Lee Richmond has owned Kaboodles Toy Stores for 35 years. The business has three stores in Vancouver and one in Victoria.
While Richmond initially owned the store with a business partner, she became the sole owner in the early 2000s.
The changeover was a stressful period in which she struggled to find her footing. To make matters worse, serious problems with two store managers went unaddressed for too long.
“I knew things weren’t quite right and that staff weren’t happy but I couldn’t do anything about it,” Richmond said.
“I was overwhelmed.”
Eventually, she fired both managers. The experience made Richmond realize that “attitude comes from the top down.
“My attitude goes to the managers, the managers’ [attitudes] go to the staff, and it just has a profound effect on how your staff feel,” she said. “If they’re feeling happy, stimulated, open, safe in their work environment, then that follows down to the way the customers feel when they walk in the door.
“I can guarantee that [in] places where you go and you have cranky staff or things that are mismanaged, other than small mistakes, it goes all the way to the top.”
Richmond credits her current store managers – one has been with the business for 24 years and two have worked at Kaboodles for over 12 years – for keeping things running smoothly and setting the tone for a positive workplace culture.
“I’ve learned so much from [them] – it’s a two-way street.”
Richmond said she’s always had an open-door policy and has encouraged her staff to come to talk to her about problems as well as suggestions for the business.
“My front-line staff, they’re my communication with the customers, so I really listen to them,” she said. “We compete with big-box stores, we compete with discount stores, so we’ve got to give our customers something else. What we give them is good service.”
On old-fashioned retail values | “I really feel that there’s always going to be room for small retail. Just look at the people who come in the door and they bump into their friends, or people with babies and they’re [getting] out of the house and we become a part of their community. I think there’s a real need for that kind of human interaction that doesn’t involve sitting at home at your computer and ordering online.”
Has a work or life challenge taught you a key career lesson? Contact Jen St. Denis at [email protected]
