The Monday after...

The theme for this past weekend for me? Sleep is for suckers! (Or, maybe normal people who actually enjoy the feeling of being well rested).

YoYo Joe's enjoyed our biggest sales day so far on Friday, but we look forward to eclipsing that total plenty more times in December. Things were quite busy all weekend and we blitzed through several rolls of wrapping paper this weekend only. We have lots more stuff expected to arrive this week as we have heaps of orders due in. Plus, this week we have our first Adult Swim event on Wednesday from 7-9 - you know, the night where we bar the store to our primary end users of our products? Kids schmids!

Black Friday Super Specials

YoYo Joe's will open at 5 AM on Black Friday with these specials

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The Melissa & Doug Deluxe Art Easel for $39.99 ($20 off the regular price). The double sided (dry erase on one side, chalkboard on the other) easel stands nearly four foot tall - the perfect hight for your three year old or older to explore their artistic side. Grab the Easel Accessory Set (4 bottles of poster paints, dry erase marker and eraser, spill proof paint cups, brushes, jumbo chalk sticks and paper roll) for $29.99 and be ready to go!





Or the Thomas the Tank Engine Pirates Cove Set for $84.99 ($65 off the regular price of $149.99) - recommended for ages 3 & up, Thomas is a toy classic. This set comes with 41 pieces, including the Pirate Shipwreck, Treasure Tunnel and Skull Mountain pieces available only in this set. Also includes Thomas and Salty. 


Or the Melissa & Doug Victorian Dollhouse, also at $84.99 ($70 off the regular price of $154.99). At 1/12 scale, it's a real dollhouse (suggested for ages 6 & up). We also have the rooms of furniture and dolls in stock. 




Our biggest selling item so far in the month or so we've been open? Elf on the Shelf - it's a cool package that includes a cool retro elf doll & Elf on the Shelf storybook. The book describes how the Elf comes alive after you purchase him and reports back to Santa each night on each childs wish list and also their behavior. The elf cannot be touched by the kids, but he maintains his presence - showing up in a different spot each morning after he reports back to Santa.  On sale for $22.99 - $7 off the regular price of $29.95.

Specials start on Friday at 5 AM and will run until Sunday, or until we run out of them. Store stock only!

Worth getting up early for? We'll be here...at 5AM...in the morning...

5 AM!?!? What are you, nuts?

Why yes, yes we are - thank you for asking.

I've decided that sleep is for wimps and YoYo Joe's will open at 5 am on Black Friday. Heck, I don't sleep very much as it is, so why not be here and open in the pre-dawn madness that is Black Friday. You probably don't recall my post last year about Black Friday. Here it is. You might think I've joined the dark side by opening at 5 am after reading that post, but, hey, I have some logical thought behind this.

We're sandwiched between Pier One Imports on our left and Staples on our right. As you may know, Staples is one of those chains that has ridiculous deals that people camp out overnight for. I went over and asked a couple employees what time they open, and they told me 5 am - so that's what I put in the ad. I talked to the store manager today, and she told me that they open at 6 am. Since the ad was done, I figured we'll just open at 5. She also told me that people start lining up around 2 am. Which means we will have a big mob of people waiting in front of our store in the wee hours of the morning. Why not take advantage of the traffic, right?

I know what you're thinking, "Joe, they're only there to get the $100 TomTom or the $400 laptop." I know, I know, you're probably right. But all we need is me and my trusty sidekick Tyler and in the worst case scenario, we pay Tyler a couple hours and a little more electric to be open, right? Plus, it might be fun to see if any good fights break out over peoples places in line.

Oh, and we're gonna have a couple blockbuster specials too. Stay tuned for those.

Black Friday

Friday was Black Friday. So called, because it's the day that retailers traditionally move from the 'red' to the 'black.' Well, folks, Black Friday has been hijacked. It's now a day of opening at 4 am and lines starting the day before to get a $299 laptop computer, of which the store usually has 6 of em in stock. The media does the obligatory story, with photograph, of people going nuts trying to buy cheap stuff. Check out this video of people fighting over something at Walmart last year. Fun stuff, huh?

Happily, it's been some time since there was a toy people went nuts to get on Black Friday. The days of 'Tickle Me Elmo' et al - have they passed us by? I sure hope so.