Sam Macdonald Moncton, New Brunswick, News, Nova Scotia 0

Schneider, the co-owner and founder of One Of A Kind Furniture Décor And More Ltd. , said that while foot traffic to her 78 Wyse Street based pop-up shop has been fairly slow so far – with about 100-200 people visiting per day, more on the weekend – it’s a good start.

While it’s too early to say for sure whether she’ll open a permanent store in Moncton, Schneider said she’s “leaning toward a yes.”

“We’ll test the waters. It’s very risky, nowadays, to sign for a long-term release before you do your homework. That’s why we decided to do a three-month pop-up and see where it leads us,” she said.

Schneider told Huddle she expects the pace to pick up as the Christmas season looms closer.

“It’s been a slow week in general at the Mapleton Centre but I think the first week, when we barely did any advertising, we’re quite happy,” Schneider said.

“I think the whole mall will experience more traffic, getting closer to Christmas, and we’ll have plenty of Christmas stuff, too, and I think that’s going to draw people in.”

The top-selling items, so far, have been dining tables and coffee tables – a niche Schneider notes One Of A Kind chanced upon by coincidence.

“That seems to be a big hit right now because, apparently, with other big box stores there’s long wait to get a table or furniture in general,” she said.

Schneider expects to be in business at the Mapleton Centre until early or mid-December.

One pattern Schneider noticed is that people’s shopping habits have changed.

“Even in Dartmouth Crossing, we don’t see traffic in September we would normally see. Before Covid, people used to shop after work at night but I find that has completely changed,” she said.

Schneider noted that she’s finding more foot traffic coming in the morning than ever before, with activity dropping in the afternoon and picking up again around the end of the work day.

Schneider, who runs a permanent location in Dartmouth Crossing, which she opened in 2020, said the only hiccup so far has been a nearly three-week delay on a container delivery containing the furniture now for sale at the pop-up shop – one that Schneider, her co-owner and husband, and daughter personally unloaded.

Going forward, when inventory gets low, Schneider said they will be delivering furniture from a warehouse in Nova Scotia using a trailer.

“We’ll probably stop the replenishment sometime mid-November, because we’ll be closing in December,” she said.

RELATED: Dartmouth Furniture Store Will Test N.B. Market With Pop-Up

Schneider bills One Of A Kind as a “little treasure hunt.” She notes that in addition to furniture it sells a variety of décor and giftware. One Of A Kind sources its furniture from small business at a variety of price points. Schneider said its strength lies in not relying on mass production for its furniture.

In Nova Scotia, the retailer sources much of what it sells from local artists.

“That’s not so much the case in New Brunswick, because we opened a week ago. That would be something we’d look into if we turned into a permanent location,” said Schneider.

Schneider stressed that their furniture relies on solid wood construction – as opposed to furniture sold by larger chains, which is, in many cases made from particle board.

When asked what motivated a move to Moncton, Schneider said many customers to the Dartmouth store asked her to open a store in Moncton.

“We had a lot of customers from Moncton there, so we figured the demand was there,” Schneider said.

“So we figured, why not?”

Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected] .

New Brunswick, News, Saint John

Fredericton, Halifax, Moncton, New Brunswick, News, Nova Scotia, Saint John

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