kerry's new digs

The Rochester art scene celebrates its artists and galleries at monthly First Friday open houses. Tonight was the first First Friday for glass jewelry artist Kerry Bogert, one of our favorites at JOOLZ. Kerry recently made the big move from her home basement studio to Studio #307 in Rochester's Hungerford building, located near the Goodman Street railroad yards.


In the early to mid-1900's, the Hungerford Building was a major manufacturing plant for the J. Hungerford Smith Co., which made "True Fruit" flavored syrups as well as the syrup for A&W root beer. It now houses small companies, individual apartments and art space. Tonight it was hoppin' with art patrons and I was one of them.



After climbing the three flights of stairs to Kerry's studio, I was greeted by cheerful balloons in the hallway outside her door. While I had watched the space come to life on Kerry's blog, it was so much more fun to see it in person.

On one wall was Kerry's great studio sign:

Kerry has had her hands full this week with kids down with the flu and school snow days, but she was there tonight, beaming with pride at being in her own space:

Extremely organized, Kerry has created her studio with care and style. Her glass rods are ready to be pulled from her self-designed "down spout" racks:

Her latest works are displayed in a wonderful old bookcase that she and her son painted a sophisticated black:

The necklace on the far left was created today, just in time for the open house:



And now her work table is cleaned off and ready for another day:

Just imagine all the colorful beads that will made at this torch, ready to be incorporated into another wonderful Kerry Bogert creation. Congrats, Kerry! - you're a shining star.

twisted tuesdays

Webster artist Kerry Bogert, one of our favorites who has been with us since the very beginning, is one talented girl. Not only does she produce gorgeous lampwork glass beads and sterling wire work jewelry, she's a fabulous photographer. She and her husband, Ron, came to JOOLZ for a visit recently and she took some snaps. Today, her visit to JOOLZ was featured on her blog. Check it out and see her great pics of the store and Joolie, our shop dog.

new in town

We have a whole new vista in our new location on Main Street, and one store we see across the street is F. Oliver's. Every day something new is happening to the exterior of the store and we've heard wonderful reports about their fresh olive oils and balsamic vinegars. We've been sending our customers over there and they, in return, have been sending their customers to us. But neither I nor Penelope, the owner of F. Oliver's, have visited the other's store.

I fixed that today when I stopped in on my way to JOOLZ to do some bookwork. There was a guy painting the front step a wonderful, rustic red and I asked if he was the landlord. Nope - he was the hard-working husband of the owner. Since he had painted himself out of the front door, he took me around the back and introduced me to Penelope. What a delightful, energetic woman....and with such vision.

The interior of the store features an old brick wall, wide-plank hardwood floors, and schoolhouse lights hanging from the gorgeous tin ceiling, together with painted walls of mustard yellow and an earthy green. Gleaming stainless steel containers, called fustis and made in Italy, are displayed on great looking tables and counters. Even the sunflowers in the windows bring a little bit of Italy to the shop. The overall ambiance is fresh, clean, cheerful and welcoming. Next time, when I'm not rushing off to do work (when will that be??), I'll take time to learn more about Penelope's oils and vinegars and do a tasting.

From the classy black awning featuring their logo, to the newly painted front step, Penelope and Eric have pooled their talents to make F. Oliver's a visual show-stopper on Main Street. You owe it to yourself to check it out....inside and out.

before and after

Here we go - before and after pix. Thanks to the guys at Cutri Construction for another excellent job!

Had to build a wall for an office in the back

Moving the safe was a story in itself...

AND HERE IS THE FINAL RESULT OF EVERYONE'S HARD WORK:

Amen!

the home stretch

It's been a whirlwind month of decision-making and it's certainly paying off. The new space is looking absolutely gorgeous - clean, graphic black and white paint on the walls and trim, a gigundo mirror on the long wall with two new sparkling pendants hanging in front (to be centered over a new showcase that hasn't arrived yet), electric connections waiting for the shadowbox cases on the new back wall and new track lighting to shine on the bookcases and (new) wall shelves. The finishing touch goes in today - yards and yards of new grey carpeting to pull it all together.

We had our best January yet. Does that mean we're finally seeing an economic upswing? Or does it mean that everyone likes a bargain? Our storewide sale continues through Saturday, February 13, when we will close the doors at 237 South Main for the last time. We're definitely on the home stretch!

'tis the season

The pumpkins and hobgoblins have been put away for another year and we are now fully decorated for the Christmas season. Downtown Canandaigua is beginning to sparkle with colorful holiday windows and white lights outlining some of the old, historic buildings. The excitement of the season is definitely building...

We found this great wreath at TJMaxx (LOVE that store) and knew it would be perfect for the store's front door. It's hard to see in this photo, but the twigs are all covered with silver glitter. It says ::sparkle:: in a simple, elegant way, just like the interior of JOOLZ. We're ready - are you?

10022006

Generating barcodes - fun, free and just the right black and white graphic design look for JOOLZ. Here's our incorporation date, October 2, 2006, which may find its way to our walls one of these days:

whiteout

There's been a whiteout on 2 fronts.

We're currently having snow showers coupled with 40mph wind gusts. Our gorgeous lake view is "now you see it, now you don't." Our house is on the downslope of a hill and when the snow is really flying, we feel like we live in the clouds.

The other whiteout is the change I've made to the blog layout. The pale grey background is gone and has been replaced with white. Easier to read and much more like the interior design of the shop: white walls, black trim and lots of red accents. Hope you like it.

our sign saga

One of the myriad of decisions I had to make when getting ready to open my business was about signage.

What kind of signs would I need? Who would I get to make my signs? Did my plans meet all the city's rather strict guidelines? Would we have good visibility on the street?

I decided I wanted a sign flat on the building - a sign of our JOOLZ logo, which is black with white lettering would stand out against the yellow brick building. My request met the city's requirements as to size and materials. But the Planning Board refused my request and asked me to have a hanging sign, as they felt that would be more esthetically pleasing. I felt visibility would be less but had no choice other than to agree.

Brent Gillette of Bristol Signs and Neon came recommended by a store owner whose sign I admired. Brent worked with me to create both a sign for the outside of the building (now needing to be finished on both sides) and a sign for inside the store. Both signs were ready to be hung around our opening in May, 2007.

In December, 2007 our outside sign blew down in high winds. No one was injured, but that was only a matter of luck. Rather than repair and reinstall the hanging sign, I gathered my courage and went back to the Planning Board, asking again for a sign to be flat against the building. Customers had told me it was very hard to see the hanging sign and hard to find me. And, of course, I wanted to avoid any kind of potential injuries to pedestrians.

The Planning Board agreed to my request almost without discussion - and Brent worked to repair the damaged sign and convert it to a one-sided sign that would hang flush on the building. He also constructed an A-frame sign to sit out on the sidewalk.

Now we are much more clearly visible from the street and there is little chance anyone will be injured by a falling sign. And Brent is so proud of his work on our signs (and rightly so) that he has featured many shots of his JOOLZ work on his new website. Be sure to take a look...and be impressed.

ho ho ho?

We are located in the Finger Lakes area of New York and our weather can be spectacularly gorgeous or spectacularly terrible -- sometimes both in a 24 hour period. We've already had snow in the air and on the ground. We've had a couple of hard freezes and the leaves are mostly off the trees.

For the last few days, however, we've been having summer weather - blue skies, temps in the lower 70's and a need to turn on the air conditioning at the store (black ceiling, lots of lights -- it gets HOT fast).

But the kicker is that we need to be decorated for the holidays -- the semi-annual Art Walk starts tomorrow afternoon and goes through the weekend. So the trees are up and lit, the red glass ornaments are shining throughout the store and Joolie, our inanimate shop dog, is wearing her holiday bow. However, I just could not start playing the holiday music yet - Michael Buble crooning on the iPod was as close as I could get. Am I nuts, or did the kids trick or treat less than a week ago?

how much is that doggie in the window?

It was unanimous. Not one single person I told could believe I was getting a dog. But I had finally found the perfect dog...no barking, no shedding, no jumping, no growling, no chewing, no slobbering, no "accidents." Most of my friends are dog people. Now I was going to be one, too!

I placed my order and was told that my dog was on backorder. Darn! I was ready to take the plunge. But I had to wait about 3 weeks for my dog to be delivered. Finally....today...it arrived. And I think it's perfect. Notice that it is an "it." I have been referring to it as a he, but I think I want it to be a she. After all, I do sell jewelry for women, and "she" could be a great model for some fabulous joolz.

I've placed her in the front window of the shop and I'm sure she'll draw some attention. (The photo above is her catalog glamour shot). She's a "dalmation" with black and white spots made from decoupaged playing cards. (If you visit our website (http://www.shopjoolz.com/), you can see that the decor of the shop is black and white with pops of vibrant contemporary art).

So now she needs a name. Suggestions are welcome, but as her owner, I do have veto power. And if you ask, "how much is that doggie in the window?" - I'll just have to say "she's priceless!"