Thank you guys so much for all of your support in the last week after we announced that we're saying goodbye to our e-commerce shop! The orders have poured in and that has helped us tremendously to clear through our remaining inventory. If you've ordered anything in our final sale over the last few days, those orders are being fulfilled and you'll have it in your hands very soon!
We received lots of questions about our e-com shop closing, so I wanted to talk a bit more about it now that our sale is done…
Q: Why are you closing your shop?
A: As a business owner, I try new things all the time. Things evolve in my business, and I get ideas for new avenues to go and new ways to expand my business. Sometimes those things flourish, and sometimes they don't. I usually give a new part of my business two years to see if it's working before continuing with it or deciding to move on. Back when I had my own stationery line in 2007, I gave it 2 years before deciding to close it. It was financially draining, and I found myself stuck with tons of credit card debt trying to keep up with producing more and more product. After I closed that line, I moved into licensing which was one of the best decisions I made for this business and a big part of the work we still do today.
A similar thing happened here with the Oh Joy! online shop. As we reached two years of having our own e-commerce, it didn't make sense financially for us to continue with that part of the business. It wasn't financially beneficial for us and took much more resources than we were making from it. It was a bittersweet decision to close it, but it will make space (mentally, physically, and financially) for other parts of the business to grow.
Q: Will we still be able to buy your product collections and collaborations?
A: YES! You'll still be able to buy all of our product collaborations through our partner's retail sites. We are in the process of updating our website and soon you'll be able to easily find where you can purchase everything Oh Joy! We also have lots more coming this year! Instead of managing the sales of those products, we are leaving it in all of our partner's very capable hands.
Q: What about the rest of Oh Joy?
A: While I know this seems like a big change to our customers, the online shop only accounted for about 10-15% of our annual revenue. It was a very small portion of the Oh Joy! business for the past two years. Oh Joy! is still here. We have lots more new and exciting things coming this year (from product launches to my house reveals and more!). So please sign up for our mailing list, continue to read this blog, and follow along @ohjoy and @ohjoyco for all the updates!
We love you all and thank you endlessly for your support!
(Photo by Calpak, words by Joy Cho)
Good luck with everything, Joy! It’s empowering and refreshing to see a business owner who is open about what is/not working. Please keep sharing!
Thanks Emily!
Joy
Such a powerful lesson in being practical and methodical. Very wise words in this short note.
Thanks so much Leo!
-Joy
Please don’t take this the wrong way…I’m a loyal reader (as in from your first year) and I have been thinking about writing in for a while now, and this now seems like the best time…I hope with this part of your business closing (and your house almost being done), you have the time to put some more energy back into the blog and go back to some of your more original and exciting posts. As in more posts of just things you find inspirational design/art wise, highlighting other makers etc.. I have been really liking the house updates, but once those are done, tbh there won’t be much more enticing me here to come back more than maybe once a month (and I can literally catch up on a months worth of posts in like 30mins these days). Your product collabs are great, and you should def be proud of them, but as a Canadian I never read them as there is no point trying to deal with ordering anything after the money conversion, the potential customs, duties etc. (I would also assume a few other International readers would agree with me here). The room makeovers are getting tired, we have quite literally seen it all at this point. The fashion posts are ok, but again, not like I would order anything I liked due to the same reasons mentioned before. The DIYs are getting a bit stale. What keeps me coming back is your honesty in your personal posts, and that I think you are just a good person that actually cares what her readers think and would respond to this feedback with an open mind (I once saw someone comment the exact same thing on the Jungalow blog and Justina was very gracious). I realize the blog is probably one of the lower priority items with all the products collabs you have going on, but perhaps it would be beneficial to you (not only your readers) to return to your roots a bit with this space. I realize you do this a bit more on Insta, but not everyone is into that platform…Hope this rambling resonates on some level. THANK YOU!
Hi JDP,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful message. It means a lot. There are changes on the horizon for sure…some which I can share now, and some which I am not ready to yet. But please know that everything you said is on my mind, and you’ll start to see me return to my roots for sure.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment!
Joy
AMAZING! Looking forward to what is to come! 😉
Thank you for sharing this Joy, it was so honest and insightful! I love that you are so open to trying things, making amazing products and beautiful content, and also being honest with yourself to change something that isn’t working – or letting go of an aspect that might not be to your full advantage.
I do a bit of freelance illustration myself in Cape Town, and have learnt some things along the way that have worked wonderfully – and funny enough, the concepts I thought would work I have had to let go in order to keep my process dynamic and fresh. Rather lighten the load then keep carrying something because we are too prideful to let it go or open ourselves up to another more dynamic path.
Thanks for your work, you bring so much beautiful energy and positivity to the world with your Visio and magic! Your the best!
Hi Jenna,
Thanks so much for your comment and I’m glad it was helpful. I always try to share what I can when I know others would relate. And business isn’t easy..there are always ups and downs.
Best!
Joy
I understand. That’s part of the business but life goes on. And new and better things are coming for you.