Byrd Style Lounge

So after a yesterday where I’m very ashamed to say I lost my shall we say ZEN, I felt compelled to 1. make a public apology and 2. explain my position so that EVERYONE might be able to understand my angst and frustration however inexcusable it may be….

In December I was approched by a very lovely gentalmen from the now famous and wildely popular GROUPON with a deal that admittely seemed “too good to be ture”. Here’s how the convo went…

1. Get in on the ground floor of the St Louis launch of a marketing tool that had amazing popularity in cities such at NYC, LA, Dallas, etc etc (always the trailblazer this perked my ear) and have The Byrd’s name blasted out to a redic amount of households in the Greater St Louis Area!

2. The deal, offer a Coupon for a discount and only if enough people bought the coupon would the deal be valid. Here was the kicker I would get the a check for all the coupons bought with Groupon only taking a “small” percentage + I would get access to the contact info for all the people who bought the coupon. (now if you yourself are a small business owner you know that email addresses are like GOLD!)

3.  At the advise of GROUPON they ran the following promo: $5o for $150 worth of merchandise at Byrd not for use on sale items and can not be combine with any other promotion or groupon. After all this is the promo that worked for the Chicago boutique which oddly enough wouldn’t return my phone calls (now to find out that they went out of business)

So excited about all the exposure The Byrd would be getting and poised for all the new business thinking that surly people buying the Groupons would savor the chance to walk in to a high end boutique and get a great discount on Lush Cashmere, Wool Mackage Coats, Tightly Tailored Tt and other lux items that they normally wouldn’t buy, I signed on the dotted line and the “Deal Was On”

On the day the deal went live I watched as the number of people buying the coupon rose and was delighted when we closed the day at 79 coupons bought (remember this is when groupon first launched so this was a respectably high number).

When the first check came in I noticed that yes the size was nice but it wasn’t as much as I expected in fact it was much lower than promised by the lovely gentleman at GROUPON. Turns out if your “Deal Is On” as they say its a 40/60 split so you do the math I ended up with $20 and they ended up with $30 (pure profit for them). Ok no big deal because people were going to pour into the Byrd and spend over the $150 and they were going to become life long clients! Oh then I asked for the excel sheet of all the email addresses of the people who purchased the Byrd deal and was told that the information was completely confidential and it would be illegal to give it out…SORRY….

This left me a little chapped but still I knew people were going to pour into the Byrd and spend over the $150 and they were going to become life long clients!

Then the Deal Takers started coming in with their Groupons and my idea and promise of…

Quickly turned in to the reality of this…..

My Boutique was turned from a place where people appreciated fine pieces to a Bargain Basement where groupon holders filled their bags with $24 candles, $30 tees, and all the low priced inventory they could all the while calculating how many Hem Gems ($25) they could buy and hit exactly $150 NOT including tax! AND then took up issue with me when I refused their request to use their coupon on 75% off rack when it CLEARLY says “Sale Merchandise Not Included” right on the front of your coupon!!!!

Now would be a good time to do the math….They got $150 of merch for $50 - $30 (GROUPON’s small cut) – 2% (if you bought your groupon with a cc which of course you did because you bought it on line GROUPON charge the cc processing fees to who? That’s right me) – 8.175% tax (that I was left to pay bc grouponders math is amazing and how dare they be charged for tax) = $17.99 (what Byrd “made” off the sale) $150 of merch – $17.99 = $132.01 the amount of money I just gave away meaning I took a lose of 88%. Now if your a numbers person take this math and do it 79 times, let me know what you come up with, then tell me if you think that the GROUPON is a wonderful opportunity for a small clothing store.

Now I realize that it may have been a dumb business decission on my part, but after calling the lovely gentleman at GROUPON to tell him about my misfortune and thanks by the way for the misguidance, he continued to call on local Boutiques who have been selling upward of 400 and 500. This in and of itself to me is a crime because the LOVELY GENTALMAN is “selling” GROUPON to them as a wonderful way to get business when he and his company know full well that its a wonderful way to put a small boutique OUT of business.

So all you last second groupon users who want to use 4 and 5 at a time or who get angry with me when I refuse your request to hand over my sale items, I’m ever so sorry if I seem a little short or maybe even slightly edgy, it’s not your fault and you don’t understand the workings, I’m just worried how I’m going to pay my car payment or perhaps eat.

I wonder if GROUPON has any positions open for us small business owners after they close us down????