Job Spotlight with Kara Cable, owner of Cat's Meow in Pine Mountain and Columbus

Kara Cable knows her numbers. After all, her professional background is in accounting. But she also knows her history and how to frame a painting, picture or some other item quite nicely.

When making the decision with her husband, Jeffrey, about expanding Cat's Meow, her six-year-old Pine Mountain, Ga., custom framing and gift store into Columbus, they obviously knew the city had suffered like everyone through the Great Recession. Those were tough times.

But the course of history has changed. The couple has witnessed the downtown area bouncing back with vigorous growth as Columbus State University invested heavily in its RiverPark campus and entrepreneurs filled in vacant storefronts and homeowners poured money into the Historic District.

Cable, 46, believes there's absolutely no turning back for the downtown area. Thus, she said, it was an easy choice to open Cat's Meow Uptown at 108 8th St. in the Historic District. Don't know where that's at? It's a turn-of-the-century home next door to Minnie's Uptown Restaurant, a popular meat-and-three eatery.

"I love the uptown area," said the Hamilton, Ga., resident who quietly opened Cat's Meow Uptown less than two months ago. "I think that what's been reclaimed has been reclaimed at such a cost that this part of town will never be on the decline again. It's just a gorgeous setting. And I love that the school (CSU) is close because that's just a constant stream of young blood all the time. So the town will stay dynamic."

The Ledger-Enquirer visited with Cable recently at her Columbus shop, where she can be found Wednesday through Friday, with the balance of her time spent at the store in Pine Mountain. Inside, there's a mix of "Made in the USA" arts and craft items, jewelry, clothing, artwork and an area where she works on custom framing jobs.

And, yes, a couple of catS -- Collette and Scout -- do inhabit the 1,200-square-foot lower shop space. And her husband, aunt and father have been helping out as the business gets up and running on all cylinders heading into the holidays. (An open house is scheduled Dec. 3-6.) This interview has been edited a bit for length and clarity.

First off, you're up in Pine Mountain as well, where Callaway Gardens is king and has been having some tough times. Your thoughts?

They're a huge part of that economy. They're very important. One of the benefits of a tourist town is you have a constant influx of new folks, and Callaway and (F.D. Roosevelt State Park) are the main draws. I know they have business pains just like everybody does, but they're big part of that community and we need them to do well.

How many shops are in Pine Mountain?

We probably have 18 to 20 retail storefronts, and there are probably 14 in the old town part of that downtown district.

Describe your shop?

This is a much smaller footprint. Up there, I've got about 4,000 square feet of working space. Here I've got about 1,200 square feet of working space. So everything's on a smaller scale. But I love anything manufactured or crafted in the United States and Europe.

Framing is obviously the largest part of the business. That's what I make and do. I love items crafted by hand ... The only thing that would be proper to disclaim is I do sell Pete the Cat merchandise. He's a huge part of my equation as well. I've known him for years, so as his trajectory just went vertical, I've been lucky to be along for the ride by knowing him.

Is that someone named Pete who does the cat items?

Actually, it's James Dean. He's an artist, educated at Auburn, lived in Atlanta and now lives in Savannah, and he has a big following. Pete was his muse; Pete is the blue cat. The artwork I've already sold before, but I have started selling the books and the dolls because that's a completely different market than the artwork.

Why are you so strongly behind Made in the USA?

That's the backbone of my business model ... For example, I've carried Pendleton (retail items) for years. They have started to outsource a lot of their things. It will be made of U.S. material, but crafted somewhere else and brought in. So with Pendleton I only carry their U.S. manufactured items ... I don't want to sound too extremist about it, but it's important to me. You can get a myriad of products from anywhere, but I would really like to stick with the United States and Europe just because of the less mass manufactured aspect of it.

What are the demographics of your customers?

I would say my primary demographic is probably going to be 30 and above for framing. But for gifts and so forth, hopefully, the price points are still attractive to young folks.

Perhaps the students' parents will seek you out, and there's the military people in town?

I've already got a good relationship with quite a few people at Benning. What I've noticed is we've just opened, we've softly opened. Other than Facebook there's been no mention whatsoever of opening. But our average ticket is really high. We don't have as many tickets, but that will grow. So that's really positive.

I'm in probably a very funny space for what you would think of as retail. I'm two good blocks off of the action. But I do view framing and the shop itself as destination and relationship driven, meaning I'm very fortunate if someone from Minnie's stops by. But I'll be even more fortunate when they come back, because then they know what I am and what I can do.

Quality and good service will keep them coming back?

Absolutely. It is relationship-based. It's folks who are less confident about how they hang something and so forth. My husband and I go into folks' homes all the time and invariably we leave with more projects. That's not because we suggest anything, but they're going, 'What can we do with this' and 'What can we do with that.' So it's good business, but it is relationship-based.

How did you learn to frame?

It grew out of a hobby. I used to do needlework on linen with silk, and I would spend 1,000 or 1,500 hours on a piece, and it wouldn't be a large piece. But I could frame it really well in a couple of hours and it was instant gratification. I just became better and better. And it's so neat to do something tangible everyday.

Is doing framing hard?

No, no. It's just having an eye. There are three kinds of framing customers -- the folks who know just what they want, the folks that struggle with choices because they can't visualize as easily, and the folks that drop things off and say, just do it Kara.

Recount how you came to be in this space. Minnie's was a draw for you?

To me, Minnie's was like, wow, this is perfect. Fried chicken absolutely smells good at 9 o'clock in the morning, every day, day in and day out. (laughs) I really like Minnie's because it is a super cross-section. It's not exclusive. You have folks from every walk of life dining together in one spot as opposed to some locations which cater to a particular crowd. I was very excited when I saw this available.

Was there a challenge to find good affordable space?

There was the way I saw it, because all I ever do mentally is crunch numbers ... When you start to look at overhead and the cost to operate and so forth, it adds up quickly. We actually looked around quite a bit. There were four places around Columbus. We had difficulty with folks calling us back. This place had a Waddell sign on it and I know a Waddell Realtor, and she responded quickly. But of all the spots that we looked at in downtown Columbus, this was the one. And the fact that we have an apartment upstairs, it's all of the things rolled into this that just made it perfect. This was just a fabulous way to get into the Columbus market at a level that we could afford, in a market where it will only grow.

What about the business side of framing?

I don't know how to say it correctly, but I'm no threat to the framers that are here. Our customers are not the big-box customers. I don't want to put a negative spin on it, but for example, there are folks that go to places that advertise 50 and 60 percent off framing. But they never say 50 or 60 percent off of what. Still, mentally there's a deal there to be had. For the customers that seek out a custom framer, they're getting somebody who wants to do the work, who's invariably local, so there are a lot of benefits.

And in a local framer they're using someone who wants to please?

Exactly. It's not a job. It's more of a livelihood. And it's so fun. The difference between a desk job and what I do is that at the end of the day, you produce something tangible, you make somebody very happy. When I worked as an accountant -- and I love numbers -- but no one wants to see the accountant walk into the room. You're not a popular person ... With this, there's a big charge out of making folks happy. There's a payback that way.

When are you in Columbus?

I'm here Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and I'm in Pine Mountain Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. (laughs) And that's good, because if I woke up, I wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't doing this (and taking a day off). I'm not very comfortable with relaxing.

The holidays are coming up. You'll get busy?

I don't see pushing this (Columbus store) terribly until 2016, if only because Pine Mountain is full throttle ... Selling merchandise is easy. It really is. But framing is a commitment no matter what you're doing. There's a time aspect to it. It's more complex and time management-oriented than retail.

How long does it take to do a framing job start to finish?

A small to average piece takes a good solid hour of your time. A large piece does take longer, just because of scale.

We've framed pieces eight and nine feet long, most often like a panorama. Those are really big ... But we've framed some interesting things. I brought probably 25 frames and projects to do the three days that I'm here, including a snake skull. The lady brought it to me in a Chanel box. She found it in the yard and thought it would be neat to keep, and it is. After all, framing isn't always about a picture. There are objects and artifacts and medals; you can frame anything.

What's the most challenging part of your job, running the business?

Running the business is autopilot, just because it's a comfort zone for me.

Probably time management and disengaging from it is a challenge. Every year we have the "family vacation" and we get a summons about where we're going, and we went to Yellowstone this year. We got back in July and I worked everyday until my husband said, OK, you can't take off your birthday, that's Saturday. But you do have to take off Sunday. But we still went to an art show in Atlanta on the day off. So there really is no disengagement, I guess.

You've got to schedule fun time?

And every conversation, whatever location I'm at. My husband works at TSYS, so he will come here after work and see what's new, what we're doing. He's hugely part of what we do. He may not meet the public, but he's making my life really easy with whatever he's doing.

What's the most rewarding aspect of your job? It seems you relax through your work?

Yes, because I don't have a relaxing nature. So getting to do something like this, getting to say at the end of the day, I did this and this and this, and I can point to it, that's great. It's not a spreadsheet. It's not a budget. All of those things are still important. I still do them in my head. But it's the tangible part of creating that I enjoy, because I'm not an artist.

One of my grandmothers was very artistically inclined. She left incredible heirlooms to us. I'm not artistic, but I really love art. Since I can't produce art, since I can't develop it, I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing the (framing) package. Does that make sense?

Which makes the art or item look even better because it's presented well?

Right, because you can have some incredible pieces that come in and some really bad framing. (laughs) It's the marriage of the two.

To me, you never want to see your framing job. You want to see what's inside. (For example) folks bleed their school colors and that makes them happy. I have framed a Florida diploma in a neon orange frame and the man is so tickled. And him being happy is really cool. I would not have picked electric orange for a frame, but he bleeds his colors.

The reward is seeing people's faces and reactions after you've done the framing and presented it to them?

Yes. It's seeing them happy when they're picking it up and being excited about what they've got.

Bio

Name: Kara Cable

Age: 46

Hometown: Boonsboro, Md.

Education: 1987 graduate of Boonsboro High School; earned bachelor's degree in business administration from Kansas State University in 1991; earned master's degree in business administration from Columbus State University in 2000

Current Residence: Hamilton, Ga., in Harris County, but enjoys spending a couple nights each week above her shop in the Columbus Historic Distric

Previous Jobs: Plant controller for bakery, candy and peanut operations at Tom's Foods (then Lance Snacks) in Columbus; office manager with Bytewise Measurement Systems in Columbus; human resources specialist with AAFES in Wuerzburg, Germany

Family: Husband, Jeffrey Cable, a database administrator at TSYS, and stepson Tyler Cable, a senior at Harris County High

Leisure Time: Her hobby essentially became a profession, with Cat's Meow a seven-day-a-week venture, consuming evenings and sleep time, which she doesn't view as a negative in any way; also enjoys playing bridge as often as possible, and spending time with her many cats (including Collette and Scout in Columbus) and a dog named Pork Chop

Of Note: Has served on several boards and committees, including board member and chair of Tom's Credit Association (now Members United Credit Union); FOCUS treasurer in Harris County; Christ the King Catholic Church finance chair in Pine Mountain; treasurer of Pine Mountain (Ga.) Merchants Association; secretary of DHA Community Center in Pine Mountain; and the Pine Mountain Working Committee for Signage, Architectural Review and Comprehensive Plan

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 11:27 PM with the headline "Job Spotlight with Kara Cable, owner of Cat's Meow in Pine Mountain and Columbus ."