Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron and Jessica Williams.
Aaron and Jessica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We are a young married couple born & raised in Waco, TX who had the opportunity to take over ownership of MC Art Supplies (a fine art supply store in uptown Waco) in May of 2017. We were living in our 1963 Airstream travel trailer that we renovated and were keeping our eyes open for opportunity when my (Aaron) sister, who was an art student at Baylor at the time, told us that the older couple who owned the local art supply store was possibly looking to close or sell the store and retire due to their age and health reasons. We thought what they had built sounded amazing so we went to the store and talked with them and the rest is history!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Yep! Piece of cake. NOT. We’ve been hard at work since the beginning (and am still hard at work) making changes as well as continuing to build upon the relationships made by previous owners, Rose & Clyde Bush. One big challenge was bringing the store into the new age by making all of our products scannable with barcodes and adding them to our point of sale system & website. We have also done extensive renovations to space and have done most of that on our own with a ton of help from family.
Please tell us about your business.
MC Art Supplies is a fine art supply store that serves professionals, students and beginners alike! We are a pretty small store regarding square footage space, but we have utilized our space as efficiently as possible. Although we don’t focus on crafty, sewing, fabrics, etc., we focus heavily on fine art materials such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, drawing materials, markers, ceramic tools, clay bodies, etc. One thing that sets us apart from bigger box stores is our ability to adapt and to listen to our customers. We care about your input and if you ask for something we don’t have, we will do our best to see where we can get it or if we can even carry it in our store. Artists appreciate the effort we put forward to make sure they get what they need. We also build supply kits for the students of our local universities to make their life easier around back to school time.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Like any business, you, of course, want to focus on growth in sales, followers, ratings, etc. However, a huge measure of our success is the number of meaningful relationships we build with the artists in our community. We love helping artists solve problems by showing them new ways to do things as well as testing how products work with samples. It’s incredibly valuable to artists to see that we are willing to set aside time to learn and experiment with them!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2025 Washington Avenue
Waco, TX 76701 - Phone: 254-235-0753
- Email: mcartsupplies@gmail.com
- Instagram: mcartsupplies
- Facebook: MC Art Supplies
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