It's Crazy Making Time !

Keeping track of inventory and staffing during December is - just plain a challenge. One day it's crazy busy and we need at least four people to carry on, then the next day is suddenly dead and two are more than enough. But - you never know - so how many people do you ask to work? And, we ordered six porcelain Rob Ryan plates last apring. They weren't expensive - $24 - but exactly one sold in the first six months of their life here at Joie. Needless to say, we did not reorder them. Then, yesterday, someone bought the remaining five. The law of retail says that soon, someone will come in and be desperately disappointed that we have no stock. Or - you call a company to get 6 dozen more of something that's been selling well and they say - oh that's discontinued. Or, as happened to us recently, the company, who had a giant booth at the New York Toy Fair this very year, has just gone out of business. They have a message on their answering machine saying leave a message, we'll call you back - but they don't, and their emails bounce back, and their website is gone - it's enough to make a retailer crazy! But - we've survived 28 years of this - we have a feeling we'll survive Christmas #29 at Joie de Vivre as well!