A Full Plate

One of these days I'll report to you that we had a quiet week. This is not that day, however. Another week has whizzed by so fast, with so much happening, I can say with all honesty that I'm tuckered out!

Valentines Day was fabulous and I thank you all for that. The giant red hearts and the accompanying pink, frilly props have been packed away, waiting to make an appearance next year. Next to come are Spring and Easter displays highlighting some of our newest products! I'm very pleased by our renewed commitment to invest in more sustainable merchandise and we're getting in some very exciting things that I think you'll adore. One of these fabulous new lines just arrived and we've enjoyed setting up these sketch pads fashioned out of vintage record album covers. Old Motown and R & B favorites such as The Commodores, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Michael Jackson....you get the idea. What a wonderful use for these old record covers, and the drawing (or journaling) paper is bright white and acid free!

Meredith Miller, one-half of the new owners of Webster's Community Pharmacy, and I had lunch the other day with Altadenan and photographer/videographer Deb Halberstadt at the wonderful Amy's Patio Cafe. We talked about our Fancy Food Truck Fridays and the possibility of filming the event as a live stream, which I think would be awesome! We're still in the early stages of planning, so we'll keep you informed of our progress. This next Fancy Food Truck Friday, on March 11th, will be so much fun, I can hardly wait! More trucks, more tables & chairs, and even music....it all spells one heck of a good time!

There was a great turn-out for the Altadena Urban Farmers Market today. Molly Tierney and I drove over for a stroll-through and I'm sure glad we did. Lots of yummy goodies being sold and I was finally able to connect with Earl, of Earl's Gone Wild Barbeque Sauce fame. We'll now be carrying his tasty sauce and other products that he's soon to come out with. We tasted his Jalapeno Pepper Jelly and loved it....it'll be ready for the market soon, and when it is, you can be sure WFS will be carrying it. Earl's barbeque sauce is being offered at the low price of $7.99....come in and get a bottle before it's gone!

Dinner is past done, my friends, so must run. Have a great week and we hope to see you in the store sometime soon!

Lori & Scott

A Socially Acceptable Third Anniversary

Fourth quarter started off with a bang for Webster's Fine Stationers this week! Our first community-oriented Social Media Meet & Greet - The Networking Event was held Friday, October 1st. It brought out upwards of 50 curious locals who were eager to learn exactly what sites like Facebook, Blogger and LinkedIn could offer them and their businesses.

The lucky attendees were given advice by the some of the best social media-savvy speakers around. Hilary Cable of Business.com gave a fascinating overview of Facebook. Her advice and tips were spot on and even helped answer some questions I had about the subject. Petrea Burchard, who authors the Pasadena Daily Photo blog, addressed blogging and how it can help reinforce your brand when used in conjunction with your business. Loved her view of blogging for your business as a type of giving and networking beyond your own doors! Deb Halberstadt, of Half City Productions, gave her insight into using LinkedIn as a professional platform and resume. Providing infinite possibilities, LinkedIn is a site where you can network online with other business professionals and is another tool being used for brand reinforcement.

Tying all these different avenues of social media together was the fabulous Anton Anderson of Productivity Consulting, Inc. Anton's knowledge coupled with his excellent moderation skills made him easy to listen to and learn from. After the learning session was over, our favorite wine experts, Anne L. Bannon and Michael Holland of OddBallGrape.com hosted a wine-tasting with wines provided by Webster's Liquor's well-appointed wine cellar. We love having wine-tastings with Anne and Michael....you actually learn a lot while you're laughing at their witty delivery of wine factoids and fallacies.

Our banquet table was groaning at all the food from our local eateries, as well! Thanks go out to the participating restaurants - Amy's Patio Cafe, El Patron Mexican Food and Pinocchio's Pizza for their delicious Fall Tailgating party-themed foods. We had warm grilled veggie & cheese sandwiches, cesar salad and zucchini bread from Amy's; El Patron provided tasty chicken nachos with guacamole and hot sauces; and the vegetable pizza from Pinocchio's was wonderful!

What made this evening so special, to me, was that this event was held on our third anniversary. Three years from October 1st, 2007, as an entity separate from Webster's Pharmacy, and I believe we have finally secured our place in the Altadena landscape. I've often referred to our shop as a store in transition. No longer undefined, we have staked our claim. Our store and our community - we're working toward keeping both strong and viable!

Have a wonderful week, my friends! I've heard it's supposed to be cooler and maybe rainy....how's that for a nice change?

Lori & Scott

It's All About Community

What an incredible week we've just had....and I can't wait to share it with you! We were all over the map - from meeting the staff (and the animals) of Danny's Farm to taping a short video at TVP Studios in Burbank - it sure was an eventful few days.

If you don't know about Danny's Farm yet, you should get acquainted with them. If you click on the title of this blogpost, it'll take you to their website....find out why they're so special. They do wonderful things in our community and they have plans to do more, which makes us very proud to help support their efforts. The picture here is of Scott and I standing in front of the sun shade our modest donation provided. We're happy that their menagerie now has a haven from the sometimes brutal Altadena sun. I'm holding Thumper, one of the resident rabbits, in the picture. Their petting zoo includes the most darling burros and goats, bunnies (with babies!) and chickens, all available for parties!

Providing support to our local non-profits is something that we believe strongly in. In times like these, we all must take extraordinary steps to ensure our non-profits remain operational. My father-in-law told me that charity begins at home. It does, you know. Our home, the place where we do business, needs our help. We need strong, healthy businesses that are committed to supporting the infrastructure of the community so that we may all survive this economic downturn.

We ran a benefit for Danny's Farm throughout the holiday season. I told Cathy Gott that we would donate a percentage of our sales of custom holiday cards to Danny's Farm. However, orders (besides Cathy's own) were non-existent due to the recession and I felt terrible about that. So we donated anyway, and I couldn't be happier. So little meant so much and even better, did so much....and that's the way it's supposed to work. One community pulling together to make sure we all succeed is how it's done and we're proud to be part of it.

On Wednesday, I had a short video produced with the help of some very good friends. Deb Halberstadt, of Half City Productions and Rich Tomayo of TVP Studios, lent their expertise to create the video, which you can listen to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shabeXr3wIs (due to Blogger's non-functional link insertion tab, you'll need to copy and paste the address into your browser window). The video tells you what we're about here at WFS, our core values and how we can help our community. Please click on the link and listen to it, I think you'll be glad you did.

Speaking of community, WFS is putting together a Customer Advisory Board. We have three willing participants and are looking for seven more. I'd like a sampling of all types of customers, from very loyal, to sometimes loyal to not so loyal. This will enable us to understand your needs and wants as it relates to our store. This is an amazing opportunity for someone to help shape their neighborhood store, and of course, there are benefits that go along with being a board member. Tenure on the board would be for one year and we would meet at a convenient time at the store once a month. Board members are entitled to a 20% discount on all purchases while they sit and refreshments will be provided at meetings. Please let me know if you'd be interested...let your voice be heard!

We're doing this because we want to listen to you. We're good at listening at WFS. We did try the suggestion box but that didn't work so well, and it's too one-sided. We got too many frivolous comments, like "don't smile so much, it's eerie" to "have Equal packets available with your coffee". I'd like to be able to sit down and discuss suggestions like rational humans. However, we have had some verbal suggestions from customers which we've acted on. Our good friend and customer Lori Paul has suggested a few things to us and we love her for that! One of her suggestions recently was for us to check out a U.S. company headquartered in Montana called DuckBoy. They manufacture greeting cards, postcards, books and calendars and they're a hoot! We purchased a small selection that are in store now - and they'll be signed with the fact that Lori recommended this product to us.

So here's our message for the week: Be a part of your community, because your community needs you. Everyone's busy, we know, but try to make some time to take part. Start with small things, like supporting a non-profit or supporting a store that supports non-profits. Start by taking part in the formation of a truly community-oriented retail store by speaking your mind and being heard....the long journey begins by putting one foot in front of the other. Have a great week!