SA Shuttermill celebrates 10 years; gets Country Sampler magazine cover
Having one of her pieces on the front cover of Country Sampler magazine was a bonus for Shannon Arnold, owner of S.A. Shutter Mill.
Arnold creates custom-made shutters and other country-inspired, distressed home decorations. Her other products include benches, cupboards, shelves, signs and other decorations.
She does paid advertisements in Country Sampler as part of a nation-wide marketing effort. She generates customers primarily from her magazine advertising and her website, www.sashuttermill.com. This is the fourth time one of her products has been selected by the magazine for the cover, but the first time one of her signature shutters has been featured prominently.
The magazine reaches a wide audience across the United States who have already expressed an interest in that type of decor, simply by their selection of Country Sampler. Many of her customers are on the East Coast, and she said while she has done some pieces for locals, the majority of her work is shipped across the country.
“The thing about this magazine, people will hang onto every one of their issues for years,” Arnold said. “And I’ll have people calling me up on stuff I’ve had in issues three, four, five years ago.”
That type of longevity and pin-pointed marketing have allowed her to work from her International Falls garage, but not be limited to one geographic region.
She said another part of her 10-year success has been working in a niche market with what is largely a one-of-a-kind product.
“There’s a lot of potential to grow the business,” she said, but noted she doesn’t want to expand far beyond her one-woman, home-based business.
S.A. Shutter Mill has survived the economic downturn of recent years, and with steady business. And that has surprised even the owner.
“I’m actually surprised that in this economy people are still wanting something like this,” she said.
She creates each shutter, distresses the wood and paints them with Olde Century Colors paints, which adds to the distressed and homemade feel.
Arnold said Borderland residents are more likely to create pieces like this themselves. Folks in other parts of the country, especially areas like New York and Pennsylvania she said, have been searching for such a business and have found none like hers in even these more populous areas.
“People are handy around here. People can do these for themselves,” she said of her lack of local business. She said she and many people she knows see items in magazines and try to make something similar for themselves. “It’s never been one of those things that I’ve tried to target locally.”
But her lack of local customers has not stopped business from coming in steadily for more than 10 years. She said she tried home shows, craft expos and other ways of marketing the business, but found the national advertising and a strong Web presence to be the best recipe for drawing customers to her business.
“I have really filled a void that is out there,” she said. “It’s just been key to my success in Sampler, key to my success on the Web, that I just tapped into something that has not been tapped into yet.”
She said she found the idea for her shutters from several Falls homes who have cutout shutters. She said she has always loved the country decor and the inviting personality the shutters add to the home.
“It has just been the best little home-based business that you could have,” Arnold said.
S.A. Shutter Mill can be reached at 218.283.9918 or e-mail sashuttermill@gmail.com.
