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Name: Someone special

Type of Business: Retail gift and collectibles store

Address: 2050 Springdale Road, No. 500, Cherry Hill

Telephone: (800) 237-7656

Web site: www.someonespecial.com

Number of employees: 3

Founded: 1976

Top officer: Ken Elner

How would you describe your business?

"It's a family owned and operated business -- a high end collectibles store. We offer first quality products. We have Swarovski and Waterford crystal, Lenox china, Lladro and Hummel figurines, Faberge Eggs, Armani, and Madame Alexander dolls and much more."

What makes your business special?

"We have a tremendous selection have over 20,000 items shown on our Web site. We are authorized to sell all the products we carry. Many people out there are not authorized dealers. They are buying merchandise from other dealers so the consumer may not know what he is getting. Our sales people are very knowledgeable and helpful."

What goals do you have for the business?

"Our goal is to stay in business during this difficult economy. It's very difficult for a small business to maintain its location and as helpful as the Internet has been during the last few years. It's also been the demise of not only us, but of many stores. People go into a store and they look at the product then go online then search for a lower price for it on the Internet. As you notice more and more stores are closing because people aren't buying from them."

How has your business changed?

"My mother started this business, then my father joined her, then I did. In 1988, we had three stores with 27 employees and in 1997 we closed two stores and kept this store and sell from our Web site. Ten years ago, between Cherry Hill and Long Island, there were about 40 collectible stores like us, and today we are the only one just in this geographical area. At one point we had three stores, but in 1997 we closed two stores and just had sales in the one store and online."

What was your most important deal?

"Going online in 1996 was our most important deal and now accounts for 80 percent of our business. When we started we were the only ones doing this. It was interesting because you had people putting up with the slowness of the operation. Back then it was a new concept for collectibles to be sold online and the vendors were resistant. Now the vendors have become our competitors."

What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years?

"The Internet is changing buying habits and the consumer won't be happy in the future. The kinds of stores you see will be company stores like the Gap. The vendors will be able to control the market, so eventually we will be buying from the manufacturers who will control distribution and control price. "Now people can come and touch and handle merchandise to get an idea of what they want to buy and then go online. People don't realize that the merchant paid for and owns the merchandise. My view is we are creating a less competitive environment as we go along and that in the next 10 years I don't expect that small stores will exist."

What's the most important thing you've learned in your business?

"Change is necessary. Today, there are less and less merchants and more and more business owners. Merchants know their customers. A business owner is a person who looks only at the bottom line and doesn't look forward to the future. Ten years ago, there was never a sale between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Black Friday sales of today have trained the consumer to wait and wait and wait until everyone panics and everything goes on sale. As a result many vendors will reduce the amount of inventory they will be carrying, the styles they will carry which means the stores will have less inventory. As a merchant, I'm waiting to see how that will affect the buying habits of customers -- will they buy when the product is available or wait for a sale when it might not be around?

What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?

"Don't do it. People are under the impression that being in this line of business -- 'That's the life.' They don't realize how many hours the owner must put into his business -- many outside of regular business hours. For instance, if the burglar alarm goes off in the middle of the night, you have to get to the store. If an employee is sick, you have to cover for them. During the holiday season, people see how busy the store is, but the reality is just very different. When you own your own business you have to do everything. Many times you don't get a vacation -- you can't afford to, especially if you are opening a new business, because it takes two to three years for a business to become profitable. With our Internet business we are open 365 days a year. We bring a laptop when we go on vacation and spend four to six hours a day just on the laptop answering people's questions. Unless you are willing to commit every day and almost every minute to the business, don't even think of opening a business especially in this economy.

Is there anything else you would rather be doing?

"No. As frustrating as it is, every day brings new challenge and it is still exciting after 33 years."