Andrea and Martin's business goal is to continue to grow the business at a steady pace. "We'll accomplish this by sticking to what we know and just plugging away at it."
One phase of Take-A-Boo Emporium's continued growth is their web site, Takeaboo.com.
Take-A-Boo Emporium sells unique, one-of-a-kind items. Andrea describes their store as "a return to an old-style shopping experience. From Arts & Crafts furniture to Tibetan and Chinese artifacts, to French washstands, Take-A-Boo Emporium has something for everyone."
However, the chances of a collector of Chinese antiquities, for instance, walking in off the street and buying something is very small. The company needed a way to reach those collectors (and buyers) of such unique items. The Internet was an obvious marketing vehicle for selling antiques.
Instead of immediately throwing up a web site and hoping for the best, though, Andrea and Martin decided to test the electronic marketplace first, using eBay to test their business idea. At the end of 2000, they posted six items on eBay, and sold four of them.
These positive eBay results led to developing their own web site, so they could link to their eBay auctions and hopefully generate more business for the retail antique store. "Our web site," Andrea says, "has made the world our marketplace."
If you're not in the Toronto area, visiting the web site will give you a chance to see (and drool over) some of the beautiful objects that Take-A-Boo Emporium carries. Pieces offered on the web site have included a pair of Chinese ginger jars from the late Ming dynasty, through a Gingerbread clock from the 1880s.
The biggest challenge facing Martin and Andrea today is the high rents and property taxes they must pay as independent retailers in a street-front location. Andrea admits that they haven't come up with a way to overcome this challenge.
But she and Martin have successfully met the retailing challenge of selling antiques, combining their expertise with ongoing marketing efforts to meet their goals.
"Our business philosophy is to provide antiques at a fair price," Andrea says. "We're in the antique selling business, not the antique storing business. We price things to move."
Take-A-Boo Emporium is located at 1927 Avenue Road in Toronto. You can contact Martin and Andrea Swinton at swinton@takeaboo.com or visit Takeaboo.com.
