ANSONIA — Tammy Guys hopes she found the recipe for 21st Century retail success — gather the audience for your product online first and build the storefront later.
Guys and her husband, John, celebrated the grand opening Saturday morning of Glitter Craze, a new 3,000 square foot arts and crafts store located at 301 Main St.
“We’ve been working 20 hour days, seven days a week. Its been a lot for our whole family,” said Tammy Guys, a 47-year-old Fairfield resident who, in addition to her husband, is working alongside her adult sons Nicholas and Nathaniel.
From the moment the doors opened, glitter aficionados came in, drawn by Guys’ mix of crafting materials, gifts, and personalized items. The new business will also offer workshops, and various types of parties for adults and children.
“Have you ever seen so much beautiful glitter in your life?” a customer said.
Guys had been running a successful online retail business out of a West Haven warehouse for about a year and sold personalized gifts for almost a decade prior to that. She wanted to have a storefront and had been looking at several different spots before settling in Ansonia, which has been undergoing a renaissance for the past few years fueled by new restaurants.
Once they decided on 301 Main St., they gutted the interior and remodeled the space over a two month period, she said. “It used to be a karate studio. Luckily I have a design background and I could see past it,” Guys said.
The space formally housed Casa Jiu-Jitsu, which purchased a building across from Ansonia City Hall.
The whole underpinning of the business comes from a pair of highly successful Facebook groups, the Silhouette Cameo Project Inspiration group and the Glitter Tumbler Design Group, totaling almost 180,000 followers. “I wanted people to have a fun place to come where they could ask for help,” Guys said.
Glitter — and arts and crafts in general — is big business.
For example, when Los Angeles resident Lindsey Briggs, a brand representative for Glitter Craze, goes live on Facebook, she has had as many as 9,000 people watching her demonstrations. “We are giving a lot, but we are getting a lot back. It’s this very well oiled wheel we’ve crafted,” Briggs said, describing the company’s social media strategy.
Clicks turned into cash almost immediately. New York residents Joanna Mann and Sharon Bottini met for the first time online Saturday and decided to carpool to check out Guys’ new store. “I follow her on Facebook and couldn’t wait to get here. I drove an hour and a half,” Mann said.
Mann is passionate about her craft hobby and was drawn to Guys’ online demonstrations, shown on Facebook Live. “She is so easy to understand. She will take her time and explain things,” said Mann, a Rock Tavern, New York resident.
Guys gives solid tips for craft enthusiasts and then offers them a good deal on quality products needed to continue their hobby, Mann said.
“I don’t want to go to six different places to get what I need,” said Bottini, a Marlboro, New York resident.
Mayor David Cassetti said that businesses like Glitter Craze are breathing new life into Ansonia’s Main Street. With a planned influx of new apartments next to the train station, and a walkable downtown, Cassetti believes Ansonia can return to its late 1960s heyday.
“When I heard it was Glitter Craze I thought that is perfect. They are going to be very busy,” he said.
Click here for the Facebook page.
