My tap class and THE HAND JIVE

For those of you who don't know I love to TAP.  My mother was a tap teacher, and I used to tap as a youngster and as a college student.  So now, I"m taking  a tap class here in La Canada where I live taught by a really fun young woman named Deborah Gillins.  It is a BLAST....and tonight we added a bit to our routine that is based on The Hand Jive.  For those of you who don't know what that is....you have to check this out. 

As we prepare for FALL

Ok...this is so early, but I just put the Fall FLAX Coats up on the website to get a jumpstart on the fall previews.  Take a look and let me know what you think.  Last year we had no coats from FLAX and I, for one, really missed the collection.  Hoping you will enjoy these soft, cuddly coats.

Tie one on!

We have so many new scarves.  Change any outfit with just this one accessory and have as much fun as we had at The Women's Room!  

We have scarves of all shapes and sorts and colors and textures.  You will also receive your own "Tender Treasures Scarf Tying Guide" when you buy one!

Enjoy

TT Staff takes Scarf Tying to The Women's Room

Tender Treasures staff members Megan, and Mayra accompanied me on an outing one afternoon to The Women's Room in Pasadena, a safe daytime refuge for women who are alone and homeless or at risk of homelessness. What we found was a loving environment where women gather to rest, socialize and support each other.


We were asked to provide a program for the women on the last Thursday of the month last month.....a special day when they celebrate birthdays and have a little party. I decided that we would take scarves from Tender Treasures for everyone and we would "Play Dressup" with them, teaching the women how to use this simple, square or oblong piece of fabric as a wonderful and playful accessory. We had a blast, and hopefully so did the women at The Women's Room.

You can read more about The Women's Room by clicking on the Title of this post.

Miss Peach assumes Tender Treasure Title

This is Miss Peach...but she is also a Tender Treasure! Today, one of my vendors wrote me the following e-mail:

"Good morning, Gerry
This is going to sound so silly but I want to share it with you anyway. I have a sweet old cat named Miss Peach. I don’t know why but lately I have taken to calling her my “tender treasure”. She seems to like that name quite a bit! So do I J.
Have a lovely day."

Ok...who could resist that beautiful thought for the day????? So I asked for a picture of Miss Peach so that I could share her with all of our friends. Miss Peach you are truly a Tender Treasure!!! Thank you Robyn for sharing her with us.

Once Again its time to Re-Create

Ok..I"m in my 60's and most people are ready to start thinking about retirement...but that doesn't even seem remotely possible for me right now. There is just TOOOOOOO much new stuff going on that I would miss out on if I retired and started cooking, gardening, travelling, or add to my already full load of community service.

Just when I thought that I had a real handle on the new entrepreneurial future of my business on the internet...here comes Twitter and Facebook. Here comes SOCIAL NETWORKING. The economy is in the toilet, and there is no one in the retail stores because everyone is so afraid to be tempted to buy something......and I discover that all these people who used to be out walking around, shopping, going in and out of the stores, entertaining themselves are now......

HOME

TWITTERING or FACEBOOKING

There are teeming masses of people talking about their lives, their thoughts, their experience, and every little thing that is happening to them right now. "What is on your mind?" says Facebook....and "What are you doing" says Twitter.

Since my business is the lens through which I view the world, and flow all my interests....of course I"m getting into it. I see this as a REALLY HUGE new development in the internet....and one that has not yet been "monetized" but I can assure you that someone will figure out how to do that pretty soon. There are teams of people up tonight trying to figure out how they can capitalize on this new Social Networking craze. For now, I"m just enjoying the connections, and looking at ways to utilize the technology to reach my customers.

So...what I have done is to set up a Tender Treasures page on Facebook. You can become a fan here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Montrose-CA/Tender-Treasures/66635556082?ref=nf

Once I get some folks who are fans...I can offer you guys some special deals here. REally special one day..one hour deals and you will get your post on FACEBOOK. I think this sounds pretty fun. So...check that out, become a fan.

You can also follow me on Twitter as I talk about my own personal life and what we are doing in the business. I don't know...should I separate the personal from the professional??? I can't decide so for now I"m just mixing it all up in one cocktail of stuff...

Follow me on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/gdpuhara

Let see where this all leads!!! I"m not sure but I"m sure it will all be fun.

gerry

I think I forgot the Link!

Ok..here is the link. If your dog has mobility problems, this is the place to be!

Petey and the folks at CARE

Ok..most of you have heard the stories of our Dalmatian Petey, who rather suddenly lost the use of one of his back legs. Perhaps most vets would suggest euthanasia, but since Petey had recently had heart problems, and was under the care of a cardiologist, we took him to see if this was related to his heart.

No...it wasn't. IT was a neurological disease called "Wobblers Disease" which afflicts larger dogs. Perhaps, we were told, he could regain the use of his leg through rehab. So, we were sent to this amazing place where Petey has been in "rehab" now for a few months. For those of you who have been hearing the story, I want to post this link so you can see where we are going, and what we are doing.

These are amazing vets, doing amazing work and I want to say THANKS to all of them for the care that they give Petey. He can ALMOST get up now...and they never give up. Thanks to all the staff at CARE!!!

Note: Our Petey passed in March very peacefully and in my arms. He was quite a guy, and we miss him terribly. We'll always remember his antics, and his great love of life, nature, and walks.

Tender Treasures and the Economy

Tender Treasures has been in business for 25 years, so a lot of people are asking me what this economy is like compared to other times of economic hardship. I figure this is a great forum for this discussion, and I hope my experience may help others who are wondering what to make of all of this.

First...this is the worst its ever been. Bar None...I've never seen a more difficult climate for doing business. A few days ago, the Los Angeles Times (who just filed for bankruptcy themselves yesterday) headlined above the fold that the recession was "official" and that not only were we in a recession, but we have been in one since December of last year.

I wish someone had asked me. I could have saved everyone a year of buring their heads in the sand. For me the credit crunch began, as stated, about a year ago. Credit had been easy for me for years. I had forgotten what it was like to be told no. I went to my local banker, a friendly sort who has been very helpful to me through the years....and when I asked for some more credit on my line to finance some inventory, she told me that Bank of America had just bought CountryWide and they weren't extending lines of credit to anyone. So, the credit crunch hit me a year ago.

Here is the interesting part. Because I couldn't get more credit, instead I went back to the office, looked at my Profit Loss, looked at my Balance Sheet, and started cutting. We stopped buying endless choices of gift wrap and have managed to live for the past 12 months solely on what we had already. I stopped advertising a million keywords on Google, and instead put some money into optimizing my website so I came up higher on the free organic search. I cant tell you what a bundle that has saved. On and on...I found more and more things to do to cut costs. All of that economizing has helped in this climate. I would be out of business now, if it weren't for those changes that I made in the past year.

This year, American Express decided to close down their lines of credit. Without telling me, writing to me, or in any way warning me (and everyone else I know who has this particular line of business credit) they just reduced the line of credit to the same amount that was outstanding. When I called to complain, I was told that in the contract, it explicitly states that they have sole discretion to reduce the line of credit, or to deny any advance with or without cause, with or without telling me.

I still have some credit options, but given those two incidents, I'm not using them. Its a LOT MORE WORK to run a business without access to easy credit, but in the end I think that I am stronger for the struggle, and I am probably running a more efficient business because of it. We even made it onto the Barack Obama Small Business Blog which was a thrill!

I'm certainly no economic expert, but as my accountant says...we're on the front lines. Its happening to those of us in small business first. More to come on this subject!

California Prop 8

Tender Treasures is a store for women and children. Beautiful moms and children come into my store all day long, and our mission is particularly oriented towards anything connected to the idea of family.

Recently, in solidarity with the many women I know who have families who are gay, and in support of the parents of the children to whom my husband and I are godparents, I took a night to work the phone banks to solicit volunteers in the campaign to defeat California Prop 8...the Gay marriage ban. As many of you know, the California Supreme Court upheld the rights of gay couples to marry...as constitutional. Now there is a constitutional amendment which seeks to reverse that legal decision.

Sitting in a room of 30 people as the only straight person was one of the most profound experiences of my life. Being in the presence of wonderful people who only want the right to share a committment to their partner made me feel ashamed of the way I take that precious right for granted. If you feel that family, and marriage are important then why not make sure that everyone has the right to be included. If you life in California, vote NO on Prop 8.

And the Winner Is......

Susan Pereya was the lucky winner of the IPOD Nano drawing at Joan's Retirement Party! So, beside selecting some new threads at Bargain Basement Prices....she now is the proud owner of a Hot Pink IPOD!. Congratulations Susan!!!

Dog tired...but not too tired to party one more time

At the end of the day of Joan's Retirement, our feet felt like stubs, and we had laughed so much our whole bodies ached...but then it was time for dinner at the Ocean View Grill where we spent time watching Joan open her special gifts from Tender Treasures (her own IPOD Nano) and special pottery that had been made for her by Angela, Megan and and Mayra. Becky had a gift, as did Irma, and so Joan will have many memories to take with her of Tender Treasures.

The Next Phase for Joan

Its final now, Joan is retired, and is moving on to the next phase of her life but not before she was widely celebrated by staff and customers for an entire day on September 6.

Customers enjoyed the free flowing champagne, the EXTREME sale markdowns, cake, and good time was had, as they say, by all.

All customers were entered into a drawing for an IPOD Nano, which was won at the end of the day when Joan drew the name for the lucky customer...more about that later

Joan is Retiring and we're inviting all our customers to celebrate this new phase in her magnificent life

Joan Gossett, who has worked at Tender Treasures since 1991 is retiring. Joan is beloved by our customers and our staff alike. There is no one quite like Joan's spirit, energy, and loyalty. We're all going to miss her, but we are thrilled to celebrate the purchase of her new home in Yucaipa, and know that she will take this time to do all the things she has wanted to do for a long time.

We're inviting ALL our customers to join Joan on her last day of work which will be during our birthday celebration on Saturday, September 6. Come down for cake and champagne, and help us to send her off with celebratory joy! We will be raffling off an IPOD Nano to one of our lucky celebrants too.

We hope to see all of you on September 6, at 2280 Honolulu Ave., in Montrose for this very special celebration combining our birthday and Joans retirement.

Joan has been playing Mrs. Claus for years at our Holiday Party, so we hope that she will come back again for this year's event.

Happy Birthday Tender Treasures

Celebrate with us September 6 from 1-5:00

September has arrived, and we will be celebrating Tender Treasures 25th Anniversary! We are rolling back prices for our special birthday celebration on September 6, and celebrating with Cake and Champagne from 1:00-5:00 in the store located at 2280 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA.

So, please stop by and celebrate with us.

Lotta catching up to do

Well, I admit, this is a pretty poor showing for the past few months. There's plenty of things going on, but not lots of time to sit and reflect about them. So, I decided to break the ice here and hopefully get back into the swing of things.

One Big event that is coming up is the retirement of one of my long time employees, Joan Gossett. Joan has worked for me since 1991, and recently purchased a home in a retirement community. This is going to be a great move for her, but we are all going to miss Joan!

I'm planning to have an open house on September 6, Joans last day. So, anyone reading this should mark the calendar for that day. We'll have champagne punch, and some fun events at the store to mark this occasion. More about this later.

New Linens from France

I simply could not resist this beautiful French Linen line, produced in the countryside of Aix en Provence in France. The company is strongly dedicated to the authenticity of its "Provence" roots. CANNISSE has created a reputation in France, for garments which have unique shapes and matching layers. There are over 400 shops in France that carry Cannisse, and the company owns boutiques in St. Tropiez, Cannes and Juan les Pins. Now you can pick it up at Tender Treasures!

New CP Shades very cool stuff...

Sourcing through the Designers and Agents show a few months back, I came across clothing that I used to buy a lot for myself...CP Shades. This booth was so filled with natural fibers, eco fabrics, and soft luscious fabrics that I was just drawn in, and ended up buying a few things. We just received this delivery and although I"m still working on getting photos for everything, take a look. Lots of nice tops for spring and summer, especially if you don't mind the wrinkled gauzy cotton and linen look.

Now Available at TenderTreasures.com -- Flax Generous

We've had so many requests to carry the Flax Clothing Generous sizing that we have now added it to our website. Our first delivery begins March 3 but you can pre-order to reserve your items now.

We welcome your feedback, and your special orders. This is an exciting new addition to Tender Treasures, so we hope you will let us know your needs for this new department.

Our beautiful curvacious model was so much fun to work with, so I hope that you enjoy the new look of our Generous Flax page.

Montrose Link on the Tender Treasures Home Page

• Old Town Montrose has a lot of wonderful events coming up. You should check them out:
  
  February 24- Founders Day from 9-2 pm
  May 4 -Kids N Kritters Day 9-2
  June 7-8 Montrose Arts and Crafts Festival 10-6
  July 6 - Block Party and Hot Rod Show 9-2
  August 24 - Montrose Book Festival 9-2
  September 21 - Montrose Invitational Classic Car Show
  October 31, Montrose Halloween Spooktacular
  November 22 - Montrose Old Town Christmas
  
  If you are looking for a day out, and you would like to support those of us who are hoping to keep the spirit of a real small town America alive then please come on over! We would love to see you all.
  
  Tender Treasures staff would be thrilled to help you out, whether you're just browsing, or looking for a particular gift for a child, or some nice comfy linen clothing for yourself.

Costumes are BACK!!!

Please join us for our

Halloween Dress UP Day

Trunk Show

featuring a collection of costumes from "Little Adventures"

Saturday, October 13

12:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Refreshments will be served all day.

Don't miss the Fun and the Fantasy

Please call our store 818-248-2260 for reservations.

All kids with reservations are entered into a drawing for a $100 Gift Certificate

Our Montrose Store address is 2280 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 818-248-2260

But Wait! It got worse!!

This is the end of a LOOONG week. On top of all the failures previously mentioned we had a total and complete power failure at the warehouse on Tuesday. I sat in the DARK until 9:30 pm when the power finally was restored. My wonderful landlord here at the warehouse, and his property manager, plus the electrician were so great and they persevered to get the power restored so that all of our nighttime polling between locations was not interrupted.

I apologize to any customers who have tried to call us on the phone over the past few weeks, and received a "no answer." Between the phone and power failures we have missed many of your calls. But we're back now, and willing and ready to help.

Technology and the 25 year old Tender Treasures

In a few months, Tender Treasures will begin a year long celebration of our 25th anniversary. When the first Tender Treasures opened in a 100 Square Feet space on Raymond Ave. in Old Town Pasadena, we didn't even have walls that reached all the way to the ceiling. In other words, we were a cubicle inside what was then the Antique Mall. We paid $100 rent, and we had one employee. There was no cash register, and incidentally....there were also no customers! Old Town Pasadena had yet to be developed, and the empty buildings were a refuge for the homeless population of the area. A few brave souls who came for lunch to a wonderful restaurant across the street would wander over, and sometimes make a purchase. This was in 1983.

Flash forward to Friday, September 7, 2007. Tender Treasures is a 2700 square foot retail space, plus a 3000 square foot warehouse. We have ten employees, and the walls reach all the way to the ceilings in both locations! We have eight computers, and rely on them every minute of every day. Two weeks ago, while I was out of town, the software which imports our internet orders into our computers, stopped working and is STILL not fixed as of today. On Friday, September 7, I arrived in our warehouse to find that our phone lines, our internet service, and our alarm were not working!! This would have been a blip on the screen in 1983, but today it is a big deal. It means we cant do business. Although our phone lines were finally fixed on Friday, and the internet came back as a result, I had a whole day to wonder how we had morphed into a technology-driven business that can be stopped in our tracks by a telephone line. At one point, a customer service representative located in India, was telling me not to worry. He assured me it would all be fixed by September 11.

More later on this topic

Introducing a new look for Tender Treasures

If you are looking for a fresh new look, something a bit artsy and feminine then you might want to take a look at our new collection of Luna Luz fashions at Tender Treasures. And yes...that gorgeous model is Crystal, who used to be our customer service representative but has now moved on to a career in film editing. The dresses are just fantastic, and the cottons and lycras are so soft and beautiful. Please let me know what you think!!!

Los Angeles County Museum of Art Friday Night Concert Series

Meet me at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where my husband will be performing an all too rare Russ Ferrante Trio concert. You can get the details here: http://www.lacma.org/programs/FridayNightJazz.aspx#Ferrante

Charity Auction on EBAY

I am trying something new! Thinking of creative ways to raise money for the charities we support at Tender Treasures is a particularly enjoyable task for me. We've done lots of things in the past 25 years to help out our friends. At one point, we asked our Beanie Baby customers to bring a pound of coffee for the local homeless shelter, and they would get a discount on their purchases. We raised 5000 lbs of coffee for the homeless shelter, enough to last for a couple of years!!

Ongoing, we have a special rack called "Claire's Closet" which is cool recycled children's clothes that my daughter Claire finds during her constant thrift store shopping. We sell them and give the money to the Glendale Humane Society, a local no-kill shelter with a heart.

So now..I'm trying something new! I have lots of vintage Angelheart clothing, the special collections that were designed as a higher end offering by Jeanne Englehart when she owned the Flax company. I am putting them up on Ebay for sale, and donating the proceeds to Glendale Humane Society, as well as Union Station Homeless Services. So, for you Angelheart collectors, take a look.

Montrose and Tender Treasures

As many of you know, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the changing of ownership of many of the older buildings in our fair city of Montrose, California. Having been founded by a series of developers and property owners who were approaching their latter senior years, many of them decided to sell the buildings at the peak of the real estate frenzy last year. My own landlord, a wonderful man named Steve Jeffers was one of them. Steve is one of the finest people I have ever met in my life. For most of the 19 years that I was a tenant of his, I didn't even have a lease because I knew that he would be more than fair in any situation. . Last year, he sold the building where Tender Treasures has been located for a nice sum, and I can't be happier for his good fortunes.

For many businesses in Montrose, the change of ownership has included raising rents. The long time ownership of the buildings insured that the rents remained incredibly affordable. Most of the older landlords were more interested in having good tenants that paid the rent on time. Now, with rising tax basis, and property values we see rising rents and lots of tenants who are facing the prospect of coming up with a lot more money every month for rent....or as I like to look at it....facing the prospect of taking home a lot less draw every month. There are leasing agents that need their piece of the pie as well, so all in all the small business owners who were able to make a decent living on their businesses find themselves in the un-enviable position of having to share a bigger portion with landlords and agents.

As one could imagine, this has touched off a firestorm of criticism from each side. A local leasing agent made an degrading remark about the merchants who were complaining about rent increases, and then merchants rose up in response. Caught in the firestorm of the mud-slinging is Montrose, the little city that I call "unreconstructed from the 50's." Its a jewel of a shopping district, nestled foothills of the San Gabriel Valley, with a winding "I brake for Squirrels" main street, and lots of shops that are owned and operated by local folk. Its a great alternative to the mall shopping, or the newer "Multi Use" developments. Its just down home.

Yesterday, I asked my employees to make a list of all the things that they liked about Montrose, and why anyone should come to Montrose to shop rather than the malls. It didn't take more than an hour for them to come up with over twenty different reasons! We had a grand time making signs for our window publicizing all of this. So...if you are here in the area..please come shop in Montrose. You will enjoy the experience, I assure you. If you do, please check out our window where the "bucketheads" are holding up their signage protesting change in Montrose.

Our Customer Service Representatives

Who are the helpful representatives at the other end of our Toll Free number?? Megan and Crystal are the two individuals who are responsible for answering the phone and taking your orders. If you haven't already seen these two fantastic women, I wanted to take some photos of them for you. Since we have a beautiful photo studio in our new warehouse, its easy!! You can also read about each of them on our Staff page . Just follow the link.

cheers

gerry

My daughter introduced me to this fantastic blog

My daughter, Claire, keeps sending me links to this blog. ITs AMAZING, its original, and best of all it is full of some really GREAT design. It takes a minute to load, but take a look. This is fun stuff. There are thousands of people who read this blog religiously, and the photography is enough to make you come back for more on a daily basis.

http://www.designsponge.blogspot.com/

Where else could you find a link for Damask Trash Bags????

We're honored to be Voted the Foothill's Best!

Tender Treasures was voted FOOTHILLS BEST CHILDEN"S STORE by the Glendale News Press. We are honored to be chosen, particularly because this award is given by a public vote of many thousands of subscribers to the paper. After Twenty Five Years in business...I"m glad our business is still appreciated by our customers. Thanks to all of you who voted for us! YOU are the best!

Take a look here:

http://glendale.p2ionline.com/SpecialSections/sitebase/index.aspx?adgroupid=100388&view=single&pageno=14&webstoryid=12170137

Re-Entry from Vacation

I wasn't sure how to re-enter my world at Tender Treasures after Vacation! It was glorious and re-energizing and so far removed from the day to day efforts of just getting out all of those orders every day and making sure that all our beautiful and wonderful customers were taken care of! But here I am. I have been filling the orders myself this weekend because of the holiday. My staff has a much needed weekend off, so I"m here at the ware house and just having a blast by myself.

May 2007 Vacation

Russ and I just returned from a wonderfully restful vacation in Santa Fe New Mexico. I grew up in New Mexico, and it is always a wonderful treat for me to return to the place where I once called home.

p>There is no place like it on earth. The sunlight is a golden, peachy and lavender glow that just surrounds you with a spectrum of warmth. The food which combines the Native American, Mexican and Spanish traditions includes the flavors of New Mexico Chile (you have not tasted CHILE until you taste New Mexico chile) and Blue Corn. There is fried bread called Sopaipillas that puff up when they are cooked, and become a hollow opening for local honey to be poured into the center and eaten.

Artists since the last century have journeyed to Santa Fe in search of this magnificent culture and light. So..you can spend days just browsing the artist galleries.

Starting out year 2007

2007 began with the death of my beautiful, brave mother Florence. She died from complications of Alzheimers Disease, but not without living a 91 year fantastic life that was widely celebrated each year on her birthdays.

The past few years with her were amazing. Alzheimers is a difficult and incredibly grueling disease for families...but we actually had a wonderful time with my mother. Somewhere along the line, I saw a celebrity on television describing her father's battle with Alzheimers. He told his children..."please do not leave me alone." That resonated with me, and our family set about organizing mother's life so that she was never alone. She had activities, and friends all day, every day. She spent the weekends with me. My husband, who is a musician, wrote arrangements of her favorite jazz standards and we had wonderful sessions on Saturday nights after dinner where Russ (my husband) would play the piano, my brother John would play the drums, and mom and I would accompany them on the tambourine, sticks, or other percussion instruments. What happened was nothing short of a miracle. Sometimes mother would not know where she was, or who we were before we began. After a couple of tunes, something would happen and on top of just pure joy, she was thinking more clearly. I do plan to write more about this, and other activities that we enjoyed together in hopes that someone else might benefit from what I called "Swing Therapy" for my mother. Write me if you want to know more.