisors and window washers. LOL. It is truly a "mom and pop shop" and we are enjoying it and hoping for the best. It's ours and it feels good to be able to say that. The website has some pictures but believe me, we change the way the product is displayed almost weekly. It's a must in this business.  We aquired a stray cat at the store about 7 weeks ago, just before we got the dog and he now lives in the store. Customers come in just to see the cat. Some carry him around the entire time they shop, some come in to see him and don't necessarily shop at the time! We have one customer that bought him a collar about a month ago and today brought him in some flea medicine because we found a few bumps on his back near his tail, though we see no fleas. The cat is perfect, he greets most of the customers and insist they pay attention to him! I have a list of customers that want the cat if we ever decided to give it up. We are having a contest to name the cat and we will select the name on Christmas eve so the cat finally gets a name for Christmas. The dog on the other hand is too rambunctious to be in the store unfortunately. :-( We take turns puppy sitting the dog away from the store and just this weekend splurged to get him a crate which we will try to ease him into staying in it, eventually for at least a few hours. The customers like the dog but at not yet 5 months old we are having difficulty teaching him to stay down off folks and he is just too big of a puppy to not knock things over when he gets excited (which is a mood he seems to stay in perpetually). He is very, very stubborn.  How can you not love a dog who sleeps on your head?  And brings you toys to play with? So there you have it, the Sam and Snippy (and Sarge and "the cat") shop is plugging along and we are happy to share our experience and lives with our Foxhole family. We wish you could all come and visit with us and see the store. Thank you all for your continued support of Sam and me. We love you guys.      |
LOL.
It's raining here. :-)
Are you doing the training of the dogs yourself?
erm... well, if you mean without professional help, then yes. If you mean me, then not really. I have not the first clue how to train a doggy effectively (or efficiently). I am just really making sure that there aren't any accidents in the house.
In Oregon! I find that hard to believe.
LOL. I blame it on global warming.
Well, we've had lots of good advice from FReepers and customers but actually getting the dog to do what we tell him is a whole different story.
We give in too easily.
This pup will be 5 months old on December 4th, he would knock the thing over he's so big and strong and not well behaved. He does stay in his large pet crate though without much fuss at all. He'll even lay in it to take a nap with the door open so I guess he's getting better.
LOL.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
You win quote of the day with this one! LOL
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on November 30:
0538 St Gregory of Tours chronicler/bishop
1466 Andrea Doria Genoese statesman/admiral
1554 Philip Sidney England, poet/statesman/soldier (Arcadia)
1667 Jonathan Swift Engl, satirist (Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal)
1793 Johann Lukas Schonlein helped establish scientific medicine
1810 Oliver Fisher Winchester rifle maker (Winchester)
http://www.famousamericans.net/oliverfisherwinchester/
1817 Theodor Mommsen Germany, historian/writer (Nobel 1902)
1835 Samuel Clemens [Mark Twain], author (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn)
1863 Andres Bonifacio leader of 1896 Philippine revolt against Spain
1874 Sir Winston Churchill (C) British PM (1940-45, 1951-55, Nobel 1953)
1894 Ture Rangstrom Stockholm Sweden, composer/critic (Kronbruden)
1898 Roy (Link) Lyman NFL tackle (Chicago Bears)
1907 Jacques Barzun France, author (The House of Interlect)
1912 Gordon Parks film director/photographer/writer (Learning Tree)
1915 Henry Taube chemist (Nobel 1983)
1920 Virginia Mayo St Louis MO, actress (Out of the Blue, White Heat)
1923 Efrem Zimbalist Jr actor (77 Sunset Strip, FBI, Scruples)
1924 Allan Sherman parody singer/songwriter (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah)
1924 Shirley Chisholm (D-Rep-NY), 1st black congresswoman/presidential candidate
1926 Richard Crenna Los Angeles CA, actor (Rambo, Summer Rental, Sand Pebbles)
1927 Robert Guillaume St Louis MO, actor (Benson, Soap)
1928 Rex Reason Berlin Germany, actor (This Island Earth)
1930 G Gordon Liddy Watergate felon, radio talk-show host
1931 Jack Ging Alva Ok, actor (11th Hour, Ripcord, Tales of Wells Fargo)
1031 Davey Jones rocker (Monkees-Daydream Believer, Last Train To Clarksville, I'm A Believer)
1931 Jack Sheldon Jacksonville FL, actor (Run Buddy Run, Merv Griffin)
1936 Abbie Hoffman aka Free, Yippie-communist/activist/author (Steal this Book)
1937 Paul Stookey Baltimore MD, singer (Peter, Paul & Mary-Wedding Song)
1937 Richard Threlkeld newscaster (ABC-TV)
1939 Walter Weller Vienna Austria, conductor (Vienna Tonkusteler Orchestra)
1947 David Mamet US playwright/director (Speed the Plow, House of Games)
1949 Arthur Lee Washington Jr one of FBI's most wanted
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/fugitive/fo/washington.htm
Or
http://www.nolledge.com/board.html
1950 Paul Westphal NBA guard (Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns)
1951 Dian Parkinson TV model (Price is Right)
1952 Mandy Patinkin actor/singer (Yentl, Alien Nation)
1953 Shuggie (Johnny) Otis, Jr. (blues musician)
1954 June Pointer singer (Pointer Sisters-I'm So excited)
1962 Bo Jackson baseball/football player (Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Raiders)
A little "birdie" told me about the good 'ol days at the canteen . . . sounds like I missed some whoppers.
"The Old Days of Free Republic"
Miscellaneous Announcement Keywords: "THE OLD DAYS"
Source: Revel
Posted on 04/12/2000 05:35:44 PDT by JimmyT
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38f46da06828.htm
(snip)
I tell ya, you should have been on Free Republic back in the 1910's. It was different back then. Sinkspur was only "Sink," not having yet earned his spurs. Michael Rivero was concerned mainly about the hypothetical explosion of the Titanic's center fuel tank, which was what sent it to the bottom, not some dang friggin' "ice-berg." Ancient_Geezer was simply Geezer. People were criticizing President Woodrow "Billy Blythe" Wilson, and hoping like hell that he didn't run for a third term (no 22nd Amendment yet). The "Bull Moose" Party 'brigadiers' occasionally surfaced, and dished out, well, a lot of Bull. For a while people were talking about whether a youngster with the last name of "Castro" ought to be returned to Cuba. And some were hoping that Prescott "p-scott" Bush would run for President.
The big controversy on FR back then, I tell ya, was whether booze should be outlawed. If booze was outlawed, by golly, only outlaws would have booze! And FR back then had a lot of these danged 'pro-prohibitionists' infiltrating, like ash out a chimney.
21 Posted on 04/12/2000 14:55:27 PDT by Jay W
(snip)
"..."The Old Days of Free Republic" ..." Oh yes, I remember them well. Had to walk 3 miles in the snow, each day, to get to my terminal, and log on. ;^)-
And by "log," you mean a real log. Made out of wood. Chopped that very day.
31 Posted on 04/12/2000 15:05:08 PDT by Jay W
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