An Interview with Gael Stirler

Owner and CEO of Chivalry Sports Renaissance

Q: How long did you have a mail order company before you opened the store?

G.S.: We started selling videos, "Once Upon a Weekend," and my own "Murderous Ditties and Ballads Most Cruel" cassette in 1991. Our first catalog was published in October, 1992. In January, 1996, we rented this building, which was a mess. It had been used as workrooms for a furniture and ceramics company, and everything was covered with clay and sawdust. We had to clean it up, put up walls, fix the toilets, build shelves, and remodel the whole place. Luckily my husband, Jake, is a handy guy. We had help from friends in the SCA, my son's friends, and my daughter. They all pitched in. At first we planned to use it only to expand the mail order business, but then we decided to use the front part as a store.

Q: When did you open the store?

G.S.: We opened on February 23, 1996. The celebration lasted for three days, and it was a blast. Entertainers from the Arizona Renaissance Festival came down, a juggler, musicians, and a madrigal group. We had a big buffet of treats. The newspaper and the local CBS affiliate TV station did stories on our new store. We started off with a bang! Also that weekend we had our first psychic fair.

Q: It was a hit?

G.S.: Oh, yes. In fact, starting in November, we're planning to hold a psychic fair the first Sunday of each month, from noon till five. It will be a medieval-themed psychic fair. All the psychics will come in costume.

Q: Is this place better than your old space?

G.S.: We quadrupled our square footage. Opening a store has been a fulfilling endeavor, but it has also increased my workload.

Q: What did you learn that you didn't know before?

G.S.: Opening a store has put me in touch with customers. I learned that customers want more Celtic books, so we now have more of those on the shelves. We sell many more swords and daggers in the store than we ever did through the catalog. People want to see a sword and lift it and touch it before they buy one. Same thing with the silver jewelry. We don't have any in the catalog, yet, because people like to try on necklaces and rings to see how they look on them. Having a store enables me to try out new products before putting them in the catalog, which, incidentally, we publish 3-4 times a year, plus an armor brochure and a newsletter.

Q: Pretty tough, getting all that done.

G.S.: It's been tough doing a catalog as well as running a store. We have more than doubled our staff, and we're now open longer hours, 10 am - 8 pm Monday through Saturday, 12 to 5 pm on Sunday. The phones are manned 10 am - 8 pm weekdays, and 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, MST.

Q: Tell me about the concerts. I've seen them advertised in the paper. G.S.: When we remodeled the store we left room for a large classroom, 800 square feet in fact, and we hold concerts and classes in that big room. It's illuminated with lanterns for our Candlelight Concerts. We've had Celtic harper Dave Shaul, the jolly bard Yonaton, and the group Danu, whose music is sold in the catalog. In October the Hooligans, a traditional Irish band, are coming to raise the roof with their lively music. We've booked a Madrigal group for a Christmas performance. There's also what we call Bardic Night, a do-it-yourself musical hootenanny.

Q: And the classes?

G.S.: There's a whiteboard in the classroom for teachers to use, as well as tables and chairs. We've had classes in Chainmail, Tarot, Illumination, Palmistry, The Medieval Kitchen, Costuming, Belly Dancing, Brewing, and other fascinating subjects. We move the tables and chairs to make room for Beginning Fencing and for the Stunt Fighting class, which is taught by professional actor and stuntman Will Strickland. There's something going on just about every night.

Q: Sounds like fun. What are your big plans for the future?

G.S. Big plans! Well, in the works is a new clothing factory just across the border that will double our production. American-made fabric will be sewn into garments there, under expert supervision, with more attention to quality control. The delivery system will be improved so that customers won't have to wait for the garments they order. This will also enable us to take on wholesale accounts and meet their needs as well. Our other manufacturing company will continue to come up with new and exciting clothing items. You'll be surprised when you see what we have coming out in 1997.

Q: I want to know about the Writer's Workshop.

G.S.: We're thinking about it for next spring. It will be an all-day workshop, with guest speakers who are published writers in the science fiction and fantasy fields. Anyone who's interested in attending should get on our special writing workshop mailing list and we'll keep them informed.

Q: Sounds good to me.

G.S. Customers of Chivalry Sports deserve the best, and we're doing our best for them.

This interview was published in 1996. Chivalry Sports Renaissance Store(tm) no longer has classes, seminars, or concerts in the store. The company grew so much they had to remodel and use the classroom for more warehouse space.

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This page was last updated Tuesday, 27-May-2003 13:20:45 EDT