Trick or Treat!
We had a great Halloween with lots of cute & scary trick or treaters!
One of my favorites was a little girl around 8 or 9 dresses as Coco Channel.
One of my favorite families and their friends stopped by for some treats
and got some Glow Necklaces too - here’s their picture...
Our masks were a big hit this year and a bargain for $2.50 (here’s
a picture with me and some little friends wearing some).
Cheers to another fun
Halloween at the shop!
Cool plug on the Isaac Mizrahi show---
We got a cool plug on the Isaac Mizrahi show the other day, as Jessica Romm, Style Editor at Food & Wine, talked to Isaac about Fall Entertaining Ideas and showed our Octavia Cocktail Napkins and mused about the shop and how rockin' Brooklyn is for shopping! check it out here-
Book Event
Thank you to all who attended the 'You're Amazing' book event on Saturday October 18th. We had a great time learning about ourselves, as well as issues facing young girls (and older ones too!) today. Claire walked us through some exercises and excerpts from the book. We thought we would recap some notes for people who couldn't make it:
1. Locker Portait- Claire asked us to draw a picture of a girl on a large piece of plain white paper. You can do it at home-
At the top of her head, write- "What do you think about/ dream about?"
On the right hand write- "What do I spend my money on?"
One the left hand write- "How do I spend my time?"
At the place over the heart, write, "What do I care about?"
At the place over the belly write, "What do I worry about?"
At the base of the portrait, where the feet are, write, "What do I stand for/believe in?"
Write in your answers, you can also use personal photos, pictures from magazines, glitter, stickers, crayons, markers or paint to represent your answers in a unique, colorful collage. Hang it in your locker, or wherever you can see it every day.
2. We also did the Beauty Playlist activity from the book- pgs. 19-20 and Claire read an excerpt from the book about Magali Amadei, a model who talks about how modeling is hard on your self esteem since most of the images in magazines, etc. are altered. Magali is quoted, "It's not just erasing a pimple here and there. They can change a model's entire face and body. My teeth have been straightened, my waist has been thinned, and I even got 'digital breast implants' for the cover of Cosmopolitan. Believe me, there is no beauty product in existence that works as well as Photoshop!"
3. Another activity we did was called What's Most important to You? (Pg. 95) - where we listed our top ten GOALS, as well as our top ten ACTIVITIES. It was an interesting case study to see if we spend most of our time doing things that will help us accomplish our goals. We spoke about balance in our lives too.
4. We also did- How Well Do you Know your Family (pg. 74-75), a take on the old Newlywed game where we wrote down answers to questions how we thought our parents/ kids would answer. This is something fun to do at home to get to know your family better!
You're Amazing
We are SUPER excited to have Claire Mysko join us on October 18th from noon-
1:30pm at the store to talk about her book- You’re Amazing! A No Pressure Guide to Being You’re Best Self from Girls Inc. It’s a wonderful book inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold. We are inviting girls and their parents for a fun afternoon with Claire at the shop. Come hear about the book, discuss the many issues young girls are experiencing these days, see your friends, shop our fun store, etc. If you have more questions please give us a call (718.522.9848), and also check out Claire’s
website and reviews of her book through the links below. Hope to see you
then!
http://clairemysko.com/
http://clairemysko.com/?page_id=3
(If you can’t make it to the shop for the event, we will post notes from the event online afterwards, so please check back after the 18th
Thank you for an Incredible First Anniversary Weekend!!
Thank you soo much for all your support as we turned one this weekend! Wahoo!! We had a great weekend seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and celebrating Brooklyn through the Atlantic Antic! We took pictures of local customers throughout the week and hung them on the windows to say Thank you for a great first year.
p.s. in case anyone is interested, and as an addendum to story below about
Flip and the bike race- he did amazingly well despite some injuries (and
a rain delay for the race by 1 week) and raised $1,425 for Mass Mentoring.
Our One Year Anniversary October 4th!!
I can’t believe October 4th will be our One Year Anniversary! Wahooo!! Time flies when you are having fun (and working hard!). It has been a great year and as we look forward to another memorable one, I was thinking of all the wonderful people who have helped bring the store to life. I also want to make sure that we give back to our community for all their support- so in conjunction with some festivities at the shop over the Anniversary weekend, we are also participating in the Fund for Public’s School’s Shop for Public School’s event. Blue Ribbon General Store, as well as other participating retailers in NYC will donate part of their proceeds of their sales from October 1-8th to Public School Libraries. Come out and buy something for yourself and support of good cause at the same time!
On Sunday October 5th join us at the shop while you stroll down Atlantic Avenue’s Atlantic Antic Street Fair—come by the shop, one block from Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street, corner of State and Bond) for special Sale items, treats for everyone and to see all our new fall merchandise. Or order online in honor of our big day! Hope to see you soon!
You Go Girl!
I pass this on the way to the shop everyday- it makes me feel empowered. It also makes me laugh- which is also a good thing!
Flip and the Rodman Ride
For those of you who know me, you will have definitely heard me talk about
my dear friend Flip (Felipe Suarez, Jr.). Flip was my dear friend Bill Cartier's "little
brother" through Big Brothers/Big Sister since Flip was in the 7th grade
(he is now 23!). Unfortunately, Bill passed away in a tragic skiing accident
in 2001. Since then Flip and I have bonded and with Bill's moms help (my
dear friend Pooh!)-we have helped him through high school, a post graduate
year at Bill's alma mater-Trinity Pawling, as well as through college at
Western New England College. When he graduated last year he quickly got a
job at my old previous employer Coach Leatherware. It wasn't his thing though-and
he decided to pursue the much more fulfilling world of Non-Profit work where
he can start to give back some of the wonderful good will that he has been
lucky to receive. Anyway-that is a quick lowdown on Flip-and now on to why
I am writing about him.
He is riding in the Rodman Ride for Kids-a 50 mile Bike Ride through Massachusetts
(he lives in Boston now and works for Mass Mentoring)-on September 27, 2008
and is raising money for Mass Mentoring through donations for the ride. If
anyone is interested in learning more or donating- here
is a link to the site.
Thank you!
I love my neighborhood
I love the hood where our shop is. Truly, it is such a special place. Brooklyn
is filled with lots of wonderful neighborhoods, but the little nook where
the store is, is filled with such wonderful people-Boerum Hill Rocks! Here
are a couple stories of some neighborhood friends and customers and some
things that happened this week at the shop.
*P.S. 369 is right down the street from us on State Street and from my first
week being opened last fall I knew I was in for a treat being so close to
such wonderful teachers and students. Public School 369 caters to children
with Special Needs and Autism. The teachers and staff are all so very patient
and the kids are extremely dear. Many teachers (and administrative staff)
come in from the school and support us, as well as once a month one of the
teachers brings her Star Students of the Month in to pick out special treats
for being good students. We always love when the kids come in (usually around
10 of them-with about 4 teachers)-as it is always such fun to see their faces
light up when they put on a Pirate
hat or buy a new ball. One of the teachers
from the school, John, is a special friend and customer who comes in and
shops about once a week (as well as nicely waving whenever he walks by!)
and we discuss classroom ideas, projects and life. He even decorated his
classroom this summer with things from the shop! (The school is in session
all year round). Anyway-he bought a fun book we have in the store-Wow! City!
And drew some pictures from the book for the kids to color in and this week
he gave me this picture of the diorama they made from inspiration the book-It's
very sweet! More to come on the school next time they come in for treats.
And thank you John for sharing this picture with me!
A good customer called me yesterday afternoon to help put together Birthday Loot bags for her daughter's birthday party which is today. I love doing
things like this and pulled together some fun treats for the 8 girls and
2 boys who would be at Flora's 8th Birthday party today. This family is so
sweet and the daughter Flora is so nice and cute and she is also such a good
older sister to her little brother as well. I love my customers and it makes
me so happy when I can help them with things like this. They literally came
in for 5-10 minutes, confirmed everything I had picked out and then stopped
in this morning for the treats which I had packaged up in little loot bags.
Very quick and easy! One of my goals for the shop is to help people have
a more fulfilling life-and doing things like this-and making everyone's life
easier and more fulfilling in the process makes me so happy. That is another
reason why I love wrapping everyone's gifts at the store! I like to make
everyday events into a special occasion. Rob, my husband, always says I make
a "Party out of nothing!" Anyway-I couldn't help but take a picture
of the bags before they got picked up for the party-here's a little pic!
(those are our party
horns sticking out from each corner.
And one more story about a customer who has also turned into a friend, Sadie
Nardini, who lives down the street from the store. She wrote a book!! I remember
when she first signed with her agent, etc. and now guess what-IT'S OUT!!
And it is Amazing!! We just got some copies in the shop-it's called a roadtrip
guide to your soul (just released)!!. We are having a book party for her
on July 31st from 6:30-8:30pm at the store for anyone who is interested and
in the area. Sadie will be on hand to talk about the book, life-plus we'll
have some wine, and snacks and it will be a fun evening to visit with friends.
If you'd like to buy the book and are not in the area-I can send you a copy-just
email me using our contact form. Copies
are $22.95 and if you want me to have Sadie sign it-let me know! Sadie's
site is sadienardini.com check
it out! And here is the cover of the book-love it!
Summer is Here!!
Summer is here in Brooklyn- and I am loving the sun and warm weather. Of
course, I am mostly inside in the air conditioned store but our big windows
give a clear picture of what is going on outside- and it's been beautiful!
Lots of rain too!! I feel like we are living in the tropics these days with
a rainstorm every evening- but it is nothing compared to what our friends
out West are dealing with, so no complaints here.
We have been busy packing and shipping out everyone's website orders which
has been really fun. Many new customers and friends purchased from us after
the great Daily Candy Everywhere email- so thank you to everyone who checked
out the new site!! It has been fun to see what people are buying! Lots of
fun Father's Day presents, Camp treats, Baby gifts, etc.
My favorite holiday is the 4th of July so we decorated the windows with
pretty paper lanterns that we are selling in the shop- here is a picture
of our handy work.
Richard- of Richard's Beauty Salon- next door to us on Bond Street, liked
the lanterns so much he bought some for his own shop, so now we look like
twins!! Since the 4th of July is a favorite holiday of mine, and since a
lot of people will be out of town this weekend, I am going away and we are
closing the Brooklyn shop for the weekend. Ever since we launched the store
(last October) I have pretty much been working 7 days a week, so I am excited
for some R&R- in one of my favorite places- Martha's Vineyard. We will be
back and work on the 8th. See you then!
p.s. If you are in the 'hood- come by for Atlantic Avenue's Red Flag Wednesday's
Specials. Merchants up and down the Avenue will be offering special deals
all summer long on Wednesdays starting July 9th. Participating merchants
will have a Red Flag outside their shop. Our special offer is 15% off everything
RED in the shop!! (sorry, available in store only).
Our Website launches!!
I am soo excited about our website launch! After ten
years my dream has become a reality! We opened Blue
Ribbon General Store seven
months ago in Brooklyn, NY and now with the website launching, I really feel
like my vision is coming to life. Those of you who know me well really have
been hearing about this store/ website idea I have had for over ten years now.
Throughout it all, my friends and family have been a wonderful support as I
talked about the store for hours on end, always in the future tense- as I went
from one unfulfilling job to another. I can't believe I actually pulled it
off- and am so excited to share it with everyone! Besides being a great ecommerce
place to buy gifts, I hope you will all come back to the site to read our Lifestyle
Section, See what's going on at store and also Join in our Community Store
that will launch in the Fall. We are excited to bring the Blue Ribbon General
Store to Everyone- regardless of where you live!!
If you are in the 'hood- come
by and see us and say hi!
Best,
Annie Lo
Making your Dreams Come True:
My journey into the world of Entrepreneurism--
Do you have an idea for a business? I think I have a new idea a day! But since
I have opened my shop a lot of people have asked how I went about bringing
my dream to life so I thought I would start out the Lifestyle section of our
website with some ways to help you make your own dreams come true. I think
it is important to realize that everyone has a different process and path in
life, so please just take what I say as ideas and comments, and make your way---
As I mentioned before, I had the idea to open a Country General Store with
modern city living products about 10+ years ago. I always had the same name
for the shop, I think back from when I was a kid and tried my best to win the
Blue Ribbons at the Country Fair (yes, folks, I grew up in NJ and still go
to my local fair- the NJ State
Fair is about a mile from where I grew up!). Anyway, I knew what I wanted to sell
and how I wanted it to look- I just needed to figure out how to pull it all
together. I was working at Brooks Brothers at the time, as a planner for their
outlet division in NYC, but knew it wasn't for me. I gave them a month's notice
knowing I wanted to pursue a more creative endeavor. In that time I took a
class at Parsons New
School for Design in "How
to Open up a Store." The teacher was very inspiring and besides taking
us on field trips around NYC to cool stores, he also gave us projects to help
us brand the store and bring it to life. I still have all the work from that
class- and the vision of the store hasn't really changed much since then! It
has just gotten stronger. So my first message is- START WITH A VISION.
For the next ten years (that sounds like such a long time!)- I worked my way
through the corporate ladder in different positions in corporate retail jobs
such as Ralph Lauren, Talbots and Coach. I learned a lot, and was able to save
some money to live off after I left my last job, but I always felt like I was
supposed to be doing my own thing. I went to see a career coach who helped
me get more focused and turned me on to some good business contacts, but I
still don't think I was ready to get out of the corporate rat race. In the
meantime, I collected store info about products, packaging, researched my market,
etc. and wrote a TON of business plans over the years. I also spoke to SCORE counselors (retired Business Professionals in your area, they will set you
up with a mentor in your field for free) who helped me with my business plan,
idea and loan info. My second message is- DO YOUR HOMEWORK, WRITE A BUSINESS
PLAN and SAVE YOUR MONEY.
With the hardest part behind me (quitting my good paying job for the UNKNOWN)
I cleared my head for a while, did a little traveling for design inspiration
(London and Paris was heaven for this and my good friend Emmanuel was the perfect
traveling companion) and then tried to raise money for my business venture.
This took me several months and again, this part can differ for all people;
perhaps you can even start this while you are at your full time or part time
job (I continued to freelance at a previous job throughout this process, and
even after I opened up the store to keep money coming in). You might raise
money from friends, family, savings, Venture Capital Company, angel investor,
get a loan- through personal means, or through the SBA (Small
Business Administration ) (SCORE can help with this), etc.- but having
enough money to launch a business is key. I look at my business plan constantly
to see how much I allotted for what. You must be able to be fluid and change
your numbers as your business grows and as you see fit- but it is an essential
part of being prepared. A well prepared plan will also make you feel better
as things get rough- because you know you are ready for them. In the meantime,
until I had money in the bank to get started, I read a ton of business books
(see below for some of my favorites) and talked to many seasoned business people.
I spent hours and hours in my local business library and went to countless
(mostly free) seminars on marketing, branding, being an entrepreneur, etc..
There truly are so many resources out there- on the web and in your local community
for people who want to start their own business.
Once I had my funding in place, it took less than three months to actually
open the store. I had a budget for buying inventory, for the interior of the
shop, etc. and just stuck to those numbers and went with my gut as much as
I could. I went to trade shows in my industry and tried to prepare as much
as possible for them ahead of time. It can be both an exciting and scary time-
but having a close knit support system of family and friends truly helped,
as well as people I met through the programs I attended. Once I was ready to
actually unpack things and put them on the shelves several of my friends came
out and helped me for hours at a time. My brother and his wonderful girlfriend
Colleen spent hours getting my stereo system running properly, my dear friends
Rachel and Paul spent their Saturdays putting together shelves, tables and
benches and logging in my inventory. Figuring out my inventory system (through
Quickbooks) was another feat that Flip and Kevin helped me with- and so you
can see you it was all a big group effort that finally helped pull it all together!
Special thanks for this MAJOR help go out to- Kevin, Colleen, Shelton, Flip,
Pooh, Tom, Catrine, Ann, Melissa, Ellen, Holbrook, Rachel, Paul, Jill and of
course my man Rob!
My third message is: BE PREPARED BOTH MENTALLY AND FINANCIALLY FOR THE NEXT
STEP. FOLLOW YOUR BUSINESS PLAN FOR FUNDING AND SET UP AND HAVE A GREAT SUPPORT
SYSTEM IN PLACE TO HELP DO THE DIRTY WORK.
From there I just worked hard and got the store ready and opened on October
4th, 2007! We are still so young and have had many curve balls thrown our way,
but with the help and support of friends, family and the community- we continue
to grow and get stronger every day. Thanks for hearing my story- if you have
any questions, or want more help or advice, please email me using
our contact form I really want to help people go for their own DREAMS!!
My fourth message is: ENJOY THE PROCESS! AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
My favorite Business Books-
Good to Great- Jim Collins
Built to Last- Jim Collins and Jerry Porra
The Tipping Point- Malcom Gladwell
Guerilla Marketing Books- Jay Conrad Levinson
Radical Marketing- Sam Hill and Glenn Rifkin
Your Marketing Sucks- Mark Stevens
The Art of Possibility- Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping- Paco Underhill
Before You Quit Your Job- Robert T. Kiyosaki (from the Rich Dad Series)
EMyth Revisited- Michael E. Gerber
The Artist's Way- Julia Cameron
The Seed Handbook- Lynne Franks and Ann Field
