(Adventures of a QK Sales f(Adventures of a QK Sales Rep)
To say the least, my June trip to Iowa was memorable. I saw some great stores, met some amazing customers, learned some new tricks, and logged a TON of miles. It started out in Chicago, interestingly enough. As I was planning my course, it just turned out to be easier to catch a flight to O’hare from Salt Lake than to try to fly into any of the Iowa airports, plus it gave me the opportunity to visit one of my FAVORITE (right guys?;) stores – Windy City Scrapbooking. If you have never been to this store, you really ought to stop by and take a look. Christina and Susan make a great team, and this store boasts one of the most passionate and loyal Quickutz clubs that I have seen. We had a lot of fun during our event, and I was impressed at the number of Quicktuz QT’s that made it out on a Wednesday night. We gave away a bunch of QK stuff, including a personalized, signed picture of the President of Quickutz, Erik Adams. That was for Susan, she kinda has a thing for him, for those who didn’t know that already. What was the transcription again, Susan, “Thinking of you?” - Something like that. It’s always fun to watch Susan’s face turn so red that it looks purple when we tease her about Erik. The evening culminated with some great Italian food and great conversation, and I was off on the lonely road to Iowa.
Thursday morning dawned bright and early in Rockford, Il. Rockford is the site of another one of my FAVORITE stores, Captured Moments. Laurie and Sharon were already hard at work by the time I got there. I was a little bummed that we weren’t able to put together a full fledged event at this store, due to my schedule limitations. You could tell that these gals put together some ROCKIN’ Crops. We had a nice chat, though. These ladies are obviously doing something right because they have been in business for a LONG time, and they have been a QK shop from day 1. I love stores like that!!! I can’t wait to go back and do it up right!!
From Rockford it was only about a 4 hour drive into Des Moines. The most memorable part of this part of the trip was the weather I encountered along the way. Man, when it rains in Iowa, it really rains. This was not the nice, light, happy Utah rain that I am used to, this was mean, heavy Iowa rain that came down in sheets. At one point I had Theron back at the office checking the radar to let me know what I was in for along my route. When it wasn’t pouring rain, there were definitely low, dark, ominous clouds moving fast over the plains. There were a couple times I thought for sure I would see my first funnel cloud, but I somehow made it through.
The evening event was in Ankeny, which is a suburb of Des Moines. Luckily for me it was at another one of my FAVORITE stores, Memory Bound!! We were a little concerned about the turnout to this event due to the severe weather and the flooding situation, but I learned pretty fast that it takes a lot more than a little flooding to keep the Quickutz die-hards away. At one point in the evening, I had a customer tell me that she had been pumping water out of her barn all day long, but she just HAD to come to the QK event. I got a little misty eyed after the event when she announced that she was headed back home to a night full of pumping out water to protect her property, but she sure was grateful for the break. We ended up having a great turnout and gave away a TON of product. The highlight was topping it all off at one of the local Mexican restaurants with the Memory Bound gals. We talked and laughed and ate some of the best bacon wrapped shrimp I have ever eaten. Thanks Ladies!!
Friday morning, I was able to visit one of the anchor stores in the Des Moines area, Heirlooms By Design. They were my FAVORITE! I dropped in on Marge and Tom and ended up visiting for over a half an hour. These guys have been in business forever, and when you see their store, you can see why. They were a delight to talk to, and when I left it was with regret that I couldn’t stay longer and do an official event. Next time, guys, I promise!!!
As I drove away from Heirlooms, I had my radio tuned to information about the rapidly rising flood waters. I always enjoy listening to the local radio stations when I travel, but as I listened to the flood information, it became pretty apparent that the situation was getting out of control. They had already announced the closure of a section of the interstate that I was planning on taking to get back to the airport on Saturday. It seemed like they were announcing a bridge collapse every 10 minutes. I decided at this time to stick to the highways. I had 2 events scheduled for Friday evening, but I soon learned that it would be impossible to do them both because of the floods. I decided to drop everything and make a B-line to my FAVORITE store in Coralville, Memories on Fifth. I called Kris, the store owner, and we both determined that scheduling a scrapbooking event in the middle of a National Disaster area was probably not the best idea. I still wanted to come by and visit with her, see her store, and leave her with some product. As I arrived at Memories on Fifth, all of the stress of the day became absolutely obsolete when I saw the devastation of the flooding first hand. Luckily for Memories on Fifth the waters had not yet reached their cute little store, but literally 5 minutes walk from their front door, there were stores and businesses under 5 feet of water. I took a moment to stroll down 5th street, and again was deeply touched by the activity down at the waterfront. The National Guard was there buzzing down the street in their inflatable rafts. There were policeman wading waist-deep in water knocking on doors to make sure that everyone was safely out of their homes. It was depressing to see dozens of sandbag walls that must have taken hours to construct overtaken in a matter of seconds and yet there were still hundreds of volunteers working feverishly to try to protect the property that had not yet been affected. I was temped to drop everything and pick up a shovel and start filling bags. I knew, however, that it was going to take me the rest of the afternoon to make it to my event that was really only about 40 miles away as the crow flies. Sure enough, as I began following the radio instructions to detour around the closed section of the interstate, it became apparent that my 40 mile jaunt had just turned into an afternoon commitment. I reset the mileage counter on my car to see exactly how long my detour would be. 5 hours later, as the counter clicked to 300, I finally arrived at my evening event in Eldridge.
For those of you who are saying “where is Eldridge?” let me tell you, I almost blinked and missed it. As I pulled up to the store, I was amazed at the large silos that dominated the downtown area. I guess you put corn in those?? Anyway, it wasn’t too long before it became very clear that great things come in small packages. This was one of the best events I’ve attended, not to mention one of my FAVORITE stores. These guys refuse to use the “I’m in a small town, small market” excuse to not succeed as a store. The place was packed and the projects were all prepared in advance. The place would have been rockin’ whether I was there or not. I was more of a spectator to the party that was taking place in downtown Eldridge. Katie and Penny knew their customers like the back of their hands. They knew all their names, their kid’s names, their favorite projects, and most importantly, their favorite foods (cheap, ballpark Nachos). They had their projects all lined up and organized to the T’s. It was like watching a finely tuned engine chug along all evening. We played a rousing round of “deal or no deal” with the grand prize being a $500 QK shopping spree (luckily nobody won it, and I was able to keep my job) but we gave away a ton of stuff and had a blast. I also picked up an extra passenger after the event that kept me company on the way home, a cute little puppy that my kids have since named “Jones” (I call him Mr. Jones, my kids call him Dr. Jones.)
It was my first visit to the beautiful state of Iowa, but hopefully it won’t be my last. The people I met and the sights I saw will definitely stay with me for a long time to come.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Spencer’s Trail of Tears!!
