A little about us and how we got started in the Scrapbooking Business.
Brenda Werfal started Scrapbook Memories in November 2000, and owns the store with her husband, Frank, son, Scott, and daughter, Kim. Brenda was introduced to scrapbooking when her friend, Debbie, brought Brenda to a local craft store. Brenda’s confusion as to what all the paper, stickers, and assorted stuff were for was evident when she turned to Debbie and said, “What do you do with all this stuff?” Debbie responded, “It’s scrapbooking. You should do a book for Kim.” (At the time, May 2000, Kim was just about to graduate high school.)
Brenda
began her scrapbook the following week and was instantly hooked. She
and Debbie took many trips to various stores stocking up on supplies and
having a fabulous time getting their projects done. Brenda realized
that she had so much product in her house and no where to put it. She
conceived the idea of opening a store. A storefront was under
construction in Janesville, WI, and Brenda consulted with them, signed a
lease and after 3 months of no sleep for her, husband Frank, and their
friends/business partners, Scrapbook Memories was opened!
It wasn’t
long before everyone realized that the store was too small to hold all
the product they wished to carry. In 2002 a move was made from the 1800
square foot store to a 3800 square foot store. The small store was kept
and Stamping Memories was born. In 2004
Scrapbook Memories and Stamping Memories merged and moved into a new
location with approximately 8000 square feet of space. In 2005
Scrapbook and Stamping Memories opened a new location in Appleton, WI
and in 2006 another location was opened in Madison, WI.
Providing
unique services also is key to the shop's success. Customers especially
appreciate "Magical Memories", an in-house photo-restoration service.
Through computer manipulation, Randy can doctor a photo to eliminate red
eye, stains, dust spots, scratches, tears or rips. And if you happen to
end up with a stranger in the background of one of your shots; voila -
he's gone. Randy also scans existing scrapbook pages and burns them to
CD-ROMs. Brenda remembers getting her CD-ROM scrapbook about her son,
Scott's, college football career with "We are the Champions" playing as
you click through screens. These were an easier solution to sending
albums to family as Brenda then didn’t have to complete numerous full
scrapbooks. Scrapbook Memories continues involvement with schools
offering scrapbooking and photography tips to students prior to class
trips and then helping them create albums when they return. The shop
also provides prizes to area non-profit and civic organizations for
fundraising events and donates supplies to local day care centers to
teach young children.
INVENTORY:
Scrapbook Memories has always been a storefront with lots of inventory.
Customers come from all over the United States to see our store. "The
best part is the customer who walks through the door and says, 'Oh my
gosh! I think I just died and went to heaven'”, Brenda states. Scrapbook
Memories is more about the preservation of family memories, project
creation, and sharing with the family than making a profit. We always
encourage customers to bring their pictures with them when shopping to
limit impulse purchases and only get what you need. Courtesy cards are
kept for customers who want product that they’ve seen that the store
hasn’t gotten in yet.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
2001-04: Scrapbook Memories sings contract to be the Official Scrapbook Store for Memory Makers magazine. Includes doing scrapbook cruises and being Official Camp Store for Camp Memory Makers.
2002: Better Homes & Gardens, Scrapbooks, Etc. list Scrapbook Memories amongst top ten scrapbook stores in North America.