The word “eclectic” has been
used to describe all sorts of things but perhaps its best use is to describe
Leon & Lulu, Mary Liz Curtin’s wonderfully kinetic store located in
Clawson, Michigan.
Leon & Lulu, and the
adjacent Three Cats at Leon & Lulu, is owned by the husband-and-wife team, Mary Liz
Curtin and Stephen Scannell. The store is named for their family pets, Leon the
cat and Lulu, his rottweiler pal. While Leon and Lulu are no longer with us,
visitors to the store just might meet Spot and Bertie, the two pups who “work”
at the store.
Full disclosure: We met Mary
Liz on the speaker circuit many years ago and our friendship grew from there. Make
no mistake; this is not a puff piece about someone we know because it’s impossible
to do a puff piece about Leon & Lulu. It is simply an amazing store with an
amazing story.
Mary
Liz at her store with Spot (left) and Bertie.
On April Fools’ Day of 2006, Mary
Liz and Stephen opened Leon & Lulu in the former Ambassador Skating Rink in
Clawson, Michigan, “against the advice of many business professionals and Mary
Liz’s mother. They remortgaged their home and sunk everything they had into the
building, the renovation, and not enough inventory to fill it.” We are happy to
report that the mortgage has been paid off, their kid’s made it through
college, and Mary Liz and Stephen are still happily married.
The Ambassador
Skating Rink and Clawson Theater opened in 1941 and operated through the late
1950’s.
Leon & Lulu today.
Today, the 15,000-square-foot
space is home to an eclectic (there’s that word again) assortment of gifts,
clothing, accessories, toys, novelties, home decor, furnishings, and probably a
few categories we missed. The store’s decor features the original skating rink
floors, a disco ball that still hangs in the center of the space, a hockey
scoreboard, and hundreds of pair’s skates that feature prominently in store
displays. And it’s not unusual to see some of Leon & Lulu team members cruising
the sales floor on roller skates.
Shoppers tend to spend hours at
the store and Mary Liz had no place to send customers to lunch that were up to
her standards, so in September 2019 she opened the 7,800-square foot Three Cats
Restaurant. Located in the adjacent former Clawson movie theater, the building
was a derelict mess. Everything had to be renovated and restored. The marquee
was long gone so it was recreated as an exact replica of the original.
Three Cats is located right next door to Leon & Lulu.
what’s going on at the store and the restaurant.
Three Cats began as a coffee
shop but later became a fine dining establishment when Mary Liz partnered with
the famous Chef Matt Prentice, who liked her approach to business and
charitable works. Three Cats survived the pandemic with Chef Prentice’s 3 for
$39 gourmet carry-out dinners that included soup, a main dish, side and
dessert. Sadly, Chef Prentice passed away unexpectedly in April 2021. He was replaced
by Chef Drew Cayuela, who trained under Prentice and continues his legacy at
Three Cats.
Three
Cats offers everything from coffee to fine dining. Guests dine surrounded by fun
product. Talk about your add-on sales opportunity!
That
truck gets around. The decor is ever changing.
Hungry yet?
So, how do you fill a store
this size, with so many departments? Attending trade shows is a definite must. Each year
Mary Liz and her buyers attend markets in High Point, Dallas, Atlanta, New
York, and Las Vegas. Buying five apparel collections a year requires trips to numerous
clothing trade shows, plus one in Europe – customers love that. Mary Liz said
it took a while to realize she needed more than just her eyes choosing product.
You need others opinions as well or you could end up with a merchandise mix
that does not resonate with all shoppers.
“You can’t make your rent on
new items alone,” Mary Liz advises. “You need product that will sell through,
so work with your solid vendors to identify these items. And even when you are
tired of a certain item or category, weed out the slow sellers, but don’t bale
on it if it is still selling. Send an email blast touting the item and keep on
selling it.”
But once a trend is over, it
has to go. Leon & Lulu has two sales a year, one in June and another after
Christmas. During each sale, merchandise is marked down 30-90%. The final week
customers are given a coupon for an additional 20% off sale prices. If a
shopper doesn’t have a coupon, they can sign up for Leon & Lulu’s email
blasts and get one on the spot. (Want to know a secret? Shoppers would get that
coupon anyway, but Mary Liz is bullish on growing her email list because email
blasts grow sales.)
Mary Liz rewards her staff,
too. Each one receives $20, $30, and $50 coupons at the end of each sale to go
shopping, plus another one good for an additional 50% off before that product
is donated to charity. Nothing is kept in storage for next year.
For inspiration in between, Mary
Liz shops everywhere for ideas – including gas stations and mini-marts – but
especially indie retailers. Each time she attends a trade show she tries to
take an extra day or two to go shopping, “When you are feeling receptive you
can find great ideas anywhere. If you’re in a bad mood you’ll hate it all, but when
you’re in a good mood you’ll find 10 great vendors.”
She added apparel to the store after
not being able to find clothing she wanted to be seen in. During one of those
after show excursions she visited a store that had wonderful apparel, but she had
no time to shop. “Buy it all,” Stephen said, and she did. Customers and staff
loved her new wardrobe, so those vendors became part of Leon & Lulu’s merchandise
mix. Apparel now accounts for one-third of the store’s business. Getting people
to try it on is key.
at the end of each rack and atop each display are carefully accessorized to encourage add-on sales.
The
ambiance is elegant and lighting is strong. And flattering. Shoppers over the age of 60 require three times the light to see clearly as
shoppers in their 20s. What good is a great mix of product of shoppers can’t
see it?
Accessories
are displayed together using a variety of fixtures. Notice the attention to
detail above the scarves displayed on the wall, and the chandelier. We love a
well- placed chandelier.
Why
just sell a dress when you can sell a couch, too? Or visa-versa.
Leon
& Lulu’s “Small Crawl” Business Tours
In 2020, Mary Liz took
customers on “Small Crawls” – tours of independently owned stores and restaurants in Clawson,
and the towns surrounding her store. In each one she modeled outfits from Leon
& Lulu, explaining what she would wear to a visit to that particular business,
and how she would accessorize that outfit. Those video tours sold a lot of
clothing. Mary Liz would hit the road at the crack of dawn so the filming wouldn’t
be interrupted by noisy trucks. And since there were multiple clothing changes
required, she traveled in a van, AKA mobile fitting room.
could spend hours getting lost in this store.
Because of the size of the
store, and its huge inventory, the sales floor is highly organized.
Cross-merchandising is utilized only at the front of the store. The rest of the
sales floor merchandises categories all in one place. Looking for a purse?
There’s a department for that.
items to complete each room setting are incorporated into the vignette.
Furniture is displayed
throughout the sales floor in vignettes of approximately 10’x20’. Wherever
possible two couches are displayed back to back, with portable walls on wheels
used to define each space. The walls on wheels are also used to define the gift
area located at the center of the store.
The furniture vignettes tell
stories. One of our favorites is “The guy who got divorced and his wife took
all the good stuff” vignette!
an actual truck turned store fixture that moves about the sales floor. Note the
greeting cards housed on the far right wall. Mary Liz says they have made a big
comeback; Leon & Lulu sells a lot of cards these days.
is always something interesting above your head. In this case its parasols, but
you may also find parchment wall hangings, antique ads or circus banners.
& Lulu’s bestselling items. The pots can be used as a vase as in this wagon
display, or as a pitcher that makes a delightful gurgling sound when liquid is
poured from it.
displayed face out on a table, books garner more attention than those displayed
spine out on a wall, library style.
add-on sales is one of your goals, displays like this assortment of household
items is your merchandising best friend. The plastic crates, spinner rack and
tall shelf entice customers to stay a while and shop.
a great example of a treasure hunt display. Shoppers are certain to linger here
and leave with more than they had intended to buy. The movable walls allow for
optimal display flexibility.
Merchandising
a toy car on a coffee table? Why not?
display is what we call “dressed.” Pillows, candles, clocks, cups and saucers
add to the hominess of this colorful display. The coordinated pieces help
shoppers visualize what the product might look like in their own homes.
another shot of those movable walls. The round shelving unit on the table in
the center creates a pyramid effect, bringing the eye up and over the entire
area, causing shoppers to see more of the items on display.
Liz at one of her many charity based in-store events.
Pre-pandemic, Mary Liz held
approximately 80 charity based events at her store and restaurant. Now, the
store is gearing back up with frequent but smaller events. We have no doubt
that Leon & Lulu will be back up to 80+ as soon as it is safe to do so.
On any given week you might
find a full-on charity event, like the Chair-ity Benefit that auctioned off chairs
found at garage sales and turned into works of art by some of Michigan’s top
designers. All proceeds went to The Turning Point Shelter for victims of
domestic and sexual abuse. Other in-store events give a portion of the night’s proceeds
to a deserving cause. Organizations such as the Women of Hadassah, PTAs, and
local school groups can be frequently found gracing the sales floor at Leon
& Lulu, shopping for a cause.
These retail events include trunk
shows, demos, fashion shows featuring customers as models, book readings and
book signings by authors, and artist markets that happen four times a year, right
on the sales floor. “Made to Eat in Michigan” is a favorite that features
small-batch artisanal food vendors who generously provide tastings of their
food items sold at Leon & Lulu.
display features some the “Made to Eat in Michigan” food items that are sold every day at Leon
& Lulu.
When
things were Covid quiet last year Mary Liz turned up the volume with the Leon
& Lulu Jingle Contest. The prize was $1000, dinner for four at Three Cats,
and a big basket of Leon & Lulu Loot. Hundreds entered, 10 made the finals but
the judges could only choose one winner. DJ Truth took home the prize with his
“Need to, Get to, Leon & Lulu”. Check it out on YouTube. It’s an ear worm;
we guarantee you will be humming it for days.
Truth wins big in the Leon & Lulu Jingle Contest.
There
is never a dull moment at Leon & Lulu. It’s that experience we always talk
about. Mary Liz’s goal is to make people happy; she’s thrilled when people come
in and just enjoy themselves. So the next time you find yourself anywhere in
the Detroit area, set aside time to visit, because you need to, get to, Leon
& Lulu!
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