Thursday, June 20, 2019

Notes from the Boss Babe

We are coming up to the end of our second year at 36th and Harvard.  We have enjoyed our new location,our neighbors here and the visibility that the stop light offers us as people wait until the lights turn green.

We have also had fun with the folks who come into the store thinking it is our old space at 38th and Harvard and look around in disbelief.  Some come straight out and say YOU CHANGED THE STORE!!.  By the look on some other folks' faces we know that they are confused and lost and when we tell them this isn't the old store, they sheepishly grin and apologize for not realizing that they hadn't visited us in a year or two!!

This new space has given us the opportunity to offer merchandise which we love, which has been with us for years, promoted by a few sales reps who know us well and not have to worry about filling up space.  That can be a real problem for retailers....buying merchandise which is slow as Heinz ketchup.

What do we have planned, you ask?  Well, there will be more events as we approach the Fall.  We will bring in another Artisan Show from Trollbeads, we are holding Birthday Day Parties in the store, and of course, we will let loose with our annual Holiday Party in November.  In a few weeks we will offer our Summer Sale, an annual July event, but this time, inside where the a/c makes it comfortable for all of us.

We have acquired more local artists and merchandise...we like boosting our community and our state.  We are calling ourselves THE HOME OF THE OKLAHOMA BASKET because we carry select Oklahoma products and actually have hand made baskets in the shape of our state.

As always, we are THE HAPPY PLACE and we even sell a garden flag which says that!!  How can anyone be unhappy in a store filled with gifts, jewelry, candy and fun people??

My favorite product right now is the metal cards and magnets which are called SHE INSPIRES.  I love the magnet with BOSS BABE on it (once I had Sabrina tell me what that meant!!).  So this Boss Babe is signing off for now.  Hope to see you soon in our HAPPY PLACE.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

In Honor of Sarah and Vicki

Today we want to share some very special news.

Some  may remember our staff member Sarah Woller who began working at Sweet Tooth when she was 15 years old.  Sarah gained confidence and knowledge of all our products and was universally liked by our customers.

Sarah has received the NSU Broken Arrow Student Worker Of The Year Award, April 26, 2019.  In addition, Sarah has received her B.A. in Cell and Molecular Biology from NSU.

You can imagine how happy and excited we are for Sarah, who has become very much a part of our extended family.  We have missed her sunny smile, her willingness to do whatever needed to be done, her friendly and knowledgeaable dialogue with our customers and most of all, just hearing about all her achievements.

Sarah will occasionally be helping us at Sweet Tooth, although her primary focus is as a researcher at NSU in her subject area.  When you see Sarah, congratulate her on this important achievement.

Our location at 36th and Harvard has been a terrific move for us.  We are delighted to be in a shopping center with Toni's Flowers, Ed Beshara's Menswear, Fellini's and The Inviting Place.  These are all good neighbors and outstanding locally owned businesses.  Hopefully you are supporting local merchants in our area.

One note of sorrow:  Vicki Martinus, who with her husband started Fellini's, passed away on April 12.  We have so many fond memories of Vicki, who was loved by so many of her customers and friends.  It was a delight to have lunch or breakfast at her shop, to hear her call our name when our order was up and especially to be working so hard to make her restaurant a beloved stop for hundreds of people.

In addition, Vicki was a loving mother and grandmother, proud of her family and generous to all of them.

If we had a Sky Bar in our store, we would open the paper and enjoy her favorite candy bar in Vicki's honor.

You know, we are in our 27th year of retail and it is amazing how many wonderful people we have met and enjoyed their friendship.  You never know whose life you touch and how that interaction will come back to you some day.  We salute Sarah and Vicki and thank them for their friendship!!


Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Update on the Effects of Tariffs on Retail Stores

Laatest news from one of our manufacturers which is watching very carefully the tariffs President Trump has put on imported items.

There has been a bit of relief in the past few weeks, but this manufacturer and others are not very optimistic that the threatened tariffs will be abandoned.  In other words, the concern is the raise in cost for manufactured goods which will ultimately be passed on to the consumer.

At Sweet Tooth, we are looking more and more for Made in the USA items, not only to avoid the tariffs but to assure ourselves that we are supporting USA industries, that we are reflecting the trends and tastes of our customers and that we are able to satisfy special orders from customers in a quick and efficient manner.

However, there will be increases in prices this year, both on gifts and on candy.  We are trying to keep those increases to a minimum but there is expectation that a slight increase on both sides of our store will be part of this year's inventory.

Support our Oklahoma manufactuers, our USA manufacturers and local business.  In this respect, we all win...money stays in our city and country, supports businesses and artists in the USA and boosts our profile as a store and a country. And local business pays local taxes which add to the city and state's ability to pay teachers a living wage, to upgrade our classrooms,  to fix infrastructure problems and employ local people.

Looking forward to keeping you updated and seeing you at Sweet Tooth.

Monday, February 25, 2019

I AM BACK....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I am back!!  Happy New Year!!!  We've got some great ideas for 2019 and we hope that you will be with us throughout the entire year.

Valentine's Day was very fine this year.  Sour Petite Hearts were back and those of you who came early to get yours were doing the right thing.  We do have a few left....in case you want some more.

Easter is Sunday April 21 and we are planning our popular Build a Basket program, where you can pick from our goodies for a basket and we will give you the basket, the cellophane wrap and shred, as well as the bow FREE!.  Starting April 1 (No Fooling!!), order your baskets.

We are totally excited about bringing Rachel, the Trollbeads jewelry artisan back to our store to create beautiful glass beads for our Trollbeads fans.  Mark yourr calendar....April 5, 6, and 7 and call Janet for an appointment to get your FREE bead, as well as the various special promotions we will have in the store.  Also meet Eric, Trollbeads Brand Specialist and get the latest news from him.

For those attending Proms this year we are working on some yummy and fun promotions.  Bring your date or even better, your date's mother a box of truffles when you pick up your date for Prom.  Match your Prom dress with some gorgeous earrings, necklaces and bracelets from our various jewelry lines.

Moms, Dads and Grads:  we are planning for you as well.  I am especially excited about the gifts for Dads.  As you know, it is always a bit challenging to shop for Dads....too many ties, sox, t-shirts and nothing really fun and functional.  Well, we've got those kind of gifts coming to Sweet Tooth.

If you haven't signed up for our email newsletter, you better!!  It is full of pictures and news about the store and comes out 2 times a week.  If you love jewelry, sign up for our Wednesday email newsletters showing what unique jewelry we have in the store.

Chala bags and tote lovers:  Mid-March some new merchandise will arrive....remember it is all vegan...no animals harmed in the making of this fabulous line and the price is just right.

OK.  Enough for now.  I promise not to neglect my blog this year, so watch for more news and come shop at Sweet Tooth....your Happy Place!!!

Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Real Meaning of the Season!!

Each Christmas season we have a number of great signs pertaining to the holiday.  Here is my favorite sign EVER!

It is a drawing of a traditional snowman, with black hat, carrot nose, coal eyes and mouth,  What the sign says makes it my favorite:

WHAT WE LEARN FROM SNOWMEN

STAY COOL.

HONOR YOUR MAKER.

DRESS FOR THE WEATHER.

STAND TALL...YOU CAN RELAX IN THE SPRING.

WE'RE ALL A LITTLE FLAKY.

Today we have Santa in our store, taking free photos with kids and adults.  We've been doing this for a few years, with the best and kindest Santa EVER.

I just heard him say something to one of our visitors, as meaningful as the Snowman sign:

"If you mess up, I will give you a do over!  And if you are really good, you can give that do over to a friend."

Between Santa and the Snowman sign, we can really learn the real meaning of this holiday season.

More to come................




Thursday, November 15, 2018

Here's My Testimonial

Some of us know that at a certain time in life brown spots begin to appear on your arms, hands, sometimes your legs.  If you have pale skin, those brown spots are really noticeable.  The drug stores sell all sorts of creams to fade them, however, let's face it, those creams don't work one bit!!

So now I am going to provide a testimony on brown spots.  I've got them...I'm not too happy about it and I'd like to wish them away.  

But here is my testimony and it is really true!!  Years ago we were at the Gift Market in a showroom where a company was introducing a hand, body and foot lotion which was endorsed by Meredith Baxter.  Remember her on the t.v. show with Michael J. Fox...she played his mom.

We listened to the spiel and bought the line.  It is called Caren.  One of the other appealing aspects of Caren is that part of the sales are donated to Cancer Research.

But here's the deal:  I have been faithfully using Caren body lotion on a daily basis.  After my morning shower, I spread it on my arms and my legs.  It is my ritual and I hadn't been paying too much attention to any results from the lotion...I just knew that it felt good and the scent was not overpowering.

Recently I noticed that those awful brown spots had been fading.  What? I asked myself.  Could it really be that the Caren lotion was working and fading those spots?

I remember talking to one of Caren's spokespeople who had been a skater....professionally, I think.  He had decided to try the foot cream on his crusty old feet and he experimented by putting the cream on one foot, but not on the other.

I was skeptical about that story when he told me that the skin on the foot with the cream had softened and was showing great improvement.

So shame on me for doubting his story, cuz now I have a similiar story of my own.  Of course Caren has its 2 shelves at Sweet Tooth.  I no longer look at Caren as a pretty after-the-shower lotion.  I look on it as a product which actually does what it says.

Stay tuned for more testimonials and come try Caren lotions!!

Friday, November 2, 2018

The Jingle Bells Are Ringing!!

We can hear the Jingle Bells ringing.  It is that time of the year when the store is full of wonderful gifts and candies and the time goes by so fast we can hardly believe it when we close the door on December 24.

You might want to know what it takes to prepare for the Holiday season. In January, 2018 we began ordering Holiday items for the store.  At the January Gift Market we had the opportunity to see what companies were promising for the 4th quarter.  By June Gift Market, a great deal of those items were already committed.

We tell our customers that if the item or the candy is seasonal, it is best to buy it when you see it.  I have already had the experience of attempting to re-ordering some Holiday merchandise in August and found it was sold out.  This is definitely the case for food items.  No manufacturer wants to have left over holiday food items and no retailer wants that problem either.

This year we have a number of new things to offer.  For us, after 26 years, that is really a BIG DEAL.  Patience Brewster ornaments are back and we are the only Tulsa store carrying them.  Our new artisan hand-crafted silver and gold jewelry is also a wonderful new line for us and once again, we are the only store to have it.  EarthGrace is the name and beauty is the game!!  We are already ordering a second delivery for the 2nd week of December.

When new candy becomes available, we are over the moon with excitement.  Our Awesome Fudge, our Pumpkin shaped Truffles (already sold out), our cups filled with hot chocolate mix and marshmellows are just a few of the delightful new food items for our store.

Now what does it take to get all this going?  Keep marching and don't look back.  Realize that there will be little time for recreational activities, dinners out, family get togethers, etc.  However, we still love this work. 

Watch for the Exclusive Christmas Ornament created by the Tulsa Glassblowers Studio for Sweet Tooth. Only 25 will be available for sale, although we will carry many of the ornaments this very talented group is making as I am writing this piece.

Watch for our Open House, Photos with Santa, Christmas music with Gyan and Scott, 3 booksignings in December, Black Friday specials and so much more.

Watch this space.