Why read this: This is a clear story about a small business that almost failed. Jennie closed her shop with a big debt, then made a new product, and now her shop is doing well. The story has a clear order: clothes, then a real shop, then debt, then hair clips, then success. The same simple words come back again and again (clip, shop, food, sell, made), so A2 readers can follow without getting lost. The numbers are small and concrete: 2015, 2018, 2023, $90,000, $24, $2 million.
What to notice: Notice the time words that put the story in order: "In 2015", "In 2018", "at the end of 2023", "Today", "Last year", "This year". Notice the simple cause and effect: the rent was high, not many people walked in, so she closed the shop. Notice that the same noun (clips) is used many times, so readers can track the main thing the story is about. Notice the two glossed terms: hair claw clip and craft fair.
Skills practised: Students practise putting events in order using dates and time words. They practise finding facts in a short text (a name, a city, a price, a year, a number of shops). They practise spotting basic past-tense verbs (started, opened, closed, met, made, sold). The open questions ask students to retell one part of the story and to list three problems, which builds their skill of pulling key points out of a paragraph.
Hair clips that saved a small shop
An artist in San Francisco made hair clips that look like food, and her business grew
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
Jennie Lennick is an artist in San Francisco. She is 39 years old. She runs a small businessbusiness: A specific commercial enterprise or establishment — 企业；商号 called Jenny Lemons. Her business sells hair claw clip: a big plastic hair clip with two parts that open and close to hold hair — 鲨鱼夹（爪形发夹） that look like food. People can wear a strawberrystrawberry: The sweet, usually red, edible fruit of certain plants of the genus Fragaria — 草莓（果实）, a tinytiny: Very small — 极小的 fish can, or a frozenfrozen: Having undergone the process of freezing; in ice form — 结冰的；冰冻的 dinner in their hair. The strawberry clip sells the best. A big clip costs $24.
Jennie did not start with hair clips. In 2015, she began selling T-shirts with food pictures on them. In 2018, she opened a real shop in her neighborhoodneighborhood: Close proximity, nearby area; particularly, close proximity to one's home — 社区；街区. But the shop was very hard workwork: a job; the activity that someone does regularly to earn money — 工作；职业. The rentrent: An amount of money that you pay regularly to use a room, house, etc. that belongs to someone else. — 租金；房租 was high. Not many people walked in. She closed the shop at the end of 2023. By then, she owedowe: To be indebted to someone for something; to have something because of. — 欠；归功于 $90,000.
Before she closed the shop, Jennie went to a craft fair: an event where people sell things they have made by hand — 手工艺集市 to sell her T-shirts. There she met a woman who sold hair clips. The woman gave her the name of a factoryfactory: A building where goods are made by machines. — 工厂 in China. Jennie made her own clips with food shapesshape: The form or outline of something. — 形状；外形. People online loved them. The clips sold much faster than her T-shirts. They paid the bills.
Today, Jennie's clips are made in China from a plant material: stuff made from plants instead of from oil — 植物材料（用植物做的，不是石油做的）, not normalnormal: According to norms or rules or to a regular pattern — 正常的 plastic. She sells the clips on her own website. She also sells them to about 1,500 small shops in many countries. Lastlast: Coming at the end; final — 最后的 year, her business made $2 million. Most of her customers are women aged 25 to 45. Some are nurses or teachers.
Jennie still has problems. Some companies make cheap copiescopy: Something made to look exactly like something else. — 副本；复制品 of her clips. She also pays new taxestax: money that you have to pay to the government based on your income or the cost of goods — 税；税款 on things from China. But she keeps working. She draws new designs every year. This year, she wants to sell 30% more clips. She does not want to open a real shop again. She is happy with her work.
Jennie Lennick is an artist in San Francisco. She is 39 years old. She runs a small businessbusiness: A specific commercial enterprise or establishment — 企业；商号 called Jenny Lemons. Her business sells hair claw clip: a big plastic hair clip with two parts that open and close to hold hair — 鲨鱼夹（爪形发夹） that look like food. People can wear a strawberrystrawberry: The sweet, usually red, edible fruit of certain plants of the genus Fragaria — 草莓（果实）, a tinytiny: Very small — 极小的 fish can, or a frozenfrozen: Having undergone the process of freezing; in ice form — 结冰的；冰冻的 dinner in their hair. The strawberry clip sells the best. A big clip costs $24.
Jennie did not start with hair clips. In 2015, she began selling T-shirts with food pictures on them. In 2018, she opened a real shop in her neighborhoodneighborhood: Close proximity, nearby area; particularly, close proximity to one's home — 社区；街区. But the shop was very hard workwork: a job; the activity that someone does regularly to earn money — 工作；职业. The rentrent: An amount of money that you pay regularly to use a room, house, etc. that belongs to someone else. — 租金；房租 was high. Not many people walked in. She closed the shop at the end of 2023. By then, she owedowe: To be indebted to someone for something; to have something because of. — 欠；归功于 $90,000.
Before she closed the shop, Jennie went to a craft fair: an event where people sell things they have made by hand — 手工艺集市 to sell her T-shirts. There she met a woman who sold hair clips. The woman gave her the name of a factoryfactory: A building where goods are made by machines. — 工厂 in China. Jennie made her own clips with food shapesshape: The form or outline of something. — 形状；外形. People online loved them. The clips sold much faster than her T-shirts. They paid the bills.
Today, Jennie's clips are made in China from a plant material: stuff made from plants instead of from oil — 植物材料（用植物做的，不是石油做的）, not normalnormal: According to norms or rules or to a regular pattern — 正常的 plastic. She sells the clips on her own website. She also sells them to about 1,500 small shops in many countries. Lastlast: Coming at the end; final — 最后的 year, her business made $2 million. Most of her customers are women aged 25 to 45. Some are nurses or teachers.
Jennie still has problems. Some companies make cheap copiescopy: Something made to look exactly like something else. — 副本；复制品 of her clips. She also pays new taxestax: money that you have to pay to the government based on your income or the cost of goods — 税；税款 on things from China. But she keeps working. She draws new designs every year. This year, she wants to sell 30% more clips. She does not want to open a real shop again. She is happy with her work.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What does Jennie Lennick's business sell?
- 02
Why did Jennie close her real shop in 2023?
- 03
How much money did Jennie's business make last year?
- 04
Describe how Jennie started making hair clips. Use the article to help you.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
Name three problems that Jennie has now with her business.
Suggested length: ~50 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What does Jennie Lennick's business sell?
- 02
Why did Jennie close her real shop in 2023?
- 03
How much money did Jennie's business make last year?
- 04
Describe how Jennie started making hair clips. Use the article to help you.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
Name three problems that Jennie has now with her business.
Suggested length: ~50 words