One Year Later

When Janet Dachuck opened Scrapbooks, Etc. last spring in an old, 500-square-foot storefront off Old U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs, she had no idea that just over a year later she'd have a partner and 1,000 more square feet of space.

Scrapbooks, Etc. is a specialty store for scrapbooking enthusiasts. From stickers to acid-free paper, markers and croppers, it sells everything needed to get started in the hobby and offers classes and a work area.

The hobby store is located at 3465 Bonita Beach Road, in the FlexBon/Sneaky Pete's plaza, and Dachuck has increased her business hours from 16 to 40 a week, not including the weekend and evening classes she and partner Kathy McAdams offer.

McAdams started as a customer. Soon the two decided to go into partnership. Since then, they say, revenues have jumped: What they used to make in a week, they now make in a day. "Location has been a tremendous asset to us," McAdams says. "We get a lot of drive-by and foot traffic." Already, they say, they're close to outgrowing their new space.

Along the way Dachuck and McAdams have had to wrestle with the challenges of being new business owners, including learning how to work in a partnership, mastering stocking items in high demand, and dedicating the necessary time. "Owning and running your own business takes a lot more than 40 hours a week," McAdams says. "Between selling, ordering, advertising, doing the books and arranging the store, we've easily got over 80 hours a week invested."

Another challenge has been dealing with competition from retail giants like Target and Michaels. That's one reason why McAdams and Dachuck were among the founding members of the National Independent Scrapbook Stores Association (NISSA). They hope the alliance will bring them more buying power.

Despite their growing pains, McAdams and Dachuck say they couldn't be happier. "We've gotten to know a lot of people and see their memories," says McAdams. "Everything from retirement to memoirs to new-baby photos makes it into our scrapbooks."

-Kelley Kaminsky