When Diane Rauser started Sass, she had a very simple goal: survive. Having never started a business before she wasn’t entirely sure what it was going to look like, but when the opportunity presented itself, she decided to take a risk.
Diane began working at the shop most locals know as Sass in 2007. Originally, this business was called Persnickety and was owned by a friend of hers. At the time, Persnickety was primarily an interior design shop. However, in 2014, the owner moved the establishment to Ann Arbor allowing Diane to manage the current storefront in Adrian. At this point, she decided to add more gift-related items. Since Diane was funding this turn in inventory with her own money, gift items were something of a limited selection.
When ownership was transferred to Diane, she set out to create and execute a vision for the shop. According to Diane “I had to set out on the mission to decide what the store was going to be. What’s the name of it and what kind of product am I going to bring in?” Her first order of business was to change the name from Persnickety to Sass. Persnickety, she reasoned, was too high-end, and Sass seemed to personify her unique and sassy sort of humor.
After establishing her vision for Sass, Diane set out to show the community what the store was about. Adrian First Fridays were instrumental in this pursuit. She was able to showcase the enterprise to the community and quickly became known for her wide array of Made in Michigan products. After that, she added fun, unique, and laughable items, along with a plethora of toys.
However, the 2020 pandemic severely stunted Diane’s success. Diane related sitting in the dark, due to the shutdown, while answering phone calls, and doing curbside pick-up to survive. Financially, this situation wreaked havoc. When dealing with inventory, Diane often orders merchandise in advance. For instance, she usually begins to order Christmas items in January. At the beginning of the pandemic, Diane had already put in for inventory, for which she had to pay. According to Diane, this was a little scary, to say the least. Therefore, she contacted Lenawee Now.
Lenawee Now immediately connected Diane with grants suited to her situation and helped with the application process. Diane attests grant applications are no small feat. “You get so nervous when you’re filling out these applications because you’re afraid that you’re going to answer something incorrectly and be rejected.” With Lenawee Now’s assistance, Diane was able to obtain grant funding, helping her to cover the inventory costs.
In November of 2021, she decided to do something shocking, attention-grabbing, and somewhat risky. Diane opened a pop-up store, catering to men’s clothing and personal items, and dubbed it the Men’s Room. According to Diane, “I think once people got used to it and stopped being afraid to look at the storefront, it became very popular here. I like to see what I can come up with to shock people.” It exploded on social media. Moving forward, Diane would like to open 2 pop-up stores for Christmas 2022.
Diane survived the pandemic and is currently running a very successful shop in Downtown Adrian. According to Diane “I love Adrian. I’ve been down here for a very long time. I want to see it survive and thrive.”