holiday hours are posted

We've just posted our holiday hours, adding to our regular Tuesday through Saturday schedule.

We'll be open extra days on
Sunday, December 21 from 11am - 3pm and
Monday, December 22 from 10am - 5pm

Last chance to buy Christmas joolz will be on Tuesday, December 23 from 10am - 5pm.

Then it's vacation time, and we will be CLOSED on Christmas Eve, reopening on Tuesday, January 6, 2009.

trying to get the hours right

It's been a challenge to determine what hours the shop should be open. Initially, we had to go with what we thought the customers would want and as the months have gone on, we've had to adjust to what the customer traffic has told us.

We've been open on Sundays for two summer seasons. Beginning this past May we've stayed open til 7pm on Fridays, joining in an effort by the Downtown Merchants' Association to extend evening hours. We've also consciously scheduled the shop to be closed two days in a row, giving us a "weekend" that sometimes is not the traditional Saturday/Sunday.

Add to the mix that we have minimal staff and that our day is actually an hour and a half longer than the shop is open; it takes an hour to set up each morning and another half hour to put everything to bed in the evening. Our insurance requires that only a minimal amount of inventory can be out of the safe if the shop is closed, so everything in the cases has to be put into the safe each night.

We've had very few customers between 5pm and 7pm on Fridays and minimal traffic on Sundays. We gave both a good try and decided the return didn't support the expenses - wages, utilities and not the least important, tired staff that had no weekend days off.

The decision has been made to go to a regular 10am-5pm, Tuesday through Saturday schedule, effective immediately. If there's a special event or festival in downtown, we'll adjust our hours on a case by case basis.

We think we've got it right now, but only time will tell.

on the road

Taking JOOLZ on the road is not as easy as it looks.


Last year we were invited to take JOOLZ on the road to the Thompson Hospital Guild boutiques, a gathering of local shops and artists that set up their wares prior to the annual fundraising fashion show. The decision to participate had to be made just a few months after we opened, when I needed to devote all my time and energy to the shop. I had to say no.


This year I said yes...but I honestly didn't realize how much of my time and energy this would take!

I needed to:

• contact my credit card processing company to determine the best way to process offline charges.


• talk with my insurance guy to find out about "away" coverage.


• get sales receipt books and have stamps made with the shop name/address and return policy - and then I needed to stamp all those carbonless receipts.


• plan the decor of the tables where we would be displaying our joolz....

Black and white was a logical choice, as the store's interior is all B&W. I purchased several yards of white fabric covered with different-sized black polka dots. The look on the face of the clerk at Jo-Ann's was never to be forgotten, as she haltingly asked..."and just what kind of clothing are you going to make with THIS?"

Then I bought white and black foam boards and cut them to different sizes. They would become my display surface for the joolz and would lie atop the polka dots. Finally, I purchased two tall, revolving earring display racks.

I had the equipment. Next I needed to figure out how much inventory to take with me; I had been told there would be 300 guests. I tried to come up with a good mix of joolz - different styles, materials and prices. I think I probably took too much, but better too much than too little.

I also needed some help at the show. Suzanne, my assistant at the shop, would need to stay there to hold the fort while I was away, so I asked two friends to help me out during the selling time. I truly could not have done the show without them.

The big day finally arrived and my husband and I took everything to the event location, thankfully only a few minutes from our home. I set up the tables and started arranging the joolz. My friends and the guests arrived and the next hour and a half flew by.

The joolz were well-received and the shoppers were happy. So was I. At the end of the day, all the time and effort had been worth it, although I haven't been that tired in a very, very, very long time.

My friends, Suzanne (in the back with the headband) and Barb (wearing black and white on the right) were a great help.

arts and music festival this weekend

Canandaigua's downtown will be humming this weekend. The annual Arts and Music Festival runs Friday 10-8, Saturday 10-8 and Sunday 10-6. We were busy last year during the festival and with nice (= hot, not much rain) predicted for this weekend, we'll probably be busy again this year.

Vendors set up tents along the wide downtown sidewalks and sell everything you can think of. Food vendors tempt the shoppers with all kinds of treats and not-for-profits are there to tell you about their agencies. Musical acts play all day long at the Commons Park and the Farmers' Market runs Saturday morning alongside the festival. Downtown will be hoppin'! Check it out at http://www.downtowncanandaigua.com/.

One of our challenges for festival weekends is staffing. JOOLZ has one part-time employee in addition to myself (full-time and then some!) and due to the volume of visitors, we need to have at least double coverage for a good part of each festival day. Now we have the unfortunate complication that I need to attend a memorial service for a good friend's mother this weekend...right in the middle of a carefully constructed schedule that was designed to maximize our coverage. Flexibility is the key when working with a small staff and we'll just make it work, for everyone. And having one or two extra workers who are willing to come in "when needed" can really save the day; hopefully I'll be able to tap into that group when I make some calls later this morning.