It wasn’t pretty at first. Sure, the bus was wrapped already, but inside, it was just a plain old motor home with a few Sactionals in it. As with anything LoveSac, it needed to be remark-able.
With help from Mike, Dave, Sambir, and Ben from LoveSac HQ, and a couple of temps, we gutted the entire bus and transformed it into a Shawny D. original design…
2” thick 100% wool hand-tufted deep shag rugs throughout, 7 flat-screen monitors off the in-dast DVD player, 9 speaker Memphis sound system powered by 1500 watts complete with Pioneer Premier sub-woofer, a complete repainting in Galveston Gray (just like our stores), and eventually we will cover the walls in framed art, just like our stores.
Once the basic renovations were done we got serious and installed the newly re-upholstered captain seats, done over in Simba and Black Diego fabrics from the LoveSac Custom Order swatches. Of course, a Black Diego Custom CitySac in the corner.
I personally fabricated all of the TV shrouds using the table saw and jig saw, covering them in the Black Diego fabric, mounted and installed all of the new speakers, in a row above the seating. The seating….4 Base 6 Side long sectional, all in Custom Simba (tiger) Covers beneath the Custom Black Diego curtains. We ripped out the entire stove, sink, and kitchenette, replacing it with a Custom Shira (Leopard) Chaise Lounge beneath the 20” flat-screen up above. All ceiling lights replaced with custom club-blue light bulbs.
In the rear, we installed a 4 Base 4 Side Movie Lounger beneath the black lights on the ceiling, and the drop-down 20” monitor. A Moroccan pillow-pile in the corner on the bench.
The bus is finally ready for the trek west on Operation Front Line, 2008. Every year for the last 6 years, I drive across the country and visit every single LoveSac store to personally work on every store-floor, do hands-on training, and generally stay in touch with LoveSac employees and customers everywhere.
First stop (from last week): Tyson’s Corner (DC). Mike and the crew are the top LoveSac store in the country. Adam, (our manager of 5 years!) from Texas, ridin’ shotgun and helping me train in DC and NJ.
Next: Garden State (NJ, shown in previous entry) and Queens Center (NYC). Jennifer and the staff (left) keepin’ it real on the lower level of the Queens Center Mall. Katie came back to the Sac, having worked for us down in Texas years ago. I love that so many people who leave LoveSac end up coming home.
Up north to LoveSac Natick Collection (outside of Boston). Jeremy and his staff (right) of newbies keep the place lookin’ smooth, even without a woman’s touch. Jerome – sorry I couldn’t stay and hang. We’ll have to go tear it up next time I’m up there. Hellen, our National Sales Manager based in the KOP store came along and absolutely killed it. She’s better at LoveSac sales than I am, no question.
Wrapped up the east coast leg at Hellen’s store, King of Prussia, PA. Matt, Hellen’s assistant, and the rest of the crew do an amazing job on one of the country’s smallest store floor. We tore it down and re-built it, an impromptu re-merchandising that turned out better than I even expected!
Sambir and Mary, new employees from HQ, jumped on board and worked the sales floor at KOP for 8 hours straight. They absolutely KILLED it on the floor. A bit quiet at first, but by the end of the day, they were working the customers over! I think they came away with a new respect for our people on the front lines who ultimately bring in all of the money for our company, and pay our salaries.
Back to the office (Monday) to Pimp My Bus. And then…
The 8 hour drive to Pittsburgh, PA & South Hills LoveSac. I had Mike from Tyson’s Corner with me, who not only rode shotgun, but drove the bus! Mike was a roadie for rock bands for years and knows how to handle a the road (niiiiiiiiiice). Torin and Libby, at South Hills, surprised me with one of the best-kept stores in the country. Who knew?
You should see these videos they are all making for insertion into the in-store DVD experience. OUT OF CONTROL. Here you have Big Fan Sacs Sumo Wrestling (and costume prep). No comment on this pic (right).
The next day, on the other side of Pittsburgh, the Ross Park visit was, um, interrupted. Our store in that mall is like the home of the old lady where she just won’t sell, so they build the giant high-rise community all around it anyway. You see, the store just needs some updating.
With some paint, some lights, and a serious re-organization of the store floor, we will finally be able to hang with the Louis Vuittons, Burberrys, True Religions, and Tiffany’s stores which all of a sudden surround us there. So we all got dirty, tearing that store down, completely, and re-building it to look like the new LoveSac. Paint and artwork going in next week! I will return in a couple of weeks to do the staff training then.
We wrapped up at 2am. There is no rest for the wicked. Our Mayfair, Wisconsin Front Line visit was scheduled in 12 hours, and it is a 10 hour drive. Mike fell asleep in back, on the Movie Lounger, I tore thru 5 DVDs a 32 oz. Dr. Pepper followed by a 32 oz. Monster Energy Drink. Hello Wisconsin.
Tiffany and Lucky (my cute wife and baby) joined up with us in Milwaukee, and last night we walked the store with Katie and the Mayfair Wisconsin LoveSac Crew. I love these guys. (below)
Gio’s been with us for like 4 years. Megan just returned to the LoveSac family, having left for a year or so (the good ones all come back!). Rockstar Matt watched the floor while I knit-picked the Model Store with Katie, just looking for ways to mark them down, as I had set their store personally, just a few weeks before. Good crew.
We did their training on the Bus and wrapped up around midnight. I’m on to Appleton, Wisconsin, Fox River LoveSac, today. I’ve got Lucky and Tiffany ridin’ on the bus, and Katie coming along for backup. My good buddy Ryan is runnin’ the show up north, and I am sure doing a great job of it.
DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP AND FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER, to see where I’ll be next:
To find out more about Twitter, visit the link below:
http://twitter.com/i/ce0ffd9e28fc89e3de2020e020aa501d1ae5f897
You can find me on Facebook or MySpace as well!
WIN $50 JUST FOR SHOWING UP
Finally, CHECK THIS OUT, last night at Mayfair Mall LoveSac, I bought $50 LoveSac Gift Cards for the first 3 fans of the Sac who came in and said the code words, “Shawny D., show me the money.”
Come find me on the bus, out on the road, and I will hook you up with some serious LoveSac schwag – even the employee T Shirts and other Limited Edition LoveSac Gear.
Come find me in a store, on my Front Line Visits (see my schedule at LoveSac.com), say the code words, "Shawny D. show me the money" and I will hook you up with a $50 gift card (but be early – only the first 3 customers each time; I usually arrive at the stores between 2-5pm, and leave at close. Courtney & Clair (above left) are "shown the money". This reader of my blog is going to use his $50 towards a PillowSac Rocker next week. (right) I got the chance to personally give him a Sactionals demo on the sales floor. Gotta Love our ever-growing LoveSac family.
Phewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. What a mouthful. Keepin’ the dream alive, on the road. See you at Mall of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend (Sunday, Nov 16), and then on to Des Moines, Iowa, Jordan Creek LoveSac on Tuesday (Nov 18) next week.
Please keep in touch with me!
--Shawny D.
Recent Comments