Smith & Stell Home Decor

By Nate Legue

BusinessRockford.com

Owner/top executive: Chip Smith and Corey Stell

Address: 6710 Broadcast Parkway, Loves Park

Telephone: 815-877-8411

Web site: smithstell.com

E-mail: sales@smithstell.com

Opened: Nov. 17, 2007

Products and services: Home decor, furniture, accessories and gifts

Why did you get into this business? We moved out here from Chicago, and we found that most of the time when we were looking for things for our house, we were going back to Chicago to find them. So we thought we would bring that urban decorating style to Rockford. Our store has that Crate & Barrel-Pottery Barn-Restoration Hardware look.

What advice can you offer others who are thinking of entering the business? We spent a lot of time going around looking at people we would consider our competition and looking to find ways to be unique. We go to New York, Chicago, Atlanta to find things we can’t find around here. ... Find a vision and stick with it. Don’t try to be all things for everybody.

How has your business grown since opening? We’ve had an incredible Christmas, especially given that we opened so late. The reception was great. Since then, we’ve been spending a lot of money on advertising ... that’s absolutely helping. It’s getting better each day. We’re actually doubling the store size this summer.

Where do you see your business in the next five years? Our plan is to have two more locations open by next year: One in the Madison area and the other in the Bloomington-Normal area. That’s our strategy right now.

What is most satisfying about your business? People. We’ve lived out here four years. We really didn’t feel connected until we opened the store. We’ve got the some regular customers, some people who come in here a lot.

What’s the biggest challenge about your business? The time we picked to actually do it. Who knew, when we started doing it last year, who knew what the economy was going to be this year? That’s definitely a challenge, but we’ll be OK.

To nominate a business for Snapshot!, send candidate’s name, place of employment and phone number to Rockford Register Star Business Desk, 99 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61104; fax 815-987-1365; e-mail nlegue@rrstar.com.

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