Suzanne Kipfer, Simple Tidings and Kitchen

Name: Suzanne Kipfer

Age: 55

Occupation: Owner of

You have been a successful business in downtown Sumner for 26 years! How do you do it? I work on always keeping it fresh. I pay attention to what is new, what is popular, what customers want. I do whatever it takes. For instance, cupcakes are huge now, so I brought in all the things needed to make cupcakes. Gluten free and other food-sensitive items are becoming more and more necessary, so I make sure to bring in those types of things as well. Also, I am a good consumer. I am traditional and thrifty when I purchase. I know my customers want a good price and I want to be able to offer that to them. This is not a get rich quick business. I buy quality items, which may cost a little more, but will last longer. In the long haul, it makes for long-time customers. I have had customers for as long as 25 years. They trust me and they keep coming back. My staff and I work hard on customer service. We give our customers only what they need and do not oversell them on things they don't. They appreciate that.

How did you get started in retail? Was it always a dream of yours? No, I was a pharmacy technician. I believe you fall into things that are meant to be. You do what you love and love what you do. I was working as a pharmacy technician for Marks Pharmacy and Hallmark here in Sumner. When the owners were ready to sell, I purchased the business in December 1983. I discontinued the pharmacy and turned the Hallmark portion into Simple Tidings in the '90s. After running that store for a few years, I was in a kitchen store in Jacksonville looking for a pot rack. I love to cook and love kitchen stores. I told my girlfriends that I was going to open a kitchen store. They thought I was crazy. A spot opened up in Sumner's downtown and I opened a small kitchen store, Simple Kitchen. Eventually, I was able to move both of my stores together into one location and now call it Simple Tidings and Kitchen.

How do you do it all? My husband, Steve, and I do it together. He was an IT manager, left his job, and began to help me out. He does the "behind the scenes" work. We work really well together. He and I both enjoy cooking and working in the kitchen together, so the transition was smooth. My employees are great too. My mind is always working on new employee incentive programs. Our motto for 2011 is "Make It Special" and that goes for my employees too. I believe that if you reward your employees for being good employees, they think about that when interacting with the customers. Everybody wins.

What do you see for your future? More of the same. I love what I do. For our free time, my husband and I like to go fishing together and we like to scout for new items. We like to buy local as much as possible, so we get to see parts of our state and country when we are working on purchasing. I love being around the people here and serving their needs. You have to love what you do to be successful, and I do.