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Women in small business: Western Outfitters

Tamera Schramm is the owner of Western Outfitters & DeBerge Saddlery in Williams. The store sells western apparel and leather goods.
Photo by Wendy Howell.

Tamera Schramm is the owner of Western Outfitters & DeBerge Saddlery in Williams. The store sells western apparel and leather goods.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — When Tamera Schramm left her home in Minneapolis to head west she had little idea that she would eventually own one of the largest western retail stores in Williams, Arizona.

Schramm is one of nearly 10 million women in the U.S. today who are innovating, starting new businesses, creating jobs and impacting the economy. This October, the Williams News celebrates women business owners in Williams during National Women’s Small Business Month.

Schramm is the owner of Western Outfitters & DeBerge Saddlery and is one of a number of woman-owned small businesses in downtown Williams. Western Outfitters & Deberge Saddlery sells a collection of western fashion which includes apparel, hats, boots and accessories for men and women. The store also has a custom leather shop.

Schramm originally came to Arizona to work in the film industry as a freelance camera assistant and still photographer. She worked independently for several years and spent a stint working for Grand Canyon Railway.

During that time she got to know Ray DeBerge of DeBerge Saddlery & Western Wear. DeBerge was the original owner of the shop that was established over 20 years ago. DeBerge is an artist who did original saddle and leather work and also paints.

Ray announced that he was retiring and approached Schramm and her late fiancé about purchasing the shop. Schramm said they discussed the opportunity and she realized she would need to leave her photo company to fully help with the store.

“I told him I can quit, but I want to learn leather work, I don’t want to just work retail,” she said.

photo

Schramm sells custom leather belts, holsters, saddles and other leather crafts at Western Outfitters & DeBerge Saddlery.

Schramm quickly learned the leather craft and was mentored about running a retail business from DeBerge prior to his retirement.

Shortly after the store’s purchase, Schramm’s fiancé passed away and she was left with a decision to make. She chose to stay with the store and carry on with the saddle shop.

“We had made the commit ment so I carried forward with honoring the debt and I didn’t want the opportunity with the business to go away,” she said.

Schramm ran the store for several years at the original location and then began thinking of expanding the store. She found a location further west on main street in the old Babbitt building.

“The larger space allowed me to bring in a lot more brands,” Schramm said. “I expanded the lines and brought in more vendors. I was lucky when I started the second store that it took off right away, it gave me courage.”

Schramm said she goes to Denver twice per year to attend a western retailer show where she selects the items to sell in her store.

“I try to shop U.S. goods wherever possible,” she said. “I love picking out stuff for the store. I’m not shopping for me, I have to think about what people will like and that’s a gamble. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t.”

Schramm said she enjoys running the business, but it isn’t without challenges. She said it is often difficult to balance work and her private life. She said finding good staff is the key to enjoying the business and the store’s success.

“I’m fortunate now that I have a good staff,” she said. “That’s not always the case. People move away, lives change. But it helps a lot when you have people you can trust. I’m very fortunate there.”

Schramm said one of the main things she likes about being a business owner is being the decision maker.

“I only answer to me,” she said.

Schramm said besides having good staff, her store’s success is based on her customer’s being satisfied. She said it is very important for her to have fair prices.

“I refuse to be one of those cliché tourist venues that is over marking their merchandise,” she said. “I don’t think anyone in town does, but you hear horror stories from the tourists.”

Schramm said one thing that has helped her with the big box store competitors is minimum advertised pricing. She said many vendors now tell retailers what they can minimally price a product at to sell. She said if a retailer charges less, they won’t allow that retailer to sell their products anymore.

“They are protecting us all,” she said.

Schramm said customer service is extremely important to her. She believes that small stores can top larger stores by having attentive customer service.

“I think that anybody who goes into a big department store knows it’s hard to get help, but you walk into my store and my ladies are ready to help,” she said. “I think people appreciate that.”

When asked about advice to others who are interested in starting a business, Schramm said she believes it’s important to be motivated and willing to do the work. She said it’s also important to look for the right opportunities.

“Starting from scratch is a difficult thing,” she said. “You have to have the funds to get started.”

Schramm also believes it is important to offer something other businesses are not offering in town. She said it takes a while to build up an inventory, but it is important to have enough inventory to sell that will pay the bills.

“You have to find something the tourists will use and items locals will use too,” she said. “I certainly have everyday items here but I have a lot of people coming in for special occasions, birthdays or a certain function.”

Western Outfitters & DeBerge Saddlery is open all winter, which is not common with many stores in Williams. Schramm said it can be difficult to stay open but she said she plans and saves for the leaner months.

Schramm said she hasn’t had many mentors and has learned most of the trade on her own. She said she was lucky her first year to work with Ray DeBerge, but working and running a retail store was something she just had to learn on her own.

“Just common sense a lot of times,” she said.

Schramm said it has been a challenge running the custom leather shop and retail shop at the same time, but she enjoys both operations. She recently moved the leather shop into another building but plans to move it back into the Western Outfitters building in the future. She said working leather is challenging but very rewarding.

“I love doing the holsters and belts,” she said. “I don’t make as many saddles as Ray did, they are labor intensive and slow sellers. There’s a lot of time involved (with leather crafting) and people often aren’t willing to pay the price of what it’s worth.”

Schramm’s future plans include opening a website for online sales. She said they have worked to maintain a Facebook page, and hope to have a more interactive website but she feels the most important thing is focusing on the physical retail store and customer service.

“I ask my staff to greet them when they come in and thank them when they leave,” she said. “I hear comments from tourists about other store staff who were grouchy. I’m sorry to hear that because you (the customers) are why we are here.”


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