Kirabo+Project

Kirabo Business Profile - Kendall Heller

My mission to find a business that would work for this social media project led to a meeting with the owner of Kirabo. Below will be a profile summary and overall background that I learned and needed to get started on The Big Project.

Local to East Lansing’s downtown shopping for almost five years now, Kirabo’s store is full of amazingly hand-crafted, Fair Trade gift items. What does the word Kirabo mean? It’s a Ugandan word meaning “gift”. As a fully operating Fair Trade retail business, they “support 15 different fair trade organizations, while bringing in merchandise from over 30 countries”. Items ranging from coffee, home décor, apparel, jewelry, soap and pottery all originate from very skilled, hardworking artisans living in impoverished countries. Selling and purchasing these types of goods supports them with healthy working conditions, fare wages, hope and opportunity. While browsing the Kirabo store, enjoy the creative displays, colors and atmosphere, but also check out the history behind the items you like. There is story behind the gift. Gail ensures every customer feels welcomed and has the desire to educate others about Fair Trade. Kirabo’s mission is to, empower to build better lives and encourage sustainable actions.

Found and manager, Gail Catron, is a two-time MSU graduate who holds a natural passion for retail, specifically in a socially responsible way. Owning a small business store in mid Michigan has provided consumers with such choices, product purchasing choices, which better the world! Most of their past and current customers are students aging 18-25 years old and women from the local communities aging from 45-65 years old. Kirabo tends to serve “green thinkers”, professionals, retired folks and all those who casually walk along Grand River Avenue and decide to pop in and shop.

Marketing the Kirabo image: A niche store in which offers niche products is generally appealing. Current strategies include monthly newsletters, sign-up customer loyalty programs via email, fully-functioning website and business profiles established on both Facebook and Twitter. While just getting the business started, the online presence is in progress and ready for the right updates.

The basic, initial SWOT analysis of current social media use was helpful when thinking of questions to ask, pin point where the problem is and see if solutions can be applied. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Fundability and accessibility of one’s business products or services are key components in running an efficient overall enterprise. Business profile pages should be easily searched and found over each social media website.