Monday, July 27, 2009

Hey - Check us out!


The warehouse sale was a tremendous success! We took ten boxes of merchandise for the sale, and came back home almost empty handed! YEA! Thanks to all of you who visited and shopped. I haven't checked with the other merchants yet, but judging from the crowd, everyone was pleased with the event.

A few weeks ago we were interviewed for an on-line production called "Uncovering Oklahoma". These two young guys were doing a story on sweets in Oklahoma, and they let me know today that the show is now airing!
Maurice and I are relatively pleased with the general outcome. However, mankind/womankind vanity afflicted us, and we critiqued ourselves.
His observations: He needs to smile more, and his voice is higher than he thought it was.
My observations: I need half of my neck liposuctioned out, and it's not necessary for me to stare adoringly at my husband the whole time, showing off my excessive neck fat!
Hope you enjoy the clip ( You might have to cut & paste):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kENvpsG_L6U

See ya -
GG

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Warehouse Sale Weekend



Every year, Melissa Kahn at Mel's Kloset organizes/orchestrates a wonderful warehouse sale that brings together about a dozen of Norman's 'boutique' merchants who need to move inventory.
Well, we're having this sale this Sunday, the 26th, from 11-4 at The Holiday Inn in one of the ballrooms.
Some of the merchants are first-timers, and some of us have been around the block a time or two! This year, a dozen of us are going to be there......Savvy, Estella Ray's, Anita's Accessories, Tulips, Violet Avenue, The Tulip Tree, Appello, and several others will be setting up 'shop' for the day.



I remember last year's sale...it was CRAZY! A bunch of us retailers were setting up, getting ready for the doors to open, and chatting with each other, talking shop, and actually shopping for ourselves. At the appointed time, the doors were opened, and it was like a scene out of a movie...women were swarming the area, scouting out deals, grabbing things left and right, and having a genuine blast!



Yes, I have to say...it's a big ass sale! We're going to have stuff as low as $1, and we want to be empty-handed when we walk out of the Holiday Inn once the sale's over!
I
can't wait to see what the other merchants have, too. Last year I got some great jewelry and purses, and I know other stores have some fantastic buys. Hope I can scope them out before the doors open (it's the advantage of being a shop keeper!).



C'mon in Sunday to the Holiday Inn. Melissa and Marcy will be manning (woman-ing?) our tables, and they'll give you some deals like you wouldn't believe!

Later....
Gyan

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Party time!


Our 20th Birthday Party! We had a great turnout for our after-hours party! We had invited a number of former employees to join us, and we had a good time taking pictures.

We had a huge cake, chocolate fondue, snacks, and lots of champagne. Customers had a good time and got to see some pictures of the store when we first opened....even our first (pitiful) front window display! We took lots of pictures and gave away some door prizes.


I would definitely say a good time was had by all!





In picture: clockwise, from upper left:

Wendy Norman, Maurice Galoob, Melissa Dowling, Sandy Clopton, Whitney Smith, Shannon Macko, Beth Baird, Marcy Gonzales, Alicia Boscarelli, Charlene Morgan, and moi.

Looking forward to another 20 years!
Gyan

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Our 20th Birthday!


Friday marks our 20th Birthday! We closed up our original shop, Jared's Ltd. in Moore, on the first of July, 1989, and moved all the boxes, merchandise, equipment, fixtures, and ourselves to our current location in beautiful Carriage Plaza. We worked like dogs for nine days, and re-opened as The Candy Basket on July 10, 1989!!! TWENTY YEARS!

That nine days were probably some of the hardest of our lives! We unpacked like crazy, tried to figure out how to fill our new 'vast' space, and tried to make some order out of mis-matched merchandise that had previously been in boxes, packed up for the move. We had deliberately set an opening date, so we had a deadline looming over our heads, and we were working long, hard days to make it happen by July 10th.
We did it!

We're having a two day celebration sale - 20% off everything in the store (except coffee), and I expect we'll have a pretty good turnout, judging from the customers who have been in 'scouting' out the new merchandise!

We've assembled a couple of picture boards showing the progress of the store when we first opened, our first pitiful window display, and a number of our fun after-hours get togethers and parties.

Friday night we're hosting a birthday party, and we've invited a number of our former staff members to join us. We're having champagne and birthday cake, and we've asked our former/current employees to dress alike so we can take some fun pictures. Of course, we'll post them on this blog later!

Maurice and I are pretty proud of our little shop, and we're looking forward to the weekend celebration. We are so grateful for our customers, friends, and family for helping us make it happen!

Here's to 20 more!

Hasta la vista,
Gyan