Keep It Simple Sentiments
Keep It Simple Sentiments was conceived on Mother’s Day 1993. By Father’s day the same year I opened my first outlet in a Flea Market in Brampton, Ont. It was what we now refer to as a “bricks and mortar” business. As we grew we had outlets throughout south western Ontario (Mississauga, Oakville, Orangeville, Welland, St. Catherines, Brampton, Bramalea the quaint little tourist town of St. George and consignment outlets in gift stores throughout that area.
Except for the consignment outlets we did the work right on site and worked closely with our clients. The Catalogue contains hundreds of writings usually created within 20 to 30 minutes. But there were still times when the client had a special situation that I had not even thought of before. In one special case, I gathered up as much information from the client about the recipient of the gift and their relationship and sat down to write something special for them. She asked for a couple of changes and then was thrilled with the finished product. We shared tears and hugs.
On another occasion a gentleman came to my kiosk. He opened his wallet and pulled out a piece of paper that was obviously quite old. It was a poem he had written to his high school sweet-heart who was now his wife. She had kept it in a special box for over 25 years, with a picture of them on Prom night. He explained that the writing wasn’t very good and could I fix it up, print it up and put the photograph in with it. He picked out a frame he wanted to put it in. I read the poem and told him I refused to change a word. They expressed the emotions of a young man in love and since his wife had saved it all these years, I felt it was important to keep it the way it was written. The next day he returned to pick up the finished product. When he saw it all printed up and framed there were tears in his eyes. After Christmas he returned with his wife who hugged me and thanked me for not changing a single word.
There were so many occasions when I was pleased and proud to be able to help people express their emotions but the best part was that I got to share a little piece of their lives. I don’t think they realized the gift they were giving to me.
In 1997 one of my frame suppliers, who also sold my prints in her frames, had the idea that this product could probably make it in a larger market place. She suggested that we approach Wal-Mart. She made the initial approach and to my astonishment they were interested in doing a test market in one of the stores in Mississauga. If it were to be successful it may have lead to Keep it Simple Sentiments being sold throughout the whole company. Unfortunately a few days later I was hit by a drunk driver and my leg was badly broken. Due to complications the healing process took almost four years.
The bricks and mortar started to crumble. I had to put the business into sleep mode.
And there it has been until now !
