THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 12, 1995 TAG: 9504110126
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Nancy Chappell-Lefever says children should be involved in decorating their rooms.
Because most children naturally gravitate to what makes them happy, their budding interest gives parents a good indication of what color, theme and pattern to use to make their child's room a special place.
That's the formula that Nancy Chappell-Lefever uses in her business, Rooms To Grow.
Her typical customer, age 2 1/2 to 5, is invited and encouraged to have a look around the Hilltop East store that sells furniture, knickknacks, and wallpaper for juvenile bedrooms.
``It's really been fun to see the children's reactions,'' said Chappell-Lefever. ``They recognize their favorite jungle characters, or they'll sit in every chair. Parents can really see what they're attracted to.''
Her store offers two lines of juvenile furniture, most of which grows with the child. A crib that sells for $300 in the store can also serve as a twin bed and then as a full-sized bed.
There are interchangeable dressers that can be stacked to meet the needs of the short toddler and taller student.
``I try and offer quality pieces that a child's going to grow with - things that aren't just for the nursery,'' said Chappell-Lefever, a Vermont native.
Rooms to Grow stocks framed pictures, jewelry boxes, porcelain figurines, small-scale tables and chairs, rugs, wall hangings, clocks, light switch covers, step stools, book ends, lamps, crib mobiles and more than 50 books of juvenile wallpaper offerings.
Themes are varied - from dinosaurs to ballerinas, from sports to marine life. If Chappell-Lefever doesn't have an item in stock, she has access to catalogs to order it.
The store also stocks room decorating kits made by 3M for $28 that feature a wall border with changeable accessories. For instance, the jungle border has several different animals that can be moved around anywhere a child or parent chooses.
``The trend now is spending time at home,'' said Chappell-Lefever. ``A parent typically decorates a child's room three times - nursery, toddler and sometimes, one last time at school-age. Now there's a whole new movement to cater to this category of interiors.''
Chappell-Lefever opened the business with the idea that it would serve the needs of children through preteen age.
What she has found after several months in business is that most parents don't have much of a say in how a child's room is decorated once the child is 7 or so.
``Most preteens, they just want posters on the walls, and don't want Mom in the room at all,'' she said, explaining she had to rethink her approach and concentrate on items to please the younger set.
Another surprise for Chappell-Lefever after she opened the store last June was that she expected to sell mostly juvenile wallpaper. Instead, the store has sold an equal number of gifts and accessories.
``Even the best of plans change,'' she said. ``The store is yours until the day you open it, then it becomes the public's.''
Chappell-Lefever's strengths lie in merchandising. Her admitted weaknesses are marketing and finances.
She spent at least nine months attending classes on how to start a small business and in business law. She was also counseled in the intricacies of owning her own business by a member of SCORE, a group of retired businessmen who give advice free.
She came to Virginia Beach in 1991 for a ``change'' in both climate and lifestyle. She was attracted to the area since the time she vacationed here 15 years ago and was impressed that the airport was international, something she said she needed to think about if she were to continue in her longstanding career in apparel merchandising.
She felt sure she would be starting an apparel business. She changed her mind after reading a wallpaper trade journal that touted the new wave of catering to kids' interiors.
She used her own savings to lease the store in Hilltop East and pay for her first round of inventory.
``Never ever would I have thought this business would be it,'' she said. ``I just love it though. Everyone who comes through that door is happy.'' MEMO: Rooms To Grow is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. The store is
closed Sunday. Call 422-6744.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Nancy Chappell-Lefever's typical customer, age 2 1/2 to 5, is
encouraged to have a look around the Hilltop East store that sells
furniture, knickknacks, and wallpaper for juvenile bedrooms.
by CNB