Each of the women at the Mill Street Market, 3937 Broadway, at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Street followed different paths to become businesses owners.
Yet, as they mark October as National Women's Small Business Month, all four encourage other women to take the plunge into owning a business.
“Don't be afraid to do it,” said Jolene Engelman, owner of Country Hearth Primitives.
Engelman took her own advice five years ago after a career at Nationwide Insurance.
When her job was outsourced after 27 years, she and her husband, Dave, opened a 500-square foot store selling antiques and country and primitive furniture and accessories.
They started out small, she said, because they were “afraid to take the plunge.”They kept outgrowing their spaces, and this summer they moved, for the fourth time, into a 3,800-square foot space in Mill Street Market.
In July, Chris Carney opened Leafy Greens Local Food and Market, a natural foods store on the southwest side of the building. Engelman and Carney joined Tonya Moore of Red Letter Journals scrapbooking superstore and Mandy Thompson of Hair Gallery and Day Spa, in building owned by Karen Dover.
“I think we're all pretty proud of the fact that we're all four women business owners in a business that's owned by a woman,” Engelman said. For Carney, opening Leafy Greens was a longtime dream. “I told my husband if somebody opened a health food store in Grove City before I did, I would divorce him,” she quipped. “So we're still happily married.”
To mark Women's Small Business Month, the U.S. Small Business Administration is hosting a series of weekly Web chats throughout October. The series will address issues such as putting together a business plan and finding capital.
The women of Mill Street Market have advice for potential business owners based on their own experiences. All four women cited support from their families as a key ingredient to their success. But finding a work-family balance can be difficult, they said. And the stagnant economy has been a challenge for all but Carney, who finds that rainy weather has the greatest effect on foot traffic in her store.
Thompson counts “staying strong through a rough economy” as one of her biggest accomplishments.
“Obviously, we're a luxury,” she said. When people slash spending, highlights and manicures may not make the cut. The same goes for scrapbooking and antiquing.
“When the gas prices go up, we know the business is going to take a hit,” Engelman said. Moore also worries about the Internet's effect on small businesses like hers. “Think about the people that have rent and utilities and overhead,” she said, “and try to support your local businesses.”
Moore was a part-time employee at Red Letter Journals until she took over the business two years ago from Dover.
“I know this sounds stupid,” she said, “but when I paid my first sales tax, I felt like, 'Wow.' ”Learning to be assertive was a challenge at first, Moore said. She benefited from the advice of two mentors: Dover and Brenda Abram, who ran the store when Dover owned it and continues to work there under Moore.
She encourages other women starting out to find a mentor and to take advantages of programs that help women with business plans and other aspects.
Starting Leafy Greens came with a steep learning curve for Carney, who's had to learn what to stock – and how much people will buy.“I ordered 5 million bags of frozen edamame,” she said. “And nobody wants recycle toilet paper. Trust me.” Carney's idea for Leafy Greens began in an Appalachian childhood spent searching the woods for herbs, weeds and mushrooms with her great grandmother. She calls herself “a nurse by trade, an herbalist by upbringing.”
As the mother of five boys and a daughter, Carney often would hear other parents talk about going to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods Market, and she saw a need for a whole and natural foods store in Grove City.
Moore, meanwhile, caters to the local schools with her personalized merchandise, and she counts the classes her store offers to those in the MRDD (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) population as one of her accomplishments.
“For me, it's about being a part of the community, even though I don't live here,” said Moore, a former special education teacher who commutes each day from Pickerington.
Engelman is proud that her business keeps growing. “When we started, it was just us,” she said. Now, the store has about 20 vendors, most of whom are local women. Thompson has learned that having employees who share her goals and work as a team makes a big difference. “Try to keep drama to a minimum,” she advises other potential business owners.
The four women of Mill Street Market have talked about coming together to mark Women's Small Business Month in some way. In the meantime, they encourage more people to check out the Town Center in general and their unique ventures in particular. Thompson found that her business benefited from this summer's Browsing Broadway events. Engelman would love to see busloads of tourists spend the day eating and shopping in the Town Center.
“I wouldn't want to live anywhere else,” Carney said.
Grove City is good for business, especially for women, said Grove City Town Center Executive Director Andy Furr. Furr said more than 20 businesses are owned by women in the Town Center area of Grove City making women business owners a powerful influence in the area.
For further information about the Town Center, contact Furr at 614-539-8762.
