Delaware Children's Museum Groundbreaking

Emily & I were honored to be invited to the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Delaware Children's Museum on Monday in front of the old Kahunaville on the Delaware waterfront. Over the past year, we've met lots of people from the Delaware Children's Museum - from the opening of the new Laura Novak studio to the Point-to-Point races and the Best of Delaware party. We've met with Paige, Juli-Anne, Traci and Julie. We love what they're doing to get a world-class children's museum to Delaware and Monday marked a huge step towards that becoming a reality.

The event was well-attended by politicians, press and donators. Delaware's entire Congressional delegation was on hand (Senators Carper & Kaufmann, Congressman Castle) as well as Governor Markell, Lt. Governor Denn, Mayor Baker & New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. (That's Governor Markell, Chris Coons & Senator Carper in the pic)

It was a brilliant day and we were thrilled to be a part of it.

Joe the Barber stops in

If you have to ask who Joe the barber is, you're not from around here, are you?

Joe's Barber Shop is a fixture on Concord Pike. It's been there for as long as I remember.

Joe and Marge Gioffre stopped in today, doing some shopping for a great-grandson. Joe himself worked there for 60 years, having retired only recently. Joe said to mention that "they love the store!"

Joe's is a guy place. The waiting room always seems to me to be filled with boys & men waiting for a haircut. And no matter how many people were waiting, Joe or George would swear it would only be a few minutes. Woe to the fellow who left the shop due to the number of people waiting. Someone always follows that person out, swearing to them that it wouldn't be that long, to come back. And the conversation in the room runs the gamut from business to politics to sports and religion. It is a real old fashioned barber shop. Everyone who's anyone got their hair cut at Joe's. CEO's of all the major companies - duPont, Hercules, etc. I told Joe he should write a book, I know I'd buy it. Heck, we'd sell it!

My first haircut was at Joe's. I was a squirmy kid, and when my squirming finally got too much, the poor barber accidentally nicked my ear - which sent me into a tizzy. I only know this story because of the numerous times I've been told that story - first by my mom and later by my father. It took me years to get back into Joe's - after college - in that brief window of time that I actually had enough hair to have cut, but I loved the atmosphere in Joe's.

I tried to stop into Joe's one day on my way to an interview. I was headed up to Philly to interview for the Philly Phanatic job (yes, the Phanatic - a whole different story I'll post someday) and thought I could cram in a Joe's haircut. I only had a couple minutes to spare, so when I walked in and saw a crammed waiting room, I immediately turned around and headed to my car - waiting for the inevitable cry that "it won't be that long." Seconds later, Joe popped out and tried to persuade me to come back. Since I was running late, I excused myself and headed to the interview.

Perhaps if I'd left enough time to get the haircut, I might have impressed my interviewers with my Joe's Barber Shop haircut and I could have been the Phanatic.

Thanks for stopping in, Marge & Joe, and thanks for the wonderful memories.

Talk Like a Pirate Day is Saturday

Ahoy, International Talk Like a Pirate Bay be Saturday, September 19th and, seein' as we have a pirate ship in our store, we'll be celebratin' it with free pirate phrase cheat sheets t' use throughout the day. Gar.

Pick up yer cheet sheet t'day or watch this instructional video made by the Pirate Guys.

Banner day at Yo-Yo Club

We started our Yo-Yo Club in January. It was an immediate hit, with dozens of kids showing up on the first day. Since then, 130 people have started on our "Yo-Yo Club Advancement Chart" - a list of 25 yo-yo tricks of advancing difficulty. If the yoyoer has the tenacity to finish our chart, they get inducted into the Yo-Yo Joe's "Wall of Fame" - their picture is posted on the wall above where Yo-Yo Club meets.

Of those 130, only one had completed the list. Only one until Saturday - when three, count 'em, three kids finished the list. David Yoncha - who was at our first Yo-Yo Club meeting, Mark White - who started about a week after David, and Jesse Miller - who starting coming this spring - all finished the chart on Saturday. The three joined Jared Verratti - who finished the list several months ago.

This brings our 'Wall of Fame' membership to 20 - we grandfathered the 11 people who were in the Mitchell's Yo-Yo Club 'Wall of Fame' and it includes five professional yo-yoers who stopped in at YoYo Joe's and reeled off the tricks to join the wall. All in all, our Wall includes former Mid-Atlantic Regional, US National & World Champions!

Top 3 Toys We Learned About from our Customers

One more thing that differentiates us from the big box stores is that when you walk into our store and talk to us, you're talking to the people who determine what toys appear on our shelves. Try to talk to the toy buyer at Walmart and make a suggestion on what toys they should sell. I dare ya!
Over the 10 months we've been opened, we've had lots of suggestions on things we should sell in our store. In many cases, we ordered the products and in several cases, they've turned out to be great selling items! Here's our choices for the top three items we've been suggested to sell in our store.

3 - Sandy Feet - A customer came in our store in July and said that she would buy several of these if we got them in and raved about how awesome they were. So, we just got these in last month, and they've sold well despite how late in the summer it is. This ingenious kit allows you to create foot castings from footprints in the sand. Use the sand & water from your beach, add their special powder, wait 20 minutes and get a footprint keepsake! $15.99

2 - Kids on Stage - This charades game for kids was suggested to us by a customer as "the best game they ever got." We've sold through on our first order and have placed a reorder for them. The nice thing about this game is that every child acts on every turn, and the game requires no reading! For ages 3-8. $18.99

1 - My Little Sandbox - These 10" x 10" sandboxes come in different themes (Beach Party and Big Builder are the two most popular). Each kit includes a 10" x 10" box, micro-sand, and accessories depending on the theme. The Beach Party set includes a sunbather, towel, beach chair, little dog & mini bucket, shovel and rake. The Big Builder set includes trucks, rocks, mini shovel and rake. It's a little zen garden for kids! A customer came in last November and raved about these, telling us how she would travel 45 minutes away to stock up on them for gifts. We ordered them, and in our first 10 months, they've been one of our top selling items! $27.99. Ages 3 & up.

Elf on the Shelf Author coming to YoYo Joe's

Well, color us pretty darned excited. We just received word from the publishers of 'Elf on the Shelf' that we were selected from over 200 applicants to have an author visit by Carol Aebersold, one of the authors of 'Elf on the Shelf.' She will visit the store on Monday, November 2nd from 5-7 pm.
Now, Elf on the Shelf was our number 1 selling item at YoYo Joe's up until February 19th, 2009 even though the last one we sold was in January. It's still in our top five selling items seven months later!
If you're not familiar with the story behind 'Elf on the Shelf,' the kit comes with a book and elf. The book explains that Santa knows who is naughty and/or nice because he sends a scout elf to every home. The elf watches the children by day and reports to Santa each night. When the children awake, the elf has returned from the North Pole and can be found hiding in a different location each morning. Finding the elf each morning is half the fun. There are rules, such as children are not allowed to touch the elf.
The elf comes alive after the family has named the elf.
We're so excited that Carol Aebersold will be visiting us!

Another Uglydoll article

If you've been following the blog, you know I'm a fan of the Uglydolls. You can read about them in 8 past entries here . If you like Uglydolls, you're in luck - here's another article about them. If you're not a fan, move along - there's nothing more to see here.
This is a nifty little article about the origination of the Uglydoll in the LA Times this week. I know the story, but it never gets old. Read it here