about my venture
Who are we and where are we from?
I am Jami and Marianne is the other half of Perlina. Perlina is our business name and we chose that name because it means "bead" in Italian. We have been dreaming about going into business together for a long time, and now is the time with your help.
Savannah Georgia is our home. It is also home to a large, diverse, creative community. There are resources for all types of creative needs and outlets; a fabric store, a yarn store, an embroidery store, two art supply stores, art galleries galore, but one thing is missing in the downtown area, a bead store. The demand is there, among the college students, locals, tourists looking for a treasure to take home, but the source is missing. So Marianne and I have focused our dreams of business partnerdom into the goal of opening a bead store called Perlina.
What do we want for Savannah and our artists?
We invision Perlina as the place for beaders, jewelry makers, all willing types of artists for that matter, to find all the things one might need to create jewelry, beaded fashion collections, beaded quilts, or just be inspired. We do not just see Perlina as your typical bead shop. Marianne and I are both creative thinkers, we have visions of connecting and growing Savannah's downtown creative community by working together with other creative material outlets in the area. We have plans to teach classes, offer classes taught by artists who specialize in various techniques, as well as offer children's parties in which each participant will make their own treasure to keep.
We see Perlina as a place for people to come with the intention to learn about beading. Beading is a very social medium. It is the perfect thing to do around a table while catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, networking with people you might not have encountered had you not decided to take a beading class. Beaders are a happy, social, creative crowd who love to talk, discover, and share. This is the kind of environment we want to foster and be a part of.
So what is the rest of the story?
We do not want to stop with the physical environment. There is also a blog-like website that will serve as an extension to Perlina's store front. Another way in which we foresee helping to grow the downtown creative community is offering to the local college students an opportunity to intern in our store. They will learn about retail, customer service, money handling and especially self promotion. For the duration of their internship we will give them a section on the Perlina website to be featured and sell their own work. Marianne having studied photography, will be able to offer guidance on shooting their work for the internet so that it is presented professionally. I will assist in the marketing aspect, drawing from my own experience with my on-line shops.
Why is this so important to us?
We want to spend our time providing a needed product and helping to encourage and inspire other artists. We have the time right now! We just need your help raising the money.
Thank you for your time and be sure to check out our video.
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Michelle Meyering re: HELP PRINT THE ...
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