Sister Store in Sister City Visit

A few years ago we became aware of another Joie de Vivre - I may have even blogged about it back in the early days of this blog. The odd thing about this other Joie was it's location - Cambridge, MD - just one letter away from Cambridge MA. Vendors occasionally mixed us up, and we also got the occasional call from a customer that confused both the caller and us - the "I saw this in your store and was wondering if you still have it" type of call that left us desperately trying to remember an item that we had actually never carried or seen. Anyway, I was visiting some friends in Easton, MD last week and realized that Cambridge MD was only ten miles away, so we decided to visit. They warned me that the town itself was pretty run down and deserted, and it was true - lots of empty storefronts and almost no people to be seen, though it was Presidents Day, so maybe they were all home baking Lincoln Logs. Anyway, we peered in the windows, (very different merchandise) and took some pictures, got back in the car and left. If I visit them again, I'll try to return.

Kind of A Shock !

Joie de Blog is in Philadelphia attending the Buyers Market of American Craft - a well respected craft wholesale only event that has been running for over 20 years. And of course we've enjoyed it thoroughly- time spent talking with old friends, finding new work from new exhibitors for the store, meeting new people - even if that excruciating traffic jam on the New Jersey Turnpike was kind of soul numbing, it's been a very good trip so far. The Buyers Market has been run for years by a woman named Wendy Rosen. I never got to know her beyond a hello, but she's been a constant on site presence so I was well aware of who she was. Last year, she decided to hand the organization over to her daughter so that she could run for the House of Representatives in Maryland. But she was here at this show and people were talking about her in a kind of hush-hush way. I finally asked someone what was up - it turned out she had been arrested this fall for voting twice - in two national elections - in 2006 and 2008. In Florida and Maryland. And was forced to drop out of the race last fall at the last minute, allowing a Republican win in MD. Call me naive - but the news boggled my mind. For one, because there seemed no choice between just plain unbelievably stupid - or on the other hand, mind bogglingly sleazy and arrogant. Not a good choice - and to be honest, it's hard for me to believe that a woman who put together the Buyers Market and ran it succcessfully for twenty years, then put together a viable run for public office is . . . stupid. Looking up the story on line I saw no apologies only rationalizations and denials and I really wonder how she can bear to appear in public. We human beings are curious creatures indeed!

Back From Toy Fair

When reports of the big blizzard started dominating the airwaves, I began to wonder if I should, in fact, go to the Toy Fair. Visions of getting stuck en route, or stuck down there, and guilt at leaving everyone here to shovel out my house and Joie all played in my head, and I began to try to convince myself that I don't often find that much there, maybe I didn't need to go, etc, etc. But - just thinking back to last year I remembered several items that I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't attended, so I packed up my snowboots and left a day early. And it was well worthwhile! Besides getting to see things such as the dancing figures above, I got to play a giant Lego organ, pose with the world's largest plastic horse, listen to, and sing along with, an animatronic life size elk singing "New York, New York" and do lots of other fun things. And I found good things for Joie from the small - a wind up bunny with two new wind-up actions - to the large - a water wheel construction kit - to the techno/goofy - kitty ears you wear on your head that respond (evidently) to your brain waves! And, the train back only stopped three times and took two extra hours - once to replace the electric engine with a diesel, twice for no reason in particular that we passengers could tell . . . anyway, it was a good show, and I think our customers will be glad I went !

The more it snows...

If you were really reading this, you would be standing outside in the snow storm, longingly looking through our front door...
[*Full disclosure: the boss is away at the New York International Toy Fair looking for new toys!]

R.I.P. Mr. C.

Over 100 million Etch-a-Sketches have been sold since they first came to market in 1960, and we are proud to say that some of them were sold at Joie de Vivre. We'll also boast a little - one of our former employees is an amazing Etch-A-Sketch artist - she can draw recognizable portraits and scenes at the drop of a hat, while some of us . . . the less said about our abilities the better! But even if you weren't that great at it, the Etch-a-Sketch was fun and compelling. And kids still love it, along with the Magic 8 Ball, Slinkies and other classic toys. Anyway, if you want to blow your mind just a little, google "Etch-a-Sketch artwork" - people have made some truly amazing things with those two little knobs.

Just a Taste of Things to Come

And, by that we mean, things that will come to Joie de Vivre ! We are almost done with our Gift Show buying, looking at quite a hefty stack of orders, and thought it might be fun to publish a little teaser of "soon to arrive" items. So - here goes! Bags of dinosaurs. Bags of Firemen. Bags of Girl Stuff, all from Spitfire Girl. A unicorn hand mirror. Year of the Snake baby flatware set from Beehive Design. The ultimate snowglobe - all snow! A volume control pacifyer from Fred. Horse candleholders. Massage pens. (tried and quite relaxing!) A box of 100 postcards, all with a different Jane Austen quote, and a cookbook of modern art styled desserts. Plus - new items from the actual Museum of Modern Art. Jungle animals made out of - old flip flops! And really, that's just a bit of it. We always come home energized, excited and looking forward to showing you all the new things in person, and this show has been particularly fruitful. Plus, as always, it's wonderful to hang out and talk and exchange ideas with our fellow shop owners and vendors - a very nice community. One more half a day of buying, and we'll be home.

Gift Show !

Joie de Blog is once again at the New York Gift Show - and living the truth of what I tell people in the store all the time: "You never know what you'll find." For instance, I might not be totally surprised to discover some nice new flower vases . . . or some horse candleholders . . .but I really was not expecting to find a necktie with a hidden flask . . . or an all glass unicorn hand mirror . . . . or mercury glass (faux mercury) vases in the shape of scientific lab beakers . . . and this was just part of day one ! Excited to return to the show tomorrow - and to eventually show the folks at home our finds. And will try to remember to take a photo or two to post as well . . .. .

Four Years Ago Today

We were watching a truly historic event - the inauguration of the first black President of the United States of America. I actually hauled my old television into the store, and set it up so that we could watch the event live. (pre Joie laptop!) It was also historic for another reason - it was the day we got to see our beloved Backwards Bush Countdown Calendar run down to zero - second by second by second. We set one up on top of the television and there was much cheering. The whole day felt like a party, actually. (And I thought I would post a picture of said decorated television, but I forgot that the computer I had then crashed a few months later and all pictures were lost) Today is a lot more sober - but it's still quite a moving thing to listen to the speakers and watch (on laptop) the photos of everyone down there in Washington. We have our faults, but - we're really not such a bad country!

Do You Remember Me?

These days the Joie blogger spends a lot of the day in the back of the store, sitting at her desk, wrestling with paperwork and orders and computers and things. It's more fun to be out front - but there's stuff to be done. However, she is called out from time to time - for lunch breaks, if it's busy, or a friend drops by, or if no one can find a price or answer a question about a card or item we sold twenty years ago. And sometimes she gets the message - "someone wants to say hello." Intriguing of course . . . but often when she emerges, the person standing there at the desk poses the dreaded question: "Do you remember me?" This question instantly throws the the Joie blogger into a panic. The person is beaming at me expectantly, waiting to be recognized - and sometimes, I just don't recognize them. Of course, sometimes there's a very good reason - like the young man who asked to say hello the other day. He mentioned how this was his very favorite store, and how much he had always loved it while I scrutinized him trying to place him. Then he told me that the last time he had been IN Joie de Vivre, he was - seven years old ! I felt much better after that and we had a lovely conversation. Yesterday, there was another "do you remember me?" - a case where, as it turned out, I hadn't seen the person - the former boyfriend of a former friend - for over twenty five years. On learning his identity, his voice did sound kind of familiar. Anyway, as I have now revealed an excellent way to put me into a panic, I plead with future drop ins - if I look blank - take pity on me - don't make me guess - tell me who you are!

You're Doing What?

An interesting aspect of being in business as long as we have is - your suppliers start retiring! Of course, some of them sell their businesses, or pass them down to family members, just like in the good old days. But some businesses are more dependent on their owners, and we just got a "that's it folks!" notice from one of them. It was from Robert Held Art Glass in Canada, and the letter said that at the age of 70, Mr. Held had decided to spend some time doing other things besides making beautiful glass. Happily, he was accepting orders through January so we will have his paperweights for Valentine's Day again. But, we've been selling his work for years, and his retirement will leave a hole in the Joie de Vivre glass department. We will be attending the Gift Show and Craft Shows in the next few months and will look for new glass - but we won't find anyone making anything exactly like he did - that's both the beauty of drawback of handcrafted work - it's one person. And that's similar to little stores like Joie de Vivre as well. Someone might buy this store if I ever decide to retire (which IS possible someday!) - but what they will do with it would inevitably be different from what I did, for better or worse. That's what makes your typical owner run store interesting - everyone has such different taste, and such a different eye. Anyway, we wish Robert Held well on his new adventures and have decided to forgive him for leaving us without a good source for heart paperweights! !

Life's Little Mysteries

What does these things have in common? A magnetic dancing ballerina. An eyebod (strange little fellow that holds reading or other glasses.) An Eiffel Tower snowglobe. A set of poseable magnetic circus figures. Well . . . two are magnetic. And two are made in Austria. But - besides being 4 items that we sell at Joie de Vivre, what they have in common in they are top sellers on our website. We have many many items on our site - far from everything we have in the store, but lots and lots. And as I was going over the "sold out of state exempt from sales tax" slips from December this month, it struck me how in almost all of these cases, we sell more of them from the web than we do in the store. Of course it's because people are searching for them, and we have them and evidently few other websites do as we come up right at the top when you search. Still, it's curious - why those four items? We'll never really know - but it's just one of those fun, but somewhat random bits of knowledge that we thought we'd pass along to you !

Happy New Year from Disco Buddha

We won this Buddha in a raffle at the New York Gift Show . . . . entered under slight duress, but threw in our card, and were rather surprised to have him show up a few months later. We've become quite attached to the way he reflects light, and he's been gracing the blogger's living room for the last month or so. When the light hits him during the day it's really amazing. We decided to go for a change of pace for our New Year's window - simple and silver - so stop by and admire him for yourself - he'll be here for the next few weeks. And we wish a happy, healthy, fun, and satisfying 2013 to all. May we all come through the inevitable challenges with our spirits, hearts, and joie intact!