Meet Annalyse Giron of Henderson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Annalyse Giron

Hi Annalyse, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Flatiron Market was started in January of 2019. I am a teacher, and saw my salary potential in teaching and knew that wasn’t going to cut it, and that I needed to do something to supplement my income. I began making art the only way I knew – through calligraphy. My grandma and I used to practice calligraphy together when I was a kid. I always cared about my handwriting and practiced it often. A huge trend that arose was decorative wall signs with quotes, names, words, lyrics, and things of that nature. I put two and two together, and began creating. I started selling pieces to family and friends, and that slowly grew to friends of family and friends of friends. I started marketing through social media and established a website to start selling out of state. Currently, I am so grateful to say that I have a steady flow of orders coming in each month and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t know where Flatiron Market will go, but I’m excited to see. My business is 100% self-taught. I design, build, paint, and letter the signs myself. I’ve had great support and love being able to hire my friends and family to help me when orders are high. I also do custom furniture, shelving, paintings, canvases, stickers, digital art, screen printing, and special holiday items. I love dreaming up new products, designs, and ideas to keep up with today’s demands.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Lots of learning curves have taken place in this journey! For one, I have learned to be over-communicative with my clients. Miscommunications have happened and multiple contacts between customers and myself help greatly. Another learning curve has been how to manage inventory. At one point I was more than 80 orders behind, and many people were understandably unhappy with turnaround time for their orders. I have learned to keep inventory on hand to ship immediately, rather than leave it open to infinite amounts of orders. One last issue has been space. I have completely taken over a full room in my home as well as our one-car garage. I’ve had to become efficient in the organization and structure of Flatiron Market so it doesn’t take over my whole house (as it has before)!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Flatiron Market specializes in decorative wood signs. My best-selling product has been the interchangeable home sign, which features ‘Welcome to our H-ME’, and 14 magnetic interchangeable holiday and seasonal pieces to change out for the ‘o’ in H-ME. It comes in different sizes and price ranges to meet all styles and budgets! I am known for my calligraphy and hand lettering, which I am a stickler and perfectionist for! I am also very proud of my family name signs, which are very special personalized signs with the couple’s names and date established. They’re really cute. What sets Flatiron Market apart from the rest is the quality, by far. Wood signs are everywhere for much, much cheaper, but in this business, you very much get what you pay for. My products aren’t the cheapest, but they’re premium quality. All real wood, 100% made from my two hands, completely custom, sourced from local sellers, solid and hardy, and gorgeous.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I stepped back from pushing sales and marketing during the COVID-19 crisis. I believe that our priorities became safety and security, not home decor. Luckily, my sales stood steady and my awesome customers still took care of Flatiron Market!

Pricing:

• Custom signs: $40-$90+
• Interchangeable signs: $125-$195
• Custom doormats: $40
• Stickers: $5

Contact Info:

• Email: flatironmarket@gmail.com
• Website: www.flatironmarket.online
• Instagram: instagram.com/flatiron.market
• Other: tiktok.com/@flatironmarket