Des Moines Register
02-05-07
Soulflower biz blooms online
Web sales of funky clothes and accessories allow couple to return to their
hometown
By WILLIAM RYBERG
REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER
Business owners Mike Shoafstall and Peggy Rossi used the Internet to change
their business to fit the lifestyle they wanted for themselves and their family.
The husband and wife are co-owners of Soulflower, an Internet and catalog
retailer selling funky clothing and accessories such as jewelry, handbags,
backpacks and bumper stickers with messages like "Support Organic Farmers"
and "Arms Are For Hugging."
The couple ran a brick-and-mortar boutique-style store in the Twin Cities area in
Minnesota. A shift to Internet and catalog sales boosted sales and allowed them
to move back to Des Moines in 2005 to be closer to family and friends.
"We found a niche," Rossi said of the couple's business.
The niche is merchandise with an environmentally and socially conscious
message and a merchandising method that's Internet savvy.
U.S. Census Bureau figures show that there are nearly 40,000 retail
establishments in Iowa, from one-person operations to major retailers.
Only a fraction, however, fall into the category called "electronic shopping and
mail order houses." The number: 758, according to the Economic Census for
2002, the latest year available.
Soulflower takes orders by phone, fax and mail, but most come over the Web
from catalog customers or shoppers who have visited Soulflower's Web site,
www. Soul-Flower.com.
"The key to going online is to really understand online marketing well," said Lars
Peterson, associate state director of Iowa Small Business Development
Centers, based at Iowa State University.
Rossi has a background in Web designing. Her expertise helps Soulflower show
up high on search-engine lists when Web users type in topics such as hippie
clothing. Rossi's career in- cluded Web design. In 2000, she created a Web site
for Soul- flower. Sales grew, zooming past revenue produced by the Soulflower
boutique.
Soulflower reaches its target audience by mailing catalogs to past customers and
likely customers and by maintaining its highly visible Web site.
Drew McLellan, president of McLellan Marketing Group of Des Moines, said
marketing on the Internet can be focused to reach likely buyers.
"It's targeting people who actually care about your message," said McLellan.
For example, he said, rather than buying a banner ad on a general-interest Web
page, a retailer might buy an ad on a Web site focused on a specific topic, such
as the green movement. Or, a retailer might post comments on a blog site on the
topic, providing a link to reach the retailer's own site.
Web visibility helped Soulflower clothing wind up on characters on the NBC
sitcom "My Name is Earl."
The show's producers found Soulflower on the Web and got permission to use
Soulflower clothing in an episode about global warming.
Shoafstall, 42, and Rossi, 35, were born in the Des Moines area. They met
through friends in 1988 and got married in 1992. Shoafstall is an Iowa State grad.
Rossi graduated from the University of Iowa.
The switch to a home-based business was only the latest part of career shifts
that left the corporate world behind so the couple could align business with
lifestyle and core values that they believe in passionately - concern for the
environment and society.
"When you do that, you're having fun," said Shoafstall.
The couple added a catalog in 2004 and closed the brick-and-mortar store. By
then, the Internet business had grown so large that the couple had to rent
warehouse space to handle the merchandise.
The merchandise-handling part of the operation remains in St. Paul, where four
employees process and fill orders that arrive over the Internet or by telephone,
mail or fax.
Shoafstall and Rossi and their two small children moved back to Des Moines in
the spring of 2005. "It's great to be back. We love this town," said Shoafstall.
Shoafstall makes weekly trips to St. Paul. Rossi is in charge of the Web site.
Both visit vendors to pick out merchandise to sell through their catalog and Web
site.
Soulflower sells to customers throughout the United States and in countries such
as Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom and other European nations. Some
customers are tree-huggers. Some are into yoga. Some are mainstreamers, they
said.
Shoafstall and Rossi practice what they preach. Seven percent of revenues go to
charity. Soulflower contributes money to off-set its "carbon footprint," a term for
the impact of human activities on the environment through the use of fossil fuels.
Donations go to an environmental fund that uses the money for wind power,
reforestation and biofuels development, said Shoafstall.
Peterson said working at home has challenges. Work and family time need to be
separated "so you're not always feeling like you're doing both," said Peterson.
The couple, however, are thinking of starting another brick-and-mortar store.
They think the operation could find yet another niche in the Des Moines-area
retail market.
And, a disadvantage of home-based retailing is the absence of face-to-face
contact with customers, something that Shoafstall and Rossi miss.
Reporter William Ryberg can be reached at (515) 284-8104 or
bryberg@dmreg.com