New Store RECORDS!

We ended up shipping out 117 packages on Monday!  That was a new record  -- but it was a "weekend" record, rather than a one day record (it included orders from late Friday, Saturday, Sunday and early Monday).     Our previous record was 77, so we've certainly grown!   We spent quite a bit of time packaging orders over the weekend, so it wasn't difficult to do.  

Our UPS driver had a delivery for us in the morning and asked "how's it look back there" -- meaning how much did we have packed already.  It old him about 70, and that there were at least 30 more to come.    About 1 p.m., he showed up (with his "helper" that he gets at this time of year) to pick up what we had done already.    He had some extra time and room in the truck at that point, so, knowing how much we had (and the variety of box sizes), he decided to stop and get what was ready.     When Lee came to pick up our packages today, he said he had over 1,000 packages in his truck when he finally got back to the UPS facility on Monday!  WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!      These UPS guys work so hard during the holidays.  They have to deliver all the business orders in the morning and then deliver the residential orders and in-between, after 3 p.m., they have to make all their regular pick-ups from stores like ours, and then continue with their residential deliveries.   Lee said he didn't get back to the UPS facility until about 8:30 last night.    They have to keep working until all their stuff is delivered, so they have a LOT of overtime at this time of year!  

We're fortunate that we have such a GREAT driver!   Lee's always in a great mood, and he's always willing to come back if I'm not done or ready for him.  We are VERY lucky to have him for our UPS driver!  He makes it so easy to work with UPS to get all our packages out the door.  

Today, I went in at 8 a.m., as I've been doing for the last two weeks.  In the past, my one day record for packing and shipping orders was about 40, which is up from 32, last year.   Today, I packed and shipped 64 orders!!!!!! Holy cats!  I NEVER thought I'd be able to get that many orders done in one day!  

The day was not without it's adventure, though!   As I started packing up orders, I realized that I didn't have enough paper to pack all the orders we have!   OMG!  What now??????????   I called Greg and told him to get me some paper!  I need paper!   He called the local newspaper (TP Printing) and they gave us a roll of unprinted newspaper (thank you, Carol!), and then he went to County Market and talked to folks there and got a bunch more paper, along with extra grocery store flyers that they didn't need any more.  In other words, Greg was my HERO today!    

I must say that we have some of the BEST suppliers there are!  On Monday, I had to call and order moreCrystal Color Sticks and Cones.   The company is just about 200 miles north of us, but they are VERY busy making and packing wreaths at this time of year.   I wasn't expecting them quite so quickly, but they showed up today!  Thank goodness!  

I also had to order more marshmallow forks, hot dog forks, waffle irons, etc.   I called on Monday and told them I need them last week.   They're such a fabulous company and fairly close to us -- just south of Chicago, but it usually takes at least two days to get the products to us.  Well, as I was working on orders, the buzzer on the back door rang, and it was the semi with my pallet of forks, waffle irons and pie irons!  How cool is that!    

I just LOVE these companies we deal with!  They are absolutely AWESOME!  Course, it helps that they're family owned, just like us, and really care about their customers!    Dealing with companies like Rome Industries and Winter Woods makes it so much easier to do what we do!  

I'm pooped, to say the least.   I can't remember EVER working so hard in my life!  BUT, I've never felt so good or been so happy, either!  I LOVE what we're doing and will happily work like this every single day to make our store a success!     Please be sure to spread the word!  We happily pack every single order ourselves and everyone is treated to PERSONAL service from our family.     We're not Camping World, and don't ever want to be.  We enjoy being a "mom and pop" business!  

Hope everyone is safe from the storms (they've missed us completely) and has power and everything else they need this time of year!

Julie