kerry bogert extravaganza!

JOOLZ favorite Kerry Bogert has been working hard in her studio to create a new collection for us. Master lampwork glass bead creator, master wire worker and master photographer, Kerry sent us this photo just minutes ago. I couldn't wait to share it with you!

Get in line - one of the necklaces has already been spoken for!!

august wrap up

As we wrap up the last month of summer in our new location, we want to share some exciting news with you: AUGUST 2010 HAS BEEN OUR BEST MONTH SINCE SEPTEMBER 2008.

As the in-house keeper of the books, I am constantly looking at the numbers and trying to rationalize their ups and downs. We're delighted to have the upward direction of August 2010, and attribute the good results to both our new, more walk-in friendly location and the apparent loosening of the spending grip that has been in place for a couple of years.

Our number of daily visitors has increased well over 100% and we're seeing many more tourists than in our old location. Pennsylvania and Ohio seem to be the winners in the "where are you from?" contest, but we've also seen many from Canada and states farther afield. Just yesterday a visitor from the Syracuse area said " Canandaigua is just a hidden gem - what a great place to visit!" More and more folks are figuring that out.

Our Sunday hours experiment, however, was less than successful. We have carefully tracked the numbers for Sundays and have decided it's not worth the overhead to open the doors for 4 hours. So today is our last Sunday and we will return to our regular hours, Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm, beginning August 31.

words of wisdom

Jerry Elman, formerly in the corporate world and now owner of his own business, was recently quoted in a brief article in Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle. I like what he has to say about being in business during these economic times:

I learned that you have to look at things not the way you wish they were, but the way they are. When things you don't control are happening fast, you have to adapt faster.

If your fundamentals are straight, if you have a business based on ethics and honesty and high quality and you are providing excellent service to your customers at a fair price, you can ultimately prevail in the worst of times.

I've been doing all of that, but Jerry put it into words....words to live by, words of wisdom.

judgment day

Several months ago I was asked to be one of 4 judges at the 2010 Arts at the Gardens outdoor arts and crafts show, held on the grounds of the lovely Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion. Today was the day....

I'm never one to hold back on giving an opinion, but today I would need to visit 100 artists, examine their booths and their work and make decisions about each:

• what was the level of creativity?


• how well did they use/handle the material?


• did they present their art well? how attractive was their booth?

10 Judges' Awards and a Best of Show Award were at stake - prestige and dollars were on the line. I hoped I was up to the task.

One of other judges and I traveled together, starting at one end of the show, while the other 2 judges worked their way toward us from the opposite end. We broke for lunch, graciously served to us on the veranda of the mansion, and chatted about what we had already seen - what we liked and what we didn't. Then it was back to work, ending about 3:30. We hunkered down again on the veranda, discussing each and every artist in the show. The four of us, having never worked as judges together before, were surprisingly cohesive in our comments, our likes and our dislikes. After 30 minutes of discussion, we had our award winners.

The show organizers were notified and the winners were announced at a lovely reception for the artists, judges and committee members, held on the veranda after the show had ended. There were smiles all around - the show was a success, the committee had done a fine job, the judges had made their decisions and the artists were pleased with their awards.

Judgment Day was over, and I, for one, was ready for a nice long rest!

overheard this afternoon...

"This is the most wonderful jewelry store I have ever seen...and I don't usually like jewelry!"

another family wedding

It's been a summer of family gatherings - weddings in both June and August, celebrating the marriages of two nieces.

This weekend was the wedding of Allison and Keith, two people who were destined to be together. Thanks to the help of an internet match site, they found each other about 5 years ago and have been blissfully happy ever since.

The day was perfect, the bride was beautiful and her parents were beaming. It was a day we'll all remember and relive time and time again.

ethereal

July was a month of heat and humidity, which often culminated in late afternoon thunderstorms. Just before the lightning sparked one early evening, I ventured out to take a couple of pictures of the breathtaking clouds that were building all around us. Beautiful and ethereal, don't you think?

our august newsletter

Here's the link to our August newsletter, just published today. As you can see, August is lookin' to be pretty darn busy and the upcoming famly wedding is right in the middle of all the JOOLZ activity. It's going to be a crazy month!! Fun....but crazy!