Dog supply store chases online dream
Agatha & Louise shifts to online presence, closes retail space
For some brick-and-mortar businesses, online marketing can become the tail that wags the dog.
Persephone and Gray Cabaniss, owners of the Agatha & Louise dog accessories store on Fore Street, know that feeling and they know what the next step can become. This week, they announced plans to close their retail store to focus on operating their growing Internet businesses via dual websites (www.agathaandlouise.com and www.aandlhome.com).
By the end of April, the couple will operate out of office space at 322 Fore St., Suite B, where they will maintain a showroom with limited hours and an office but not the traditional retail store with its 9-5 demands.
The couple explained that they have a young child and wanted to free up some time. Also, with the economy lagging, they decided to focus on their strengths — e-commerce.
"The economy is such that you have to be creative to survive," Persephone Cabaniss said in a Thursday interview at the store.
She estimated that the store has been doing about 70 percent of its business over the Internet since starting their business four years ago. Gray Cabaniss added that since they launched their first website, agathaandlouise.com, in 2006, they've seen 100 percent growth each year with their online business. They subsequently added their second website, www.aandlhome.com, last winter.
"We have an international clientele," Gray Cabaniss explained. "There are no borders on the Internet."
Agatha & Louise specializes in high-end decorative items and gifts for dogs and dog lovers. With their latest website, www.aandlhome.com, they expanded into home goods and home decor items.
Economic development officials said they haven't seen many businesses follow this model. Godfrey Wood, CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, said he couldn't think of many other retail stores that had dropped their brick-and-mortar stores to go solely online.
One example was Linens 'n Things, formerly the anchor store at the Maine Mall in South Portland, but that store went online only following bankruptcy proceedings where it was forced to close its stores.
Janis Beitzer, executive director of Portland's Downtown District, said she was aware of a few cases nationally where businesses preferred the Internet to physical locations but felt that Agatha & Louise belonged in its own category.
"I know they've been very successful online," she said.
