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By seomul Evans

 A few centuries ago, in the 1600’s you may not have been likely to find chairs in all churches. If you did find seating, chances are good it would not have been in good shape because money was not readily available and churches often had their congregation stand rather than sit. Today, however, church chairs are a necessity. Very few people are likely to attend a church that doesn’t give them somewhere to sit!

Frequently in the 1600s and 1700s, and even the 1800s, those churches that did have church chairs or pews for the congregation chose to rent that seating out, so in order to have a place to sit on Sunday, you paid for your family to have a pew or chairs reserved for them.

Unlike today, that means that your family could be the last ones in the door, but you would still have a place to sit while others who arrived before you may have had to stand. Obviously, if your family was financially well-off, you were more likely to have pew space, and less-wealthy families who could not afford it would have to stand.

Later, near the end of the 1800s, churches began to rethink their church chairs and seating arrangements. It became more important to offer pews or chairs to the congregation, and it was becoming more important to allow everyone a place to sit regardless of their ability to pay for the privilege.

Typically back then, and still today, church chairs and other church furniture is expected to match; that is, they should be made out of the same kind of wood. Today, that is not as difficult to accomplish as it was a few hundred years ago. Back then, building church chairs was time consuming and required the skill of many workers. It was also more difficult to get “matching trees” to have matching furniture.

Usually, a church would buy all the same type of lumber all at the same time to ensure that the wood would all be the same. So, once that was done, the church had wood but no stacking church chairs, regular church chairs, or pews. All they had was raw wood.

Once the lumber arrived, it was time to get the wood in the best possible shape for furniture making. It had to be put somewhere out of the elements and the best place was a place that could be heated so some of the natural wetness in the wood could evaporate and the woodworkers could work with wood that had been dried a little. Then, the wood had to be cut to the right size and any natural blemishes had to be removed. Then, the woodworkers could begin their skilled carving of the church chairs or pews.

They would carve out the individual pieces of the church furniture first; for example, they would make the legs and arms, then the seat, then the back. Once those were carved, all the pieces could be put together to form complete church chairs. They could be held in place with special types of glue and/or jigs.

It was important that the church furniture be finely crafted so that it would last a long time and also remain intact with its beautiful and pretty looks. So, you can see what a time-consuming and difficult task it used to be to make church furniture! To keep those church chairs looking their best, they needed to be waxed and/or oiled on a regular basis, as well, so upkeep was important also.

Today, most church furniture is manufactured by machine in factories, so it is less time-consuming and takes a smaller percentage of the church budget than it did a few hundred years ago. Some fine wooden church furniture is still oiled, but for the most part modern church chairs and pews have a lacquer coating or some other kind of wood finish that simply allows the furniture to be dusted to look its best.

As evidence of the difficulty in getting a lot of church chairs or pews in a church, you can look to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Basilica itself is huge, but the seating is very limited. That probably has to do with the complicated and time-consuming method of church chair building that was necessary several centuries ago.

Nowadays, it is not nearly so difficult to furnish a church. Church furniture is mass produced, and even if it is not, shipping of lumber and improvements in furniture making equipment have made the task of providing church furnishing so much easier. In fact, if you ever find yourself with the task of furnishing a church, you can probably get everything you need from the Internet. What could be simpler than that?

Seomul Evans is a seo copywriter for a leading Church Chairs manufacturer specializing in affordable Church Chairs.

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How to Find Customers for a Retail Store - part 2
By wayne kiltz

 In the last article in this series, we talked about some of the hardest ways that people try to build a customer base for a store. We also talked about why these methods do not normally work well. This article will give some ways of finding new customers for a retail store that can work much better.

There are many different ways to find customers for a retail store. The traditional way is to open a store and wait for people to come. If this is not bringing you as many customers as you want however, try one or more of the ideas below.

Home parties:

Home party marketing is one of the fastest growing ways of selling products today. Your products are perfect for home parties when they are unique and hard to find. Guests at a home party will see things that they can not have any other way. When people discover the benefits, history, and meaning, of the products that you offer, they can become almost irresistible.

Festivals, flea markets, street fairs, and special events:

These are some of the most popular ways to find new customers for your store. These can be difficult if you need to close your store to display at a show like this: especially because so many of these markets are held on weekends and other times that may be busiest for your store. But you can meet hundreds of new customers this way.

The secret to marketing your store this way is to keep track of the potential new customers that you meet. Even if someone does not buy from you at the festival, they can remember you later when they are ready for something. Be sure to have handouts to leave with any visitors; and try to get as many names and addresses as possible for a mailing list of your own.

The people who you already know.

Make a list of everyone who you know. You should end up with a list of at least 100 names. If you can not think of 100 names right away, don’t worry. Keep your list with you, and add names to it for the next weeks whenever you think of someone new. Almost everyone knows more than 100 people.

Contact everyone on your list to let them know what you are doing. This is a fun job, because it is fun to stay in touch with your friends. Your friends will want to know what you are doing; and will remember this when they are talking to their friends. And each of these people knows 100 other people too, so the word of mouth advertising you can get this way is huge.

If you want to find customers for a retail store, look for the right kinds of people. Instead of looking for anyone and everyone, focus your efforts on the people who will come to your store, and who will come back to you to purchase again. You will have more customers (and more money) six months from now this way, than you will if you try to present yourself to the whole world.

Wayne Kiltz is the founder and owner of Africa Imports. You can find over 100 other articles on African art, culture, and fashion, along with African proverbs,

recipes, and African business opportunities at http://www.africaimports.com

From Small Business To Big Business: Gap Inc
By Cash Miller

 Often when you think of trendy hip clothing retailers you will think of Gap. The chain that is based in San Francisco, California was founded by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher in 1969. Today it operates over 3,000 stores and employs over 150,000 people all over the world. In addition to its trademark brand it also owns and operates Banana Republic and Old Navy stores as well.

When Donald and Doris Fisher opened that first store in 1969 they did so in a theatre located on Ocean Avenue in San Jose, California. Early on it featured Levi’s blue jeans, records and tapes. They were located near San Francisco State University and were trying to appeal to that younger hip generation. Shortly after opening though they decided to discontinue selling the records and tapes and to concentrate on selling clothes.

Gap saw a great deal of early success as they were able to hit on what the younger generation wanted to wear at the time. This look consisted of blue jeans and white cotton t-shirts otherwise known as the “basic look”. By 1970 their store was doing a brisk $2 million a year in sales. They soon realized they would have to expand. And expand they did. By 1973 they had grown to 25 stores and were able to open their first of soon to be many east coast locations in Voorhees, New Jersey.

In 1974 realizing the name recognition the brand was developing the decision was made to start their own private label brands. By 1976 they were ready for their big coming out party as the company was able to go public on both the New York and Pacific stock exchanges. Their initial public offering was for 1.2 million shares.

They have two other trademark brands that operate their own stores. Banana Republic which was bought in 1983 is an upscale line of clothing but began as a catalog merchant featuring safari themed clothes. The other one Old Navy was launched in 1994 and is known as a value chain but with a specialty flair. Together the three brands make up Gap Inc. as it is known today.

Over the years Gap Inc. has had its share of problems. Everything from bad marketing and lack of focus to trademark disputes and labor issues. But they continue to work through these problems. Just imagine though the fact that a company with over 3,000 stores and 150,000 employees began as one store in an old theatre near a college. Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher had an idea and after finding some success with that idea they were not afraid to run with it. Regardless of the troubles of recent years they have left a legacy that will survive well into the future. And giving others inspiration that they if those two can build something so great why can’t we all.

Cash Miller is an experienced entrepreneur and speaker who has spent over a decade as a small business owner. His years of experience in small business cover a variety of topics. If you are looking for more small business help please check out http://www.smallbusinessdelivered.com

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