ACOT Message Board

Happy Small Business Saturday! We have come a long way - from a little shoe box of stickers in our basement, to our first building and storefront as Stickers Galore... to where we are now! 





I'm just so proud of my mom and how much work and devotion she put into this company. She worked night and day, putting everything she had into it. But she would never call it "work". She just loved it all so much! 






Since she did the work of like 10 people, when we lost her in 2018, we really struggled to keep this business afloat. It was hard enough losing the most amazing person in the world, and we were worried we were going to lose her legacy of this business. I also had a newborn to take care of (our son was born 2 days after her funeral.) Then I started working more when he was about 6 months old, though still figuring out how to be a business owner. My aunts Mary and Anna were brought on board to help us as board members, and we had so many loong meetings, brainstorming of what to do.










All smiles, but we really were struggling. I often had to bring the kids to work ha! They always had a blast. In October 2019, we brought on my husband Matt to start working here. We were hoping and praying that things would start to trend upward. But it wasn't until March 2020 that we were saved by Covid. All of the sudden everyone was home and wanted to craft! We had an influx of orders and had to hire on more pickers/shippers right away. It was an amazing time in such a weird time! We know so many people who struggled through the pandemic or lost loved ones, so it's really weird to say Covid saved our business. But it really did. Since then we have worked hard and are so proud of this company!


  


And yes the kids still come to work occasionally ha! They love it here and love running through "the maze", aka the warehouse of shelves. Ava came to work with me from when she was a newborn to about a year old. And now I'll bring our next kid to work with me in May! It really is a family business lol.


  








So ACOT isn't just a craft store to us... it's a piece of our mom that we will always always cherish! It's a family business where we work hard, but also have tons of fun! 

We are SO proud to carry on our mom's legacy through this beautiful, crafty company. And we want to thank YOU for being here supporting us through it all!

 

such a heartwarming story  i had no idea of the behind-the-scenes struggles, of course, but am so happy things have turned around for all of you!

pretty sure you won't need to worry about next year either because i've spent enough this year to keep you in business lol!

love you guys!!

You guys have something VERY special here, and I'm truly grateful that I found this place! I'm praying that you guys stay open indefinitely!  

Wow I had no idea that your son was born so close to your mom's funeral. That must have been very difficult for you. You and your family are so strong. I hope your kids work at ACOT when they grow up. There will be photos years later of the next generation of business owners.  

Rachel, more often than not we don't know the "back story" and what is going on behind the scenes.  I know that I often just shop, and since my orders are shipped quick and everything runs smooth, I just assumed things were as they had always been.  I was unaware of the struggles you were all dealing with after your mom's passing.  From what I can tell, you and everyone at ACOT have done a fabulous job of keeping your mom's vision going, and I personally have no doubt that you will continue to do so.

I'm so grateful for Stickers Galore, which led to A Cherry On Top.  This website, you, everyone involved with ACOT, and all the beautiful women I've "met" here mean a great deal to me.  I cherish ACOT and everyone connected to it.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Thanks for sharing more of your story, I don't know anything about owning a business but I know I could not do it! You all stuck together and worked with everything you had and I sure hope and pray it gets better and better for you. You have made your mom so proud!

What a heartfelt story. You have a beautiful family!

Thank you for sharing!  Such a wonderful legacy that you are working hard to continue and I know we are all so grateful for your hard work!  I'm so glad 2020 saved your business!  I can say that with the world slowing down that is why I found myself in my craft room more and re-igniting my love of cards and scrapbooking!  The message board was such a great way to connect with people and the challenges made me work differently on things and inspired me to shop more.  

I'm so very sorry you lost your mom.  I know how hard it is to continue forward with out that person you wanted to share your journey as a mother with.  I lost my mom and dad before I was married and before I became a mother.  It is the hardest part of moving forward is not sharing your kids with a grandparent you know would be AMAZING!  Can you image knowing your grandma is the sticker lady???  When I was a kid collecting stickers that would have been the ultimate dream!!  I do hope you know how proud she is of you and ACOT!!  You do such an incredible job of making the ACOT space fill like a family! 

Your doing it!!    Thank you so much for putting your heart and soul into ACOT!!