Bisnow's Buzz on The Patch!
Chic: Urban & Suburban
By Karin Tanabe for Bisnow on Business (posted August 12, 2008)
Suburban Chic
Banish the stereotypes. These days, girls' nights out are about building businesses. In 2005, when Heidi Kallett heard from her girls group that The Dandelion Patch, a fine stationery store in Vienna, was for sale, she called the store the very next day and made an offer. President of the Junior League of Northern Virginia, overseeing 600 volunteers at the time, she had to wait six months until her term was over to buy the business, and the owner waited for Kallett.
Kallett in front of hundreds of invitations. "People crave attention and personalized items. I think we're at the bottom of the bell curve and it will only go up from here."
"I was looking for something to develop on my own, not necessarily a store, but as soon as I heard about the Dandelion Patch, I stopped looking." Not yet the brand she had in mind, once in possession, Kallett changed everything but the name, exhausting the lease, re-branding, moving locations in Vienna and opening a store in Reston.
"People always expect the best for my kid's birthday parties," says Kallett outside her Reston store. "I could never send an Evite, I would be run out of town."
"We get to deal with the fun stuff in life: weddings and babies." The wedding industry is "huge," says Kallett, who gives kudos to Martha Stewart for the industry's renaissance. She admits that Dandelion Patch is for the girls. "Men only come when dragged by their girlfriends or wives." But dragged they are. With a little luck we'll be expanding inside the Beltway. "We'll know in September. We could also be urban chic soon."
By Karin Tanabe for Bisnow on Business (posted August 12, 2008)
Suburban Chic
Banish the stereotypes. These days, girls' nights out are about building businesses. In 2005, when Heidi Kallett heard from her girls group that The Dandelion Patch, a fine stationery store in Vienna, was for sale, she called the store the very next day and made an offer. President of the Junior League of Northern Virginia, overseeing 600 volunteers at the time, she had to wait six months until her term was over to buy the business, and the owner waited for Kallett.
Kallett in front of hundreds of invitations. "People crave attention and personalized items. I think we're at the bottom of the bell curve and it will only go up from here."
"I was looking for something to develop on my own, not necessarily a store, but as soon as I heard about the Dandelion Patch, I stopped looking." Not yet the brand she had in mind, once in possession, Kallett changed everything but the name, exhausting the lease, re-branding, moving locations in Vienna and opening a store in Reston.
"People always expect the best for my kid's birthday parties," says Kallett outside her Reston store. "I could never send an Evite, I would be run out of town."
"We get to deal with the fun stuff in life: weddings and babies." The wedding industry is "huge," says Kallett, who gives kudos to Martha Stewart for the industry's renaissance. She admits that Dandelion Patch is for the girls. "Men only come when dragged by their girlfriends or wives." But dragged they are. With a little luck we'll be expanding inside the Beltway. "We'll know in September. We could also be urban chic soon."
posted by The Dandelion Patch @ 9:07 AM
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