Mary Liz Curtin, author of A Shopkeeper’s Manual and the co-owner of Leon & Lulu.

Mary Liz Curtin: My husband, Stephen Scannell, owned a retail store for 26 years. I am a speaker, consultant and writer who grew up in retail — my mother owned several stores, including a Christmas store — and I worked in sales for a number of companies. I still write and speak, and now when I talk about the challenges of operating a store, I really, really know what I’m talking about.

Curtin: I think retail gets in your blood. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves the Christmas after my husband closed his store, when we were used to being so busy. The next year, we both got jobs at the mall, just for fun, and then Stephen decided he wanted to open a furniture store.

Curtin: It’s a former roller-skating rink in Clawson, MI, which is a suburb of Detroit. We wanted a space that was large enough for a furniture store, we wanted to be able to afford to buy the building, and we wanted parking for our customers. Parking had been a problem at my husband’s store, so we were inclined to focus on that. Most people looking for commercial real estate think location, location, location. When we were looking, it was parking, parking, parking.

Curtin: We sell transitional furniture — that’s furniture that’s neither traditional nor contemporary — as well as decorative accessories, gifts and Christmas décor. I wanted to sell Christmas products — mostly tabletop and decorative accessories — because it’s a way to decorate the store for Christmas and make a profit on those decorations. We don’t carry trees and we have very, very few ornaments.

Curtin: I don’t like putting up trees and decorating them — I did too much of it in my mother’s store. I love ornaments, but I think if you want to work on a product category you have to capture that category, and I didn’t have the space or the time or the passion, so we leave it to others. We did carry a very few ornaments last year — one was “Christmas in the Trailer Park” from Midwest, which I carried because it made me laugh. It did great. We sold out of it immediately, though I was violating one of my own retailing rules, which is “never carry one or two pieces in any category.”

Curtin: We opened two years ago, and we have done well from the beginning. We were in the black after four months — not hugely profitable — but nonetheless, in the black is in the black. The reception to independent retail from the shoppers throughout the area has been fabulous.

Curtin: We were looking for a name that meant something to us and was also graphically attractive. We made lists and lists of names, and ultimately we combined the names of our cat [Leon] and our Rottweiler [Lulu].

Curtin: Midwest, Gerson International, Foreside, and TAG.

Curtin: Our employees call me the front boss and him the back boss. I do the merchandising, displays and gift buying. He does the furniture and lamp buying and the accounting. Each of us makes decisions in his or her area, and if one of us really believes in something, the other gives in, even if he or she disagrees. If the decision proves wrong, you get to say “I told you so” or be very gracious about being right, and that’s fun.

Curtin: We work to make the store a wonderful place to visit. We offer coffee to everyone who comes in, we are nice to kids, and we have great products. We’re really choosy about what we put in our store. It has to fit our unique mix. We always have a sense of humor in the store and in our merchandise. If people are laughing, they’re more likely to buy something. Also, Stephen is very careful about controlling expenses. He has always been attentive to the nickel-and-dime losses that kill retailers.

Curtin: One, take everything out of its packaging. If it’s in a polybag, it’s junk from China. Take it out, and it’s a handmade treasure. Two, watch your expenses and margins. Three, love what you do and love your customers. //