Mall locale works for wandering gift shop | Trial and error has finally led Percy's Burrow to a stable location and bottom line
Photo/David A. Rodgers
Laurie St. Pierre settles down
After hop scotching locations in Lewiston-Auburn for five years, Laurie St. Pierre in April moved her gift shop, Percy’s Burrow, into the Auburn Mall.
It’s the gift store’s fourth location in five years, but one that finally has her turning the corner toward profitability. St. Pierre projects revenue will hit $200,000 this year for the first time, allowing her to start drawing a paycheck.
“I’m persistent, I’m determined to win this game,” said St. Pierre, 49.
Percy’s is a mix of whimsical and high-end gifts, with life-sized stuffed dogs and wood puzzles, sepia-finished globes and tony wood furniture. After her first two locations, St. Pierre ditched a café in the back of the store — it had turned into a second business, she said. She also pulled her emphasis away from books, although they remain her second best-seller after toys.
“I think it’s made the store more interesting,” St. Pierre said of the change.
She initially opened her shop — then named The Book Burrow — in downtown Auburn in May 2003 after a sizable investment to install plumbing for the café and buy shelving. Sales were strong, but the location lacked visibility and convenient parking. She moved a mile away, near a Kmart, where visibility was fine but parking still wasn’t.
“It’s funny how you can be so close to the location and still not be right,” she said.
When that landlord, who was courting a new tenant, gave her a 30-day notice in the winter of 2006, she closed shop. The business had been “faltering financially,” St. Pierre said. Liquidating was devastating, but after nine months of reassessing her business plan, she decided she wasn’t done yet. That next Christmas, St. Pierre opened Percy’s Burrow in the Lewiston Mall, intending to make it a temporary storefront.
That involved low risk and low up-front costs. She invested $130 into the space. Burlap went up over one damaged wall, paint over another. Fashion Bug, a mall neighbor, loaned her spare shelves. Two suppliers agreed to take back whatever didn’t sell.
The retooled store did so well, customers convinced her to stay open. After 18 months, she moved again when she discovered lower rent in the Auburn Mall. That’s where, five years after launching her business, she’s started to find success.
At the mall, there’s less need to advertise, St. Pierre said; a sandwich board can get the word out. There’s camaraderie among tenants — she recently paired with Thatcher’s restaurant for an open house.
But there are disadvantages, too. Adhering to mall hours means she can’t stay until 3 a.m. prepping the store, and she misses big, exterior display windows.
The Auburn native recently got a liquor license to start selling wine, and plans to offer gift baskets. Someday, St. Pierre wants to act as a buyer and oversee several Percy’s stores. That’s the reward, she said, along with self-satisfaction.
She’s philosophical about all she’s learned, though, in her multiple moves. The most recent is that manpower matters. She’s now up to four part-time employees because business has been so good.
The Auburn Mall lease runs through October. She picked her location because Percy’s relies on young mothers, grandmothers and children; JC Penney and Joker’s Family Fun & Games are next door.
“Customers ask me if I’m done moving yet. I say no,” St. Pierre said.
She’s eyeing the bigger retail space across the hall.
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