Lots of New Stock

Been awfully busy receiving all our new stock which we purchased in Toronto. The back room is stuffed, as is my 1/2 ton. No rest for us for the next few days, weeks, oh my gosh, perhaps months!!!!! I think I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed :) Lots of great customers in lately. Havelock Jamboree last weekend brought us lots of new faces. Sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves and were still smiling on the way home. Always make sure there are lots of cowboy hats on hand,lol.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Life has been extremely busy and I forgot about my blogging, oops. We (Amber and myself) were up in Toronto for our Trade Show for 3 days. There 1,000,000 sq. feet of wholesale stock to search through for the best prices and unique items. It's a lot of fun but tiring. We need to have a set budget, know how many and which colour(s). Walking around from 9 in the morning till 7 at night and then at least an hour's worth of adding invoices up once you get back to the hotel room. One drink and you're ready for bed, lol. A big thank you goes to Donna for holding down the fort while we were gone. She did a fabulous job, as always. We lovvvve her :)

Not too many "wow" factors found this time but we were able to source out some new Betty Boop and horse items. We also brought in some new Royal Dulton Astrology Angels. They are absolutely gorgeous and can hardly wait until we receive them!

Hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful glimpse of summer!

Long Weekends, Yaaaaa

You've got to love long weekends :) Two, count 'em, 2 whole days off. No dropping off stock, answering phones, unpacking boxes...just 48 hours of visiting friends and family and watching the local Invitational Golf Tournament at Kawartha Golf & Country Club. I loved every moment of it :)
That perhaps explains why we were soooo busy today. We always close on holiday Mondays now. We found that it wasn't very busy and we are open 7 days a week from April to Christmas Eve and often need the break.
Between serving customers and preparing for our 3 upcoming day's at our Trade Show in Toronto, the day flew by.
Lots still on Sale so that helps generate interest plus helps deplete our odds and sodds. More tomorrow about the Trade Show. Until then, Cheers!

Back To School

Lately I've been helping a Business Tec. class at Trent University where I've been a guest speaker a couple different times. The class writes up a detailed proposal based including outlines, cost and implementation based on the info I give them . It was mainly regarding my website and learning how to be more visible online. I've had a great experience with it, met some great kids and learned much more about online survival than I ever thought possible. Sofie, the Professor, suggested to the last class that if someone were inclined they could actually jump in a do a make-over of an existing website instead of writing about doing one. Well, 2 teams came forward. Last night they presented their creations and Amber, my daughter and I attended as the website they worked on was for Unique Expressions. It was fantastic! "The Boys" Brad and Remmy, designed a new website while "The Girls", Jenn and Natasha, created a blog and online newsletter for us. I think I went on computer overload at one point but the kids all assured me that they'd only be an email away if I needed any assistance. They're great. I am thrilled with all the developments and cannot wait to implement them all. Now I have to go back to school in a couple weeks to learn how to keep everything working that the teams have created for me!
This adventure started out about 1 1/2 yrs ago. I received an email asking if I could help a class out with a project regarding family run businesses. I of course said yes. Now, as a result it has been payed forward and I have a beautiful, up to date website with an online monthly newsletter, not to mention the fact that I'm now blogging :) What a hoot! Thanks Sofie, for involving the business community in your classes that not only gives your students real life scenario's but enlightens us a small business owners about what's out there to promote our livelihoods.

Totally forgot to blog this morning, sorry. With all this rain I was busy finding my flowers amongst the weeds. It took me awhile but I found each and every one of them! I finally did make it into work albeit a tad late. Amber reminded me, several times of it throughout the day so, I went home early,lol. That will teach her to pick on the boss! We've been busy switching up displays and getting ready for some great sales for the LONG Sunny WEEKEND. Thirty percent off selected Willow Tree Figurines, 50% off Harley and NASCAR stock, 30% off Breyer Horses... Off to see Harry Potter with my nephew, daughter and neighbor's son. Until tomorrow!

PS Just wishing Jenn and Natasha good luck tonight with their presentation!

Good Morning All :)

Not much to report today as I had a day off from the shop yesterday. Poor Amber, my right wonderful, capable daughter looked after everything. I should have been there to give her a hand but she is awesome at her job that she never even blinked at volume. Only rude customer's ever faze her. Getting some new garden stock in today so lots to do!

Cheers!