Linden businesswoman to open Elegant Etching & Etc. soon
Linden’s Laura Littlejohn does not have a Fortune 500 company, of course, but she is doing what any entrepreneur must do. She’s taking something she loves doing and hopes to make it a successful business.
She’ll open Elegant Etching & Etc. at 106 N. Houston St. early next month in Linden.
She has a niche in mind she hopes the store will fill.
“After people go to dinner around the square in the evenings, there’s not much to do or see when walking around. I’m going to be open those hours, say, 6:30 to 8 p.m., and on weekends. I hope they’ll come into my store and see the etchings and other things that I make,” Littlejohn said.
Also part of her business plan is the confidence she has in herself as someone who likes to create. She makes things. Her etching, for example, are often done freehand, and she works at her craft almost every day.
Etching is done by applying a small amount of acid, usually with a brush, and leaving it for a period of time. With glass, that might be 20 or 30 minutes and with ceramic or granite it would be overnight.
Littlejohn has benefitted in two ways about her new store. First, she participated in a recent town “pop-up” adventure in which building owners gave prospective business owners a chance to open their store in the building free of rent for several days.
Second, Littlejohn said she had been assisted and encouraged by the owner of the building she is leasing, Ricky Conn.
“He’s has been so helpful. Getting the building fixed, and always being there when I’ve needed help. I couldn’t ask for a better person to work with.”
Littlejohn is a 1981 graduate of Hughes Springs High School. She and her daughter Joyce Rinehart, a LindenKildare High student, will greet customers together in the shop.