Reminiscing

Although I didn't know him then...this reminds me of my grandfather. He was a carnie before he met my grandmother in Texas and settled down. He told me stories about climbing the Ferris Wheel to set it up and take it down. As a matter of fact, my grandmother got on the ride and my grandfather wouldn't let her off - he was smitten. With that began a new chapter and the carnie life was left behind.

It all started when my grandfather ran away from home at the age of 9 and again at 13.  The second time he ran away from home, he worked in a bowling alley on 42nd Street in New York City setting up the bowling pins; it was 1939.  From there he joined a traveling carnival and ended up manning the Ferris Wheel.

The story I was told over and over again goes like this... Nanny (that's my grandmother) was at the carnival with her brother (my Uncle Dink...hey it was Texas in the 40's) and they got on the Ferris Wheel.  My grandfather saw her and was immediately smitten.  He had no idea Uncle Dink was her brother.  Round and round they went, with my grandfather refusing to let them off the ride until she agreed to a date with him.  Which, from I what was told, was a pretty long time. 

When it came time for the carnival to move on, the sheriff made sure my grandfather went with them.  You see, his son was also smitten with my grandmother.  From what I understand, not a week went by that my grandfather was back and they were married.  That was 1945.

Guess the Retail; Win the Prize!

UPDATE:  Congratulations to Natalie Chui!  Natalie won the below bracelet with her guess of $58 retail.  Be on the look out for our next giveaway! 

I use a set formula to calculate the MerCurios wholesale and retail prices, and I'm currently in the process of reevaluating my formula.  That's where you guys come in!

Guess the RETAIL price of this bracelet and WIN it!  It's that simple!  The first person to guess the correct retail price will win the prize, however, the contest will run the entire week.



Feel free to reference the MerCurios website to aid in guessing, however, keep in mind that I am reevaluating my formula AND the new collection is not yet listed.  Now for the materials used...this bracelet is constructed of solid brass, ribbon & a cast brass charm.

Rules:
1. One entry per person please, left as a comment to this blog post.
2. Guess must be posted in US Dollars.
3. The contest will run from Monday, April 12 through Sunday, April 17, and the winner will be announced on Monday, April 18.

That's all there is too it!

Henri Bendel "Open See" Recap

It's official, I'm "Too Edgy" for Henri Bendel.  As you may, or may not know, on Friday, March 26, I dragged my behind out of bed at 4 am to get to the Henri Bendel "Open See".  I arrived on the line at 7:30 in the morning and there were at least 100 people on line in front of me already.  True to their word, at 9 AM the line started moving and we were shuffled in to the building in groups of 20.   ...escorted downstairs to wait on another line to sign in by category of business, from there we went to a waiting room, where Henri Bendel graciously provided coffee and tea.

It is not an exaggeration when I tell you, of the hundreds of people that showed up for the open see, at least 95% were jewelry vendors.  At around 12:30, I got my five minutes to pitch my product to one of the accessory buyers.  She flipped through my catalog, looked at 5 of the 7 trays I brought, looked up at me and said "you're too edgy for us".

"Too edgy", hmmm...I can not tell you that I did not see that coming, because I did.  My items are somewhat sophisticated, yet definitely edgy.  In a word "chaotically couture".  However, I got out of it what I wanted; the experience and the exposure.  The preparation for this meeting also forced me to create the wholesale catalog that I was putting off for ages.  With the new product and catalog finished MerCurios is ready for the next chapter, with wonderful things on the horizon.