Tender Treasures - Gerry's Blog

Montrose Halloween!

2009-11-01T05:08:00.000-08:00

Every year in Montrose, thousands of kids and parents descend on our shopping area for a Halloween "Spooktacular" Trick or Treating experience. This year was probably the most kids we've ever seen in all the years of this event. It was madness! As the kids and parents go from store to store, owners hand out candy to all. Hundreds of pounds of candy is distributed by each store making this fertile ground for the little trick or treaters. This robot costume was one of my favorites! Dad and his son spent weeks gathering all the hardware to make this costume, assembling it, and they were out with the whole family to collect the rewards.

The pet friendly workplaces

2009-11-01T04:54:00.001-08:00

TEE Party SALE and IPOD Nano Giveaway!

2009-10-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

Ok...I am determined this is going to be a fun month. We're putting TEE Shirts on sale and calling it a TEE Party because we are also going to draw a lucky customer's name for a free IPOD Nano with Video Camera on October 31!

That's right folks...just spend $50.00 in the store or on line and you will be entered into our drawing for a hot pink IPOD Nano.

In addition we have tons of sale merchandise, plus a lot of new Fall Merchandise arriving daily. Its a crazy time in our world.. but I am ready to have a little bit of fun this month between Halloween, and our sales, and our giveaway. Enjoy!

gerry

Station Fire

2009-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been spent watching the Station Fire in La Canada as it flares up all around my house. WE have been way too close for comfort, although the most harrowing times seem to have peaked. However even as I write, the planes and choppers are circling above meaning there is another flare up nearby. I have included a link to some photos that I've been taking....take a look. More later on reflection.

Summer Flax Clothing now on SALE

2009-08-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Flax Summer 2009

Now on SALE

30% OFF

Take advantage of this

terrific group of

Flax Clothing for summer.

Standard and Generous

sizing available.

A Wedding, a lost UPS package, and a happy ending.

2009-07-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

Recently, the words Customer Service took on new meaning at Tender Treasures. The following e-mail exchange will illustrate why.

7/1/2009 at 8:05 a.m Mary: Help!! I had to reorder this dress in a larger size and I am in a panic. I am wearing it for my wedding next Tuesday, July 7 and I completely spaced out on the holiday, and now I am afraid I won’t get it in time. Could you please expedite the shipping? I’ll happily pay.

To which we replied that sure…we will send it 2^nd day air so that you will have it in plenty of time.

This was all good to go until we got another e-mail that the dress had not arrived at the appointed time. Some research on our part indicated that we had somehow screwed up the 2^nd day air, and sent it ground instead.

To complicate matters, Mary told us she was leaving in a few hours to go to Lansing, Iowa for her wedding. Even if we could get the package delivered, she wouldn’t be there. So now, we had to not only intercept the package, but we had to re-route it to Iowa instead of Minnesota.

Calls to UPS were frustrating at first. We were told nothing could be done. I asked to speak to a supervisor and reached this dream of a man, Russell Gridley, who went to the mat for us, and for Mary.

Evening of July 6, 2009: Gerry : The supervisor at UPS has been working on this all day long. He has intercepted your package, and it will be re-routed to Lansing Iowa. The one thing he has told me is that Lansing is near the end of the route, and usually packages are delivered in the afternoon. He is trying to find a way to get it to you in the morning.

Mary: I can’t believe how hard everyone has worked to make my wedding a wonderful day! When we arrived at the B&B last night, the proprietor told me that my dress would arrive!!! I can’t wait! It is raining here in IA but I understand that to be good luck. Today is our 13^th Anniversary, so I know we are doing something right.

July 7, 2009: Mary: I got a call from Ken, the local UPS guy this morning and he met me in the grocery store parking lot a town away from us. What a great guy!!!

Later that Day: Its official…we are married. The dress was perfect and the wedding went off without a problem. I felt great in it and I think it looked pretty good too. Thanks again for all that you did for me. I appreciate your support and kind words.

I asked Mary if we could share her story of this adventure, and her wedding. Here is what she wrote to me:

Mary: We are a lesbian couple who never thought we would see the day that we could be married. Today is our 13^th anniversary. We had a commitment ceremony on July 7, 2001. It was not a legal event of course, but we wanted to make the public statement. It was a wonderful party to those in attendance but deeply meaningful to us. We are here in Iowa today because their Supreme Court gave us the ability to marry. We are here with our oldest friends who witnessed our original commitment. They are getting married tomorrow on their 12^th anniversary. …

Since our original commitment, I have lost 80 pounds and had a double mastectomy for breast cancer. I did not have any reconstructive surgery and have a body that is unusually shaped. I have so much trouble finding pretty, feminine clothing that is comfortable and attractive. When I found the dress on your website, it was perfect! I was so disappointed yesterday morning when I hit the mall to look for a substitute. I found something that will do but is not THE dress I wanted. I am so excited to have it arrive, and to be able to go forward with my vision. We are picking up our calla lilly wedding flowers on our way to the courthouse!!

Again, my sincerest thanks. With so many people working to make our wedding day a lovely success, I kow we will have a lifetime of happiness!!

The Wedding in Photos

2009-07-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like a photo to tell the story. Click on this photo to enlarge and enjoy!!

Helpful Info on Health Care Reform in your district

2009-07-29T11:27:00.001-07:00

Click on the link above for helpful information about health care implications for your own district.

Tender Treasures and the Health Care Discussion

2009-07-25T10:26:00.001-07:00

I am a small business owner. I have employed between 7-12 employees over the past 26 years in Montrose, California and in my warehouse in Altadena, California. Now, I employ 5 employees due to the economy. One thing that has been important to me for many, many years is a commitment to providing health care for my employees despite the nay-sayers who complain that small businesses can't provide health care.

Initially, I started offering health care after the 1993 legislation in the State of California provided for a small business pool of insurers. It was called the Health Insurance Plan in California, and as a small business owner I was given over 30 different insurance plans from which my employees could choose. By law, I was only required to pay half of the lowest cost plan and withhold half from my employee’s salaries. In the early years I provided health insurance for anyone who worked 20 hours a week or more. The participation formula required that at least 50% of eligible employees must buy into the plan. If they wanted, employees could choose more expensive plans and pay the difference. It was always my choice to offer one of the medium plans as a baseline for which I paid my half.

In 1999, administration for HIPIC was turned over to a non-profit private agency to administrate. Insurance agents entered the picture although I never did utilize an agent for my business. It wasn’t necessary because the plan was equal for everyone, and all one had to do was provide qualification data for your employees. The new private entity was called Pac Advantage. We still had enough choices to provide a flexible health care choice of plans for employees, even though it was not as varied as the original plan run by the state. Each employee would be sent a simple to understand letter listing all of the plans and the price, along with an easily understood listing of what my business would pay toward each of the plans.

Two years ago, Pac Advantage went out of business suddenly, leaving 50,000 small businesses without insurance. I am not clear on what caused its demise. I scuffled and found a Blue Cross plan through a broker that works well for us, but now the participation quotient is 75% of eligible employees. As an employer I am being forced to cut back my insurance offerings to only full time employees now since I have a small staff, and if even one person does not want the insurance but is eligible it disqualifies the company because we will have less than 75% participation.

I want to provide health insurance. It is increasingly more difficult and expensive to do so. I am not afraid to have a requirement for health insurance because I already know I can do it. If the cost could be brought under control, I would love to provide full coverage and not require my employees to pay half. Right now, it costs me $1000 a month for 3 employees. They all have chosen my medium Blue Cross HMO plan and seem happy. I have seen that it can work when the government utilizes its massive amount of participants to negotiate the contracts with the insurance companies. It worked for me, and 50,000 other businesses in California. As the insurance companies pushed back, and took control of the plan, it failed.

I want to support President Obama on his attempts to provide healthcare for every American through a robust public option. The time has come to stand up for what is right for our citizens. Starting over, I believe, is not an option. Private insurers provided wonderful coverage for my employees under a state negotiated and mandated plan. It can be done.

I have seen first hand what a difference it makes for my employees to have health care, to be confident that they will not become destitute because they are sick and to take care of themselves in a responsible manner.

Sincerely

Gerry Puhara

My tap class and THE HAND JIVE

2009-05-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-01T20:52:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-01-09T19:06:00.001-08:00

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

Petey and the folks at CARE

2009-01-05T21:18:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

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

2008-09-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

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......

2008-09-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-09T17:10:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-09T16:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-02T15:16:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

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.