Once told me "Gotta play your hand
Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime
If you don't lay them down"
Sometimes the lights all shining on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been"
----The Grateful Dead
With the lyrics from this song reverberating around my head, I can't help but relate it to our life these past two years. Creating Webster's Fine Stationers from an erstwhile pass-through department has been a long, strange trip, indeed. Fraught with obstacles and setbacks, it's not a stretch of the truth to say that we've been tempted to call it quits several times. But just when things seem bleakest, Scott and I remember why we're doing this - why the challenge of creating a thriving shop against all odds is important to us. It's because we believe in Webster's, we believe in Webster's Fine Stationers and we believe in Altadena.
As we come up on our two year anniversary, we can look back and see all the tangible things we've done to improve WFS. The layout, the decor, the merchandise have all changed for the better but one thing has remained a constant that's not tangible - our dedication to providing Altadena with a shopping venue that's hip and on the cutting edge of cool! There is no other place in the area that offers as much sustainable merchandise as we do. No one offers the amount of products made right here in the U.S. as we do, and no one offers the ambiance and the customer care that we do. We prefer to deal with local vendors and artists and when we can't find what we want inside the U.S., we are trending toward companies who offer fair trade practices in those countries where they have their merchandise made.
We love to deal with those companies who donate to charities. Open Hand is one such company and we're expecting their first shipment any day now. Open Hand is based in Atlanta, Georgia, but their products are made all over the world using fair trade practices. Their employees are paid well and they make sure that they and their families are covered by adequate medical insurance. If that weren't enough, they donate 10% of their proceeds before taxes to charities here and abroad that fight human trafficking. Praols, another new company for us, makes their beautiful jewelry right here in the U.S. and employs financially distressed, stay at home moms and women who are heads of their households. Two new card lines for us, Wiley Valentine and Uncooked, Inc., are U.S. made - Wiley Valentine is made right here in Orange County, CA. As always, we feature handmade jewelry by local Altadena artisans, Jewels of the Earth by Diana, Ruthie Castro and Julie Lyn Pircher. We carry handmade cards by local artists Donna Barnes-Roberts and Athena Meltzer, and are searching for more local artists.
Companies that use recycled materials is important, too, and many of our vendors do. Most importantly, however, is their use of post-consumer waste materials and two of our major vendors do just that. Amber Lotus, maker of fine cards and calendars (in store now) and The Green Paper Company are both producers of products that contain from 30% to 100% post-consumer waste. We believe that this is important and we hope that you, do, too.
It's been said by several of our Very Important Customers that it would be wonderful if we had windows like the adjoining stores do. I wish we did, too, because what a statement we could make with them! However, price precludes that option at this time. We'd rather spend what little money we do have on products like I've mentioned above, and we do have to pay rent. Until we can address the situation, Scott came up with our new tag line, which is the title of this blogpost. My husband is a genius, because that little tag line says it all and more! It's IS what inside that counts....not only the merchandise but inside the hearts of everyone who works at Webster's Fine Stationers. Come in today and experience it for yourself! Follow us on Twitter (@lorinscott), become a fan of our store on Facebook and see our pictures on FlickR!
