Month: December 2015

If you haven’t read Part One, you can find it here.

Our customers are remarkable. You are all real, alive, three-dimensional, diverse, and interesting people. You are not statistics on a printout to us. You are not numbers in a database. You are Carl, Roxanne, Erika, and Beth. Ashley, Stephen, Michelle, and Kirk. You make a choice to shop at our store. You are parents, friends, spouses, work colleagues, family, collectors, and community partners. You are YOU. We celebrate YOU, and we are deeply grateful for your openness, kindness, and thoughtful shopping. You are why we come to work every day. Thank you for choosing our store. We can never thank you enough. Keep the laughter and shared stories coming. The joy you share is inspiring. Thank you for your faith in us and in our dream business.

Last week we received a giant stack of boxes. We are conditioned to piles of boxes rolling into our store every day. In October, November, and December, the piles grow pretty tall. Some days our deliveries fill half the UPS truck that Rafael – our UPS driver who, like us, also loves the lemon cake at Cafe Europa! – drives to our back door. On this day, however, a small box was cushioned in the pile. It was addressed to us personally in the most fantastic lettering you can imagine. Inside we found a handpainted ceramic bowl, made especially for serving our traditional party M&M’s. It reads: “PURSUE GOOD STUFF…LIKE M&M’S”. It is quite perfect, and we are humbled by the thought, kindness, and generosity that created such a meaningful gift. Thank you, Julie and Robin Cates. You “party girls” are forever in our hearts, and you will now be with us at every party we host at STUFF.

Our lives are incredible. They are not always simple, yet they’re not too complex. But they are always extraordinary. There is so very much to celebrate – graduations, returning travelers, small cancer victories, anniversaries, and birthdays. As we look ahead to 2016, we are already planning parties at our store and in our homes. We have no doubt it will be another year filled with celebrations and meaningful connections.

We invite you to join in all our celebrations at STUFF. We encourage you to plan parties of your own as often as possible. You will not regret it.

We would also like to recommend serving a bowl of happy and colorful peanut M&M’s. We have found it makes for a joyful journey. And added protein for the ride.

Happy holidays!

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We have been gifted almost twenty years of success, and we are thrilled to be experiencing a busy holiday season again this year. We are constantly grateful.

When we started our store over 19 years ago, we were younger, naive, and deeply passionate. Many people told us we would never succeed, and there have been many times over the years when we feared the same. But we kept our dreams alive, with not much more than sheer determination and blatant denial as life support. Honestly, this business has never been easy. There have been times when it has crawled and walked by sheer willpower. Much like a toddler, it has always taken daily management and our constant attention.

We have experienced many, many challenges over these incredible years. But one thing has never changed at our store: the celebrations. We started our store by hosting art opening parties, and to this day we have continued to host an increasing number of events every year. We love a good party. Yes, we are self-professed “party girls” who believe that life should be celebrated as often as possible.

We also believe that it is not a party without a bowl of peanut M&M’s. Since our first event, we have always offered a bowl brimming with those colorful sweets. It is both a tradition and a superstition at this point. We believe the business might fold if we forgot the M&M’s. If you have had a peanut M&M at STUFF, you are part of this tradition, and we thank you.

STUFF is our careers and our creative muse, and it has been a foundation for self-discovery. Professional and personal growth came along with that. Our store is the extension of our family. Our work team is extraordinary. Today, and for the last 19+ years, we have worked with people who we are proud to call our work family. Our past team members have gone on to nestle into rich, full lives. We have attended weddings and baby showers. We have held many babies, and we have hugged past employees tightly when they drop in for a happy visit or during difficult times. They are part of the STUFF story. And the team we have this season is no exception. We are grateful for Ryoko, Maggie, Lynne, Rebecca, Andrea, Christopher, Cori, Abby, Joy, Sherry, Vivian, Ella, Sean and Sue Ann. They have offered 110% every day and in every way. They make our work together playful and happy. We offer each other support, love, and kindness. We are very proud to have a team that puts people first. These people embrace the true mission of our store. They all have seen the power of peanut M&M’s at every one of the twenty-two parties during our Season of Giving this year alone. Thank you, team; we love you!

Many things have changed over the last 19 years. Our store was designed to evolve. We recognized early on that this special project had a spirit of its own. We strive to let our treasured artists grow creatively by finding their own paths. We do not push our artists to make work based on profit. We encourage our artists to challenge themselves, to gain confidence, and to become better small business owners themselves. We try to share our experience and wisdom openly and freely. We even find ourselves offering seminars in small business, customer service, and creative motivation beyond the walls and mission of STUFF. This last part is a journey we did not foresee but continue to explore. To our artists: we admire your talent and are grateful that you have chosen STUFF to share your work with the world. We look forward to supporting you and many artists for years to come.

We, in many ways, have become the stewards of this magical little place with a very big heart. We have always worked hard to let STUFF take shape somewhat on its own.

Stay tuned for Part Two…

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