Point of Sale System for Angel to Apple Boutique

Background Information:

Hello to all of you reading this, I appreciate you taking the time to review my project. My name is Jamie Symmonds, owner of Angel to Apple Clothing Boutique.  I grew up in a small town in Western New York.  In 2001, I grew wings flying off to the city of angels, Los Angeles, where I developed a true appreciation for my sense of fashion and style.  I then decided to head back to New York, the big apple, bringing with me LA’s fabulous fashions (hence the name of the store).  I opened Angel to Apple in May of 2006 and it has continued to grow and evolve, which includes the launching of our new website, as well as moving to a bigger and better location!!

My passion for fashion grew while living on the west coast and decided to move back home to open up my very own clothing boutique.  Our unique LA fashions and styling offers something extraordinary and distinctive for all women and a feeling of self-assurance and poise.  I love fashion and even more so, love sharing that passion with my customers.  My favorite thing about the business is having a customer come back after purchasing an item to tell me how many compliments they received and how it made them feel.  There is no greater satisfaction for me than when my customers are happy. 

The Project:

The business has continued to grow not only in size but in customer base, which is fantastic, but also very time consuming.  When I opened the business over six years ago, I bought most of the fixtures second hand, including our, what some may call, “vintage-like” cash register, or an antique if you will, which has also been referenced to sounding like a machine gun whenever in use.  Yes, it is that loud!!  We do everything manually including inventory, sales, reports, daily sheets and bookkeeping.  I think that Angel to Apple is ready to jump into the 21^st century and make the business more efficient and with a new POS system it will also free up some of my time to focus on other areas of the business.  Not to mention, the added quality of service it would provide to our customers and the storing of customer information to help me with marketing and reports, which again would only improve the quality of our store and customer service, which to me is most important.

Time Frame for Completion of Project:

Our timeline for this project would be to purchase the POS system, software and computer and have it in the store by mid to end of January 2013 and have it up and ready by the beginning of February 2013.  January is notoriously slow in the retail world which would give us the perfect opportunity to get it installed, train myself and staff and get everything inventoried before the beginning of what we hope to be another busy year in business!!

Here is what your SUPPORT would help to purchase: 

Point of Sale Hardware, Software and Computer

1. SOFTWARE: Intuit Quick Books Point of Sale
2. RECEIPT PRINTER: Intuit Quick Books Point of Sale receipt printer
3. CASH DRAWER: Intuit Quick Books Point of Sale cash drawer
4. BAR CODE SCANNER: Intuit Quick Books Point of Sale bar code scanner
5. POLE DISPLAY: Intuit Quick Books Point of Sale pole display
6. TAG PRINTER: Intuit Quick Books Point of Sale tag printer
7. ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE: Intuit Quick Books
8. COMPUTER: HP Desktop Computer, all-in-one (needed for software to run)
9. INSTALLATION: To make sure that everything is set-up properly and training provided

Risks and Challenges:

Well, there are always challenges in most anything we do.  From what I can tell, the biggest challenge for me with this project will be getting the word out to supporters and convincing them that my project is worthy of their support.  There are so many amazing projects out there, it may be difficult to get the attention I need to meet my goal.

Another challenge, for me personally, will be learning the new system and getting all of the existing inventory catalogued and ready for use as quickly as possible, so as to not disrupt the day-to-day flow of business at the store.  I thankfully have an amazing support system and believe that we can make the turn over quick and painless for all involved!!

 If you have gotten this far, I hope it is because you have found my project interesting and worthy of your support.  Why Me?  I hope that I have answered that very question and I thank you in advance for your time and hopefully your support.

For a closer, more intimate look into the Angel to Apple business, please take some time to view additional video footage below.

Lewiston's 2012 Business of the Year Award Reception

Angel to Apple Six Year Anniversary Celebration