Rainmakers Press Release
For Immediate Release: March 6, 2008
Contact: Ken McCrory or Mary Popovich, Northeast Indiana SBDC
Phone: 260-481-0500

Contact: Donna McKenzie, Shows Beautifully Staging, LLC
Phone: 260-450-9160

Ft. Wayne, IN: March 6, 2008 - Selling a home is often based on first impressions. With this in mind, two local women who are clients of the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center (NEISBDC) have formed a new company to help homeowners and real estate agents create a positive first impression before placing their home on the market.

Donna McKenzie and Leslie Mongson, a mother and daughter team, recently opened Shows Beautifully Staging, LLC to provide real estate staging throughout Northeast Indiana. McKenzie, the mother of the team, is a Certified Redesigner and an Interior Redesign Industry Specialists (IRIS) member. She has resided in various locations within the United States through her former career with an international computer corporation and has staged homes in Colorado, New York, Arizona and Indiana.

Mongson, the daughter, says she has been a “secret stager” since she was 13 years old and began rearranging furniture in her family’s home while they were asleep. She is the team’s de-cluttering and downsizing specialist.

Real estate staging is the pre-sale preparation of a house for sale and is especially effective in a buyer’s market where the consumers become more selective when purchasing homes, according to McKenzie. Through a variety of services offered, “Shows Beautifully Staging will make your residence as appealing as possible to the maximum number of qualified homebuyers,” she said.

After a free initial evaluation, Shows Beautifully Staging offers a consultation and action plan to provide suggestions on how to enhance the home’s appeal. For a limited time, this service is available for $99 while the firm introduces its services to the local community. Shows Beautifully Staging will also provide workers to help de-clutter and prepare the home for staging and a professional stager to physically stage the home.

Other available options include personal shopping services to find accessories to stage the home and professional staging of photographs to enhance the home’s marketing campaign. Downsizing consultations and services also are available for clients moving from a large home to a condominium or smaller home.

In addition to working directly with homeowners, the firm plans to partner with area real estate agents on Shows Beautifully Staging services. “Realtors who use our staging services will gain a competitive advantage that will help them make more money,” McKenzie says. McKenzie also says she “loves to make presentations on staging and design” and will be making herself available to speak to real estate companies and community organizations on the relatively new concept of home staging. Presentations can be scheduled by calling her at (260) 450-9160.

McKenzie and Mongson have been working for months on the fine details of opening Shows Beautifully Staging and have consulted with both the Northeast Indiana SBDC and Women’s Enterprise to make it all happen. For more information on services available through Shows Beautifully Staging, visit the firm’s Web site,  www.ShowsBeautifullyStaging.com, or call (260) 450-9160.

To learn more about the services of the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center, which is hosted by Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), call Ken McCrory, regional director, at (260) 481-0500, or visit www.isbdc.org.

The Northeast Indiana SBDC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of Indiana, and our many local partners, including the City of Fort Wayne and host Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW).

All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.