Chapter 29 – More expansion and events
Around fall of 2006 I started to look into new ways to get our sales better, not that they were bad, they just were slow.
The one issue we’ve always had was that while we had a great online and printed marketing material, people spending large amounts of money kind of want to see the items and get a feel for them.
Dad’s shop was not really setup for customers just dropping by looking to try out a crib or high chair. We always would ask customers to make an appointment to view the furniture. Many customers would tell us that they found out about us from other ABDL’s by seeing them at their parties.
So we decided to hold our own party, or open house. I started calling around to hotels and found one that we could book for right after spring break 2007. I put up notice on the website and soon what started as an open house, turned into a full on ABDL party with over 300 registered guests.
We all worked hard that week getting everything ready. Starting with getting projects finished clear up to Wednesday night, I think I got home close to midnight.
Thursday we spent the entire day loading in all sorts of cribs, highchairs and tables upon tables of diapers, onsies, crib bumpers, plastic pants, shortalls, rompers, overalls, sleepers and other items.
Friday was an event open to all ages. Believe it or not we had many actual parents shopping for their teenagers, some even brought them along. All day we had customers trying out the furniture, buying new clothing items.
One customer had an order so large, that I was brought in.
“Howdy, my name is Rick Evans. I run a summer camp up in western Ohio. I had a group of adults ask me about hosting them for an Adult Baby summer camp next year. I told them I would have to get back to them on what we could do for them.”
“Well, I’m sure we can work with you to find the best solution” My dad said as he motioned me over.
“Hey, what’s up”, I said
“Jay, this is Rick, he has a summer camp in Ohio looking to get some furniture quotes for an upcoming ABDL camp” Dad said
“Well what did you have in mind? Do you have any limitations or floor plans that you need us to work with.” I asked.
I looked over the floorplans and what he currently had. He wanted to keep the cost down, as this was basically for just one week, and he wasn’t sure what the return on the investment would be. I told him I would work up some quotes based on the photos he had, and requested that he provide accurate measurements as well when he got home.
We even met with some corporate clients who liked our basics line of changing tables, we had recently started using a material and coating that was mold resistant, bacteria resistant, easy to clean and sturdy; not to mention that we were able to design one with a hi-lo mechanism.
The clothing side of the business did not do too bad either. Mom and Aunt Sharon sold through almost all of the stock that they brought, with orders for much more items, and even got some suggestions for new items.
Saturday we changed things around and did an adults only ABDL party. Everybody arrived in their normal clothes and changed once inside the ballroom. We had all sorts of child-like activities and play. Coloring, Play-Doh, Legos, story time, crafts. We even had a professional photographer come in and get photos of the guests one at a time.
Sunday was a trip to the Parks, which everybody loved. We got feedback that many would love to have that Summer camp experience as well, which was not the first time we heard that idea.
I worked with Rick on and off for a few weeks to get ideas worked up. He wanted to do a retrofit of the existing bunk beds they had. By basically putting the crib bars on the outside with a swing open door. To save money Rick had us fabricate and ship the stuff to him to install; he retrofitted an entire cabin to have 10 cribs. He also ordered 5 highchairs and 2 changing tables which are easy to assemble, disassemble, ship and reassemble.
Rick had emailed me that fall that the ABDL camp worked out well, but the rest of the summer camps just weren’t that full. I had suggested maybe doing a camp for teen babies as well. He said he would think about it, and that was all I heard.
On one of our trips up to Ohio to drop off 2 cribs to two Teenage Little friends, we had the chance to check out a real estate venture.
After our successful open house and ABDL party we had floated the idea of having a place to host events. We had been looking for a place in Florida, but the prices were way too far out of our range, and the heat in the summer when most people were available, was just too hot and humid.
We had a hit on a summer camp that had closed suddenly; the realtor said that the seller was eager to sell. The camp had a nice big dining hall, 8 camper cabins that held around 10 campers downstairs and a counselor in the upstairs loft. There was also a small conference center and a lodge on the other side of the camp.
I had called up a buddy from High School who was into construction to go with us to look over the place to see what work would be needed. Along with bringing in an old lawyer friend to look over all the books and legal issues.
Come to find out this was Rick’s camp. I found the cribs setup with a changing table in the back.
“Hey isn’t this Rick Evans’ place? Dad That’s your work right? I asked
Dad swung open the door on one of the cribs and saw the F-A-T logo burned into the inside of the door. “Yep sure is, that’s our mark”
“Uh the owner passed away from a heart attack two months ago. The family is just looking to get the camp sold to pay the bills” the realtor said
“Well before we can make an offer, I would like to see the business’s books and meet the seller” Dad said
“Yeah. Do we know if they have any other camps booked for this year” I said
“If the camp sells, the new owner can choose to keep the existing schedule and registrations and there would be consideration in the sale price for that or cancel the camps.” The realtor said
We decided to buy the camp and keep the existing staff and run the camps that were scheduled for that season. Upon looking at a few camps we decided to cancel two single week camps and make the offer to the campers to move to one of the other sessions or refund their money. We had ideas for those two weeks.
That’s how Camp Littlefoot was born. We did a small TBDL camp for 20 of our customers that year, with their parent’s help, which was full with a waiting list from around the country. We planned the next summer to do more TBDL and ABDL camps, but ran the camp mostly as a normal summer camp otherwise.
We partnered with mental health experts to run a concurrent conference to help the Parents of our teen customers, and spouses of our adult customers. It was our feeling that we owe it to our customers and to help those who mean the most to them; to help them understand why their loved one is the way they are, what they can do to help their ‘little’
The first year was kinda rough, but we had great staff that made it run smoothly. We hired a on-site caretaker that was an ABDL who was looking at college, but still needed work.
By the second summer all staff had been made fully aware of the TBDL and ABDL camps and had the proper training. We did loose some staff who could not get on board; which was bound to happen.
They had the choice to stay on for the normal camps and take the time off for the ABDL related camps. Some chose that while I had a couple who just up and quit. Saying “They just could not do that”