Check Out Kim & Jeff Shippen’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim & Jeff Shippen.

Hi Kim & Jeff, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It started as a vacation. We (my husband Jeff and I) both had corporate jobs in Omaha NE. Jeff in health data and me in advertising. After coming to Colorado for years to visit our daughter, we bought a property in Bailey in 2015. We loved the area. and felt ourselves relax as we drove through the canyon by Morison. We always called it our chill place as we were driving up 285 because we just felt more relaxed and happy.

When we decided to move to Colorado permanently, we thought about what kind of business we could open that would serve the area. We noticed that one thing the area didn’t have was somewhere to buy a gift. There were souvenir places, but everyone had to drive down the hill to buy a nicer gift. So we decided to open a gift store that had things locals would love as well as tourists. We positioned it as a practical gift store. We named it Chill Squirrel Trading Company (because we raised a baby squirrel that was abandoned by his mom and has since loved the antics of the squirrels) and Bailey was our chill place.

We opened on March 1, 2019. We initially had a very small location of about 500 square feet above a coffee shop on the east side of Bailey and carried unique as well as practical items, We focused on keeping our prices very reasonable. We worked deals with our wholesalers, did lower markups, and bought stock off-season to get lower prices. We built a nice local clientele and got to meet many of our neighbors. Covid was tough and we weren’t sure we would make it through, but we offered call-ahead and pick-up services, delivery, and more.

We eeked through it and in May of 2021, we found a larger location (about 2 1/2 times the size) in downtown Bailey and we moved the store to that location. Our sales grew rapidly as did our merchandise selection, but we have done everything we can to keep our prices reasonable and we get a lot of nice comments about our displays, our merchandise, and our prices. We also only use 100% recycled and recyclable paper bags, do everything we can to reuse shipping materials and operate in a way that is as sustainable and earth-friendly as possible.

Today, we offer a very diverse selection of merchandise. People are so surprised at what they can find in our store – we always say come find practical items, unique gifts, and just a little bit of weird at our little store. We are actively involved in the community, we sponsor local events, donate to local causes and Kim is on the Chamber of Commerce. We love our little slice of paradise.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Covid was very tough on all retail. Our first location was right on 285, we thought it would be great, but it wasn’t.

There is a ton of traffic on 285 but we were a standalone building with no other businesses around and 3 miles east of downtown Bailey, so people didn’t pull off 285. There just wasn’t enough to draw them off the road. Signage is also a big problem, signs were not allowed on 285 and it was hard for people to notice us.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I (Kim) worked in advertising for 35 years. I had roles from from account service to strategic planning, I ran the interactive groups and ultimately became CEO and part owner of Bozell, an advertising agency in Omaha NE.

Jeff spent his career in data management and most recently was an SVP of Operations at Healthcare Data Solutions based out of Irvine CA. Now we enjoy a slower and more rewarding pace of running the store.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
While online is inherently easy and convenient, we believe people still love to go out and shop – it’s a form of entertainment and social activity. We all love to touch and feel products and shopping in a physical space enables us to see things and learn things we didn’t know about.

Retail is morphing, several big chains have gone out of business and some stores aren’t going to make it — but we are seeing smaller store footprints be more successful, and more of an interest in the non-chain, unique model. We have seen a 5x increase in our sales from when we started and it continues to improve so we are hopeful for retail despite the obstacles and ease of online shopping.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://chillsquirrel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_chill_squirrel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChillSquirrel