Country Clutter, 2005 Small Business of the Year, remains
customer-focused
By Shiela Sanchez, Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – The mailman walks into Country Clutter everyday saying the same thing. “I’m home honey.”
It’s all part of the lighthearted atmosphere surrounding the business that the owners, Sue Thurman, 59, and Peggy Ghysels, 51, have created for themselves and their clientele.
The sisters reply: “Hi Steve,” which brings laughter to those shoppers who hear the exchange.
The women understand the secret of keeping a small business floating – strong customer service skills that keep shoppers coming back for more.
They’re also an example of business owners who reach out to the community. The sisters are constantly thinking of ways to help others.
This year, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce gave the store the 2005 Small Business of the Year Award.
The 2,800-square-foot store, also has been named franchise of the year four times by the Country Visions retail franchise chain.
For the past 10 years, the women have worked for the chamber during the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Thurman has served on the chamber’s board of directors for a year.
In October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the store sponsors a “Girls Night Out” event giving away raffle prices every 30 minutes from opening until closing time. Money earned from selling the raffle tickets is donated to the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, which provides information and support to those touched by breast cancer. This year the store raised $2,000 during the event compared to $500 last year.
Thurman is mostly proud that the franchise has adopted the event. “We’ve lost some really good customers to breast cancer. They were very special people and that has touched us,” she said.
The store also donates all its gift-wrapping proceeds to the nonprofit Rebekah’s Children’s Services, which promotes child welfare issues. The store raised nearly $3,000 for the agency this year.
This Thanksgiving, Ghysels worked at the Salvation Army helping feed the homeless and baking 20 pies for the nonprofit agency.
“We put our heart and soul into this place,” Ghysels said during an interview from the store’s back room sitting on a box full of candles, looking tired from a busy holiday shopping season. “We want it to be the best shopping experience for the customers when they’re here.”
When an item is brought to the register for payment, customers receive a warm thank you, assistance with packaging and price tag removal and any other request related to the purchase. When large packages are bought, the store’s eight employees, usually college students, carry the bags to the customers’ cars.
These are the small details, the pair said, that sometimes customers don’t find at large retail stores.
The sisters also joke around with their customers answering questions with silly comments that make them laugh. “I want them to feel like they’re home and like they’re with friends and family,” Ghysels said.
Ghysels opened the store with Thurman in November of 1995. Ghysels was ready for a change tired of driving a truck for nearly two decades. Thurman wanted to apply what she had learned working in retail for 18 years.
When Thurman saw an advertisement for a country store franchise, she immediately became interested. Thurman checked out Country Visions, Inc. and asked Ghysels to accompany her to Vacaville, the company headquarters. The women were impressed by how the franchise representatives treated them.
“Their enthusiasm was what impressed us,” Thurman said.
Opening the store was Sue’s lifelong dream.
Today, the store has 20,000 customers on its database, from as close as Gilroy to as far away as Alaska, but its core customer base comes from South County.
The sisters run the store, each taking a day out of the week to rest. They’re usually at the store early dividing the workload among them.
Bonnie Williams, who’s worked at the store for four years, said laboring at Country Clutter is her “fun job” because she loves the merchandise, the women running the business and the customers.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized by the chamber,” Williams said. “The owners are very active in the community.”
The store sends about 600 birthday cards to customers every month. It also sends about 250 thank-you cards to customers twice a month when they spend more than $50. The cards come with various discount opportunities for their next purchase.
“I love our customers. Without them we wouldn’t be where we’re at,” Ghysels said. “They’re our heart and soul.”
Loyal clients believe the store was chosen because of the women’s work ethic, honesty and integrity as well as their community activism.
“I would like to believe we were chosen as small business of the year because of everything we do for our customers,” Ghysels said. “My sister and I work really hard to do a good job.”
Regular customer Eileen McDonald, a member of the Alameda County Board of Education, said she loves to shop at Country Clutter because her house is decorated in country style and it’s hard to find stores with country decor.
“The prices are good and the people are friendly. I drove all the way from Newark to shop here today,” McDonald said, eyeing a wall of about 20 feet of Yankee scented candles. Every time she visits she spends about $100.
Shirley Powell, of San Mateo, likes to shop at Country Clutter because “it’s cozy and gives you great ideas to bring home to make it smell nice and feel good.”
Ghysels, Thurman and their mother have lived in Gilroy for about five years. They were born and raised in Washington State. In the ’70s they moved to Livermore. Now, they all live together in a house off Mantelli Drive.
The sisters, who like other business owners in South Valley have been affected by the decline in the economy, talk about the abundant choices Gilroy customers now have. Shoppers can now take their retail dollars to the Costco, Target, Kohls, Wal-Mart and Old Navy, many of which sell merchandise at rock bottom prices.
“Competition is really hard,” Ghysels said. “But one thing we offer our customers is top service by making them feel good. We’re not a huge corporation. It’s just my sister and I. This is our bread and butter. This is how we work, how we survive and how we live. We do everything through our store.”
