Well hello 2023!
I see a lot of folks posting their words for the year and I love seeing them. One this year sticks out more than most, a friend chose Simplicity for their word of 2023. This resonates deep this year. Thank you, H, it has become mine too.
We promised some news in the New Year about a new location a few months ago when we announced we weren’t renewing our lease where the current store is. The New Year is now here. Forgive me, this is not a short post and while it
may seem like there are tangents everywhere, it is all relevant. In recent weeks more than one friend and customer has said how at peace I seem to be. And I am. And Mr. Wylde Rose is. It has been a whirlwind of could we? should we? can we? with a side dose of are we crazy?
The business is NOT closing – not by a long shot. I want to make that very clear before the rumour mill starts up. Wylde Rose is NOT closing.
We are evolving tho.
Our business has gone thru countless changes as it grew. You have watched our five children grow up as they had roles in the business over the years. We are super proud of the young adults they are now and are amazed to watch them continue their journeys. We are officially empty nesters in 2023 and don’t find ourselves in need of a 6 bedroom home anymore. The idea of downsizing our homespace, really sparked a few ideas and options of how and what direction that meant we could take the business.
We had numerous ideas of what the future for Wylde Rose looked like. Our growth was meteoric to say the least and we have been forever playing catch-up. The pandemic was a game-changer for everyone. We grew so fast that we did feel we were adept at the pivot from the quick growth but the frankly the zillion covid pivots made us dizzy. We were and are so very grateful for the love and support during the pandemic and after. You allowed us to keep going thru every single closure. That love was felt, most especially on those days where we were at our weakest.
At the end of March we will have been at 10 King George for 5 years. It has been a wonderful location and I’m excited for the supercool business that is coming in here after us. They will have the most amazing neighbours. These plaza peeps are family to us.
It is time for us to change – to continue would mean expanding to a new larger facility with loading docks and more. Is that an overhead cost we want? Everyone knows that the grocery store prices have gone up as have restaurants and their ingredients. We shop at those places too for some of our raw goods. Our costs for all raw goods have skyrocketed in the last year alone, not to mention the climb they made when the pandemic started with supply chain issues etc. < SIDENOTE In November 2021, it was $65 for a 50lb bag of citric acid, now over $200 - WTH!! > Citric acid is what makes bath bombs fizz, can’t be magical without it! All of our ingredients have gone up. If we get a larger location and more staff etc I would have to raise my prices to be absolutely ridonkulous and you know that isn’t my style.
I come from a long line of entrepreneurs and over-workers and while I usually consider it to be a strong trait, over the last year I have thought of it a little differently. I am putting in more than 12 hrs most days – its not sustainable. Over the years I seem to have sacrificed a personal life and I miss friends. I grew up with the entrepreneurial family training and knew that owning your own business meant 5 to 9 days not 9 to 5, but the reality of it is a lot on the body, mind and soul.
We have lost a lot of friends last year. While I recognize we are at an age where that starts to happen a bit more, they ALL were way too young. It weighed in on our decisions. The loss of people puts things into perspective and Don and I want to live life to every full moment. I don’t want to look back in ten years and go damn what did I miss? I don’t want to wait until it’s a medical emergency that forces us to slow down. We haven’t been hitting the mark at all and need to recharge our souls.
I love our staff family. Our banter is like no other. They weighed heavily on our minds with this decision process.
We love our customers and I really miss knowing your face, your name and your fave scents. That is the part of the business growth that I have NOT liked at all. I am rarely up at the front of the store anymore. I have amazing staff who I trust with you but I miss talking to you all. I miss being connected. One of my greatest joys in the business other than creating is watching your faces when you are smelling new items. Seeing the looks in your eyes and the different smiles with each sniff are one of my favourite things. A show this past summer reminded me of that. Currently we don’t have time to do half of what we want to accomplish and that is not how I want Wylde Rose to be. I need to refocus, and simplify. (hmmm that Simplicity word again)
Don and I are very much grounded and in tune with nature. It feeds our souls. Our souls haven’t been fed much lately in recent years. Last summer was our first vacation in 13 years. Ya, a little overdue. We saw views that took our breath away and made us cry almost every single day. Our cups ran over but we crave more, it opened our eyes to what we were doing to ourselves. When people asked us about the trip – our united answer was “life-changing”. And it was in a zillion ways. We were committed to making more time for us and to enjoy life.
Something that started as a little seed of an idea, has gone from a 5 yr plan to 3 yr to 1 yr over the course of a couple of months and well here we are with the perfect medley of timing.
Its time for us to start taking some time for us and apparently we’re not afraid to be bold. We are proud Brantford transplants and have loved calling Brantford our home and community for 13 & 15 years. We have friends and connections here that have shaped who we are and if you see me in the store I will likely be a bit teary as things start to become more real as our commute to Brantford is about to get a wee bit long. We have found a new location for Wylde Rose, and us, in Nova Scotia. We are heading to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
When will we be back up and running? Well, I wish I had an answer – but we will keep everyone in the loop. The plan is before summer, but there are a thousand factors that aren’t up to us at the moment. You can be guaranteed I will be wanting to get up and going as soon as absolutely possible. Soapmaking is in my veins.
The catch is that we are not 100% sure the exact form Wylde Rose will take. We will be keeping you in the loop but if you can bear with us we have a few things we have to sort out over the next few months yet. We will promise to share the steps as we evolve with you.
Here’s the current scoop:
We have the current location at 10 King George Rd in Brantford until March 30. As for an actual close date – we are trying to be as fluid as we can be and it will firm up soon.
We will be open for the entire months of January & February for sure but unsure as to how far into March we will be open. We will still be making products but I do not know until when at this moment.
This week we will be assessing what products we can successfully restock in the next two months – with some supply chain issues some items may not arrive in time.
We do have a full store at the moment and we will be keeping you advised of when we are halting production some time in February.
Our website will be up and running in its basic form sometime next week until the move when it will transform into the amazing site we know it will be with our amazing design guru
Jamie Carnegie - Content & Consulting.
We will NOT be having huge product clear outs as we will be stocking our new location as seamlessly as we can. We will be packing and taking it with us to reopen quickly. Plus we are still open for 2+ months.
We are setting up special pre-order package deals for those who want to stock up before we move and will launch them next week. Package deals will be on everything we make.
Gift cards are always honoured at our store and when we have moved and are ready to rock and roll again, anyone with a physical card only has to message us for a code that will activate their card on the website. They do not expire. Ones purchased on the website already have the code.
Our website will be strong again. We haven’t been able to keep up in the store and the website inventory at the same time – it moves too fast – I know problem to have and we are grateful for it, but, having both coincide has been a challenge as the store popularity grew. The “Evolution” will give us the chance to breathe and get everything in line so that inventory is consistent. Barcodes oh my!
We will be shipping as we always have via Canada Post.
For those in Brantford we are going to secure a store that will be carrying our product line for you to still pick up your faves in person.
We have given up our space at the Cambridge Farmers Market effective immediately. This guts us – we love our market family and have watched their families and your families age as ours has. It has been a truly glorious experience that will be unmatched for love and community. We almost hit the 10 year mark – that’s a lot of memories, a lot of smiles, a lot of friendships and now makes for a lot of tears. We need to time to prepare at the store – our timelines don’t allow for us to be in multiple spots at this time.
Is this a rash decision? Nope. While the break after Christmas was our final deciding time, we have had the idea planted in our heads since the first morning of our vacation and our toes dipped in the ocean. That seed changed from no way we can’t do something like that to we need to do something like this, over the course of a few months. We can’t stop smiling when we think about our future. I don’t want to wait til its too late. Enjoying life is not something to procrastinate on if this year has taught us anything.
In some ways this is a leap of faith. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for our next chapter in the Wylde Adventures of Don and Jeannine. The next three months will fly by at an alarming rate.
Please be happy for us