S3:E2 After Market Update!

 In today's podcast, we are back in the car, but this time on the way home from market. And let me tell you, you can hear how tired we are in our voices and maybe even a little sick. It is not for the faint of heart and hmm, doing it as you get older. Let me tell you. It is not fun. But what is fun is seeing a lot of old friends that you've met around the country year after year and all of the new beautiful stuff.

So we discussed some of our new finds, including a new honey hole that I found I'm so thankful for, as well as lots of beautiful ribbon, getting a little sticker shock on a few items that are out there and catching up with our friend John Mark, enjoying his ribbon. So Stewart, press the gas and let's get home and let's get to this podcast.

Our friend Jennifer we met at dinner, her Etsy shop.

Our friend Brian Lane.

With friends John Mark and Callie.

Catching up with Jeffrey Surles

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Transcript

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In today's podcast, we are back in the car, but this time on the way home from market. And let me tell you, you can hear how tired we are in our voices and maybe even a little sick. It is not for the faint of heart and hmm, doing it as you get older. Let me tell you. It is not fun. But what is fun is seeing a lot of old friends that you've met around the country year after year and all of the new beautiful stuff. So we discussed some of our new finds, including a new honey hole that I found I'm so thankful for, as well as lots of beautiful ribbon, getting a little sticker shock on a few items that are out there and catching up with our friend John Mark, enjoying his ribbon. So Stewart, press the gas and let's get home and let's get to this podcast. Okay, we're back. Are y'all glad to be going home? Yeah. Well, once again, we got the market and we have not changed place. Stuart is still driving. I'm still driving. Dwayne is still in the backseat again. You haven't napped. I think this is the first time. This trip is the first time and I don't know how many years he didn't nap. On the way down or back or the way back. Well he's been on the phone. Well that's true. Talking and chatting, that's why he's not talking now.'cause he's talked to him. Well I've we're done with parties and events and weddings. But apparently not, which was a lovely conversation, Millie. I know you listened to it. So I was having the conversations about Millie and her, uh, upcoming, um, what is it? Bridal luncheons and things we're talking about that. Uh, so anyway, it was a good conversation. Okay. So what'd you think about market now that we've conquered it and, and, uh, hobbling home? Uh, are y'all wore out?, Yes. I'm tired. I'm tired. Yeah, I'm not wore out. I'm tired. Um, but you know what? I slept really good the last two nights and I did not last night, so I was very thankful I had. More crazy dreams that I've not told you all about, which I won't bore our listeners with. Um, but yeah, yeah. No, but I'm tired. I can tell. Um, you know, when we were at Market, we taped a little bit of a video with Donna Stevens. And Donna, you've heard her say this a number of times. She's, she's. So sweet. So she's been around for a very long time, but you know, and this is the lady we get ribbon from. Yeah. So Stevens, so D Stevens Ribbon. D Stevens Ribbon. Um, we sat down and chat with her and I said to her multiple times when we walked past her, um, I hope she's getting enough rest. And I was like, I'm not trying to tell you, you look like shit. Because that's not, that's not what I was saying, but I was like, what I kept thinking was, she's come straight from Dallas, she's done the, the full show down there, um, set up and all that, and then she's come straight to Atlanta. She's doing the show there. They're there at eight o'clock in the morning. They don't leave until late at night. And then. They get to the hotel and they crash. Well, she told me, she's like, I literally get to the hotel room and all I can do is think about everything I didn't do. And I was like, Donna, I was like, you've got to get arrested because I know, so I, I went to my first market with you all in, I think 20 or 2005. So this would've been 21 years later. Right. So, um, I know how much harder it is now for me. Can you imagine Stuart? He's so broken. But you know, I, I have no, oh, Donna did, uh, did tell me her age and I, and I won't share it with the world here, but you know, she's got a few years on me and I thought, Lord, this just to do it every day for nonstop for three weeks is, yeah. Is hard. So, uh, well tell who we did see, and I dunno if he brought these energy. So tell him about our other, uh, ribbon fan because we love us and, uh, Donna Stevens. But who else did we see? We do some Donna Stevens, because we've had her for years and have a good relationship with her. Oh yeah. She's good to us. Good to us. She's a sweetheart. But as everyone in the world knows now that John Mark Enterprises had released open, open buying to the wholesale market at this market in Dallas before. So we stopped by and saw him. Did you check with him? Did we did check out his ribbon. We did order some. Um, and I'm, you know, thrilled to. Have some of it coming to the store. We just kind of bought a little bit. there were, he's had some really beautiful options that were there. Some of them, I mean, listen, if you, okay, first, let's, let's get this out of the way. People, you'll hear people say on like in videos and things and say. If you're not happy with your ribbon, you can't buy cheap ribbon. You gotta buy good ribbon. You'll hear people say this, right? Right. They don't tell you what good ribbon is. They just say you need to buy good ribbon. So good ribbon is ribbon with really good wire, right? That you can control and shape, but it's also a thicker ribbon, right? And often it's double-faced. Is that fair? Right? Yes. Like it's gotta contrast back or an edging and all that kind of things. and so the, the truth of the matter is it's. More expensive, right? Like it's just, it's not what you're gonna get at Hobby Lobby or Michael's or Sam's for example, or Costco. Like that's not the good ribbon, right? No. Well, there's more put into the good ribbon, right? There's more put into it. So it is more expensive. Well, lemme tell you this little story side. Mark, uh, a designer who does a lot of Christmas, uh, trees and shops in the store. She came in and she said, she said, I'm never gonna get this house done. And I said, what's going on? She said, well, I'm here to buy ribbon. And she said, I went to this. Lady's house and first time, and I was, and she expected me, I love this. She expected me to use Sam's ribbon and I just said, that ain't gonna happen. She said, I want a house that gets a good ribbon. True story. Well, and so there like there is that. There, there is a drastic price change. A lot of times if you'll go to Michael's and you'll get, you know, whatever that they have there, they have, well, there's also three yards on a roll. Well, they say three yards, right? They games, right? So the three yards. So it may only cost like nothing, seven, six or seven,$8,$9,$10, something like that. But there's only three yards on. You can't do much with three yards. You're lucky if you make a boat. That's about it. Um, really to make a, a nice size. Decent vol, you need at least five yards. Yep. And if you're gonna add multiple ribbons in it, then it just keeps going. Right? Um, so anyways, so you've got that. So then to get like a good basic ribbon, it jumps, right? So for a 10 yard volt, like there's some that you're gonna find that are decent, like 15, 20, 24, something like that. And then like, really good stuff, it goes above that. Especially if you're talking about velvets and things. So he had a lot of beautiful ribbon, a lot of'em were beds, a lot of'em are ribbon or uh, mirrored. But the price points, it was, you know, more. Than what we would probably be comfortable. Well, I kind of referenced John Mark because he's, he's like with Donna, he's been from the, the Dallas market to this market, and he's worked. That kid is working hard, right? Yeah. He looked hard, but he's also looked tired. Did he look tired? He looked tired. He looked tired. Okay. He also is 50 years younger than Donna. Uh, he's, he's for 30 years younger than Don. I'm sorry. Yeah, he's 40, so 40 years younger, so, yeah, but still. Um, but I thought his, his, uh, coworker or his best friend Callie, works with her, but she was a sweetheart. She is. Which was a sweetheart. Um, uh, and I told her, I said, look, I said, when we get a picture, wait up. Hold on, hold up, hold up. He was in six. Grade when we opened our store. Well, I don't know. I, I can't do, I can't do the math. I can't do the math that fast. Oh. Um, nor do I wanna think about it, but, um, but Callie, who was with him, um, when I saw her, I said, I was asking,'cause I knew she was with him in Dallas, and I was like, look. I was like, I know you're tired. Like, are you ready to go home? She's like, I'm tired, but this is fun. But I am ready, you know? To go home. And I was like, by the way, when we get her picture, I was like, your ass is getting in the picture. Because that was kind of you. I know how this goes. You're the bitch that does almost half the work and you're getting none of the credit. And she was real sassy and cute and fun, but she appreciated the fact that she, that we acknowledged you saw her absolute Well because, you know, well, you know, it's always, well, it takes a team for your, it takes a team. Yeah. Right. So it's like, trust me. I could not do this on my own without my little team. I mean, you with your little team. Oh my lord. The little people. Um, but you know, it takes more than one person and it just, you know, like Martha Stuart is not Martha Stuart, but just because of her. No, she's walks on a lot of bats. Right. I mean, my, my favorite, uh, and I won't, late on September. Say, well, I'll say it now'cause they don't have the license anymore. But we were working with, um, uh, another company and they had a license with Better Homes and Gardens and honest to God, when we were at market and they were launching it, I remember the person that was ahead of the, the licensing program at the time, who was supposed to be involved with. All, how long ago was this? This was 2006, maybe. 2006. Okay. And he looked at me and he goes, I've never seen any of this. And it was literally product that had their name on it that was being sold to the masses that they had no involvement in. So, you know, if you think Martha Stuart's looking at every sheet set going out, or t thing's got her name on it, it's, it's not it. So, not that John Mark is the same, but I like, I know that there's more people, so I wanted to acknowledge her and she was so sweet. Um, but Lord, listen honey, the hens were a C clucking at that point, at that part of the market. The women were. Thick. They were shrilling. If that's what it was like for him. I can only imagine what it would've been like for Elvis. Right. Yeah. That's a lot to take every, I mean, I didn't see any panties thrown and smile. Well, but we were also there on a Tuesday. We, we tried to get there early, so it would be too crazy. But you know, he's, well, he was very nice. He was very, he was, he was very nice. He was very appreciative and, uh, so we should, so we wish him well. We really sincere. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's what we got across from him. You we're buying your rib and we, we support you, but sincerely, we want you to flourish and wish you well because we know this is not easy. And we all see you working hard. Mm-hmm. Very, very hard. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. So that one's done. And, you know, the, the funny comment about, or not the funny comment, but, um, when we saw some girls from a another store, we were chatting about, you know, ribbon and checking out his stuff and everything and you know, she's like, the thing I'm most. Thankful for. She's like, I'm, I'm glad that he's launching his ribbon and, and she, they're, we're gonna support him and all those kind of things. Um, she said, but I'm thankful'cause he's kind of like given this whole new life and renaissance to ribbon ribbon's kind of cool again. Yeah. I remember that conversation and I was like, absolutely. Yeah. This is, this has kind of changed the game.'cause you can just get fresh your personality across or be so fresh with. Absolutely. Yeah. So that was exciting. Okay, so do you feel like we left and we, we were successful? Did we find enough stuff? Did you find, were you inspired? Did you find things that you're like, oh, we're gonna look, we're gonna be good this year? Did you walk away comfortable? You know,'cause there have been years I've left to go, Ugh. I don't know if we got it all knocked out. I feel. Okay. Uh, when it comes to Christmas, then home decor is a different story. We'll talk about that later. But when it comes to Christmas, I literally feel pretty good about everything. I, I, I think I do. Yeah. I, I, I think when it comes to greenery, you know, I mentioned I was hoping to see some new takes on the greenery. Didn't necessarily see it, but what I saw, I loved Does that, does that make sense? Like I saw good classics that we could still mix together. Um, or, or classic textures that may have been. Reimagined a little bit, but it wasn't like the new shiny thing, right? Like I didn't see a, a ton of that. Um, but no, I think, I think, I think we're really good. The ornaments, that's always the one where I always kind of struggle and I kind of go blind. I can't remember a whole lot of ornaments. I think our orna. Selection, which brings a lot of the color, is gonna be more elevated this year than, than most I do. Okay, good. I think they're done better. Uh, yeah. Well, we, we, yes. That they're, they're a little more. Detailed. Is that when you say elevated? Refined, yeah. Yeah. Refined details that they could, so therefore they're not gonna be a$4 ornament. They're gonna be a$12 ornament, but uh, they're beautiful. Right. And we got$4 ornaments too, but yeah. Uh, I want scare the people. Yeah. Don those scare'em. Yeah. No, we did have some sticker shock though. I mean, I think that's scary. That was one of the tough ones of Christmas. Like everything else, the greenery, actually, some of the pricing went down, right? Yeah. Or say copacetic. The ornament pricing was the one thing of like, oh Lord, everything. And I just kept not buying anything. And finally I said to something to Stuart and Stuart, he said, well, you've gotta recognize this is the new normal and we have to buy something. Hmm. And for Stuart to say, basically, go spend some money. That ain't said very much. Well, you know, I think we, we did get a lot more stylized ornaments than maybe in years. I mean, I, I feel that's what I remember. Yeah, that's obviously, we got what I meant. Obviously we, we did get like some basics and, you know, just, you know. Easy things to mix in, but what I found, at least when I was looking at price points is especially a lot of like what I would've considered basics, like just solid or mercury glass looking, or like whatever. The prices were much higher than what I really wanted, so I wouldn't get it because I couldn't justify that. Whereas when we looked at some that were beautifully detailed or hand finish and had all the, you know, the little things that made them really unique and different. They were similarly, a little higher than what I wish they were, but I You could justify that. Easier. Easier. Yep. Um, looking at that, because they were, they were very special where I think we hopefully, uh, continued. What we did last year was. We really got ribbon, right? I feel like there's, there should be a ton of choices. I feel like, uh, that's what I feel the best about. I know, I think we've got the greenery thing down, uh, and, uh, but the, the ribbon I walk away with, we've got a breath of really. Beautiful choices this year. So, uh, and we'll post pictures when it's time appropriate and we start telling her a story. But yeah, I think we did a good job. We got lots and lots of choices, but, and we did, you know, we were, we're, did a podcast, you know, driving down about the buzzwords. Ralph Lauren, well, let me tell you, we got plaid, we got lots of plans, got lots of plan, right? And that's okay, right? Lots of different plaid, lots of fun plans. Well, we got ribbon from six different companies. This market. Yeah. So a lot of varieties. Oh, here's a good one. So Stuart said to me, now I don't understand how he approaches buying because there's something wrong in his head.'cause when you try five years, he doesn't know how, well, he didn't know he was in the car until we put him in. Well, I did walk around and say, what state are we in? Uh, he's like. We're, we're in Georgia. Uh, so yeah. Um, that, um, I've said this story before. I get, he gets frustrated'cause you have all these options out there and I wanna go into every showroom and I wanna kick every tire and I wanna. He said, you know, you can find a used piece of gum in any showroom, right. Basically, you drive me crazy'cause you wanna see everything. Well, I think it's worth the effort. And that's when I called the honey holes. When you find the honey holes, right. The bargains and the deals. Well, Jeremy stuck his head in one of these showrooms and it looked like the big lots of, uh, showrooms. Right. That is, that's the gospel. Right. That's a great little, she, she went real pretty, you know, she wouldn't, she wasn't sax fifth Avenue. She, she wouldn't, she wasn't pretty. But then he started delving into it. And then looking at the prices, let me tell you, he found us a honey hole. And that means we have these containers for flower arrangements, uh, that you know are going to be classic basic. Um, and a bargain. I think so. Good job, Jim. Yeah. Great. You found that piece of gum this time. Yeah, I was. Well, and what blisters will know is there was a company that we bought from previously that was a great solution that would get us like some just basic class, you know, white, like right, just white generic containers. And they no longer show in Atlanta. Well, they only have a website that you can order from and. It's not, it's, it's not feasible for us to look at. I can't get con, you know, any communication back from the country. You gotta feel, yeah. You wanna touch and feel it, of course, as much as you can. Um, and so that just kind of ended. And so we've struggled a little bit and so when I saw some of these as we were walking by and I was like, well, that kind of reminds me of what we used to get, you know, whatever. I was like, go in and look. Just look. And we even worked out. I forgot about that. Yeah. Well, let me tell you what didn't work out. Lamps. Oh yeah. Look, they ain't any bargains and lamps out there right now. And, uh, they all are ugly, ugly, ugly, right? Well, okay, hold on. Well, the ones that we can afford, I don't think the ones we can afford. Okay, so here's what I think. Okay? So I would like our listeners to reach out, go to our hotline, leave us a voicemail. You can chat us, you can text us all the information's down there in the show notes. But, so I want to know, okay, here's part of the hiccups. Well, let's, let's paint the picture. Okay. Go. I think let's paint the, you go for it. Let's paint the, the really clear picture, what's happening, at least how it feels in home accessories overall, is that many companies are going to that higher end, more stylish look, and they're leaving the more affordable classic. Like traditional feel. Even if it's updated, they're not making it in a price point anymore for a price point of 125 to$200. Is that fair? Yeah. Every lamp be$300. Yeah. Retail three 50 or minimum four. Minimum. Yeah, minimum. Minimum, minimum. I'm like, who is buying? Two,$350 lands, that's$700 for these lands. Come on people. And listen, I don't, and it was everywhere. For an everyday land. Everyday land for every day. And so I don't argue that people do spend that much money.'cause I know we've all done that for clients and, and we've even had'em in the store. But the thing is, it wasn't that there was a, a spectrum of prices. It was, this is what it is. And so then you go to, um, we went to another company we'd ordered from before. It, it hadn't worked out, you know, perfectly with them. We had some issues with getting some of the products, so we walked back in there yesterday. They didn't ship it. They didn't ship it? Yeah, sorry. They didn't ship it. We got some of it. We didn't get all of it. Um, and didn't get the whole reason why we went in there.'cause wait and found something for a client. But he needed, we started placing an order because that never got that. So there's that. Okay, so I ordered the, the most perfect floor lamps ever. Great look, great value. This was summertime last year. I knew where two or three out of'em I,'cause what I, I said this Stuart. I said I order six of these. Huh? Six. I said I think I've got two or three of'em already sold. I knew I had two episode for sure. And um, so we ordered the six of them. We have yet to get them six months later and they promised Stuart they're coming. They're coming. Well, I walked in there and the only lamp I still wanted to were those floor lamps and I was like, forget it. Just forget it. Okay. So when we walked back in there, some of the lamp bases that I was attracted to, two, the issue with them was the shape. And I won't say that there was a lot of them there that I felt that I liked, but there were some there that I was interested in. So let's talk about lampshade shapes. So you've got the very traditional drum shape, right? Or like the little slightly, is it a barrel or a drum, right? Is that right? Yeah, they're kind of kind of straight up down, or they may. Uh, taper just slightly, right? Like they make just a little bit. Well, so the drum shade's like a big circle, right? Right. It's a big sharp, and then there's a taper drum. Yeah. That is slightly, slightly smaller than probably slightly. So the top ring may be an inch. Yeah. It doesn't require smaller diameter than the other. Okay. So the trend of what's coming back around are the really. Heavily tapered, like triangular shades. Pagoda. It's a pagoda shade. Like a pagoda. Pagoda shade. Pagoda shade. Yeah. Yeah. And um, now I find them attractive and I like to use them and put them in in places. However, I know that. That look is not for everybody. I also know I don't want every lamp in my house to look like that. Right. Right. Like, you can't have to have, you can't have all of them like that. It's like one off accent. Yeah. Right. It's why it's, it's a piece of art. It's an architectural thing. Right. The hiccup is with a lot of the new lamp. Everything has that kind of shade on it. It's like it swung the other spectrum. So I want to know from our listeners, when it comes to lamp shapes. When it comes to lamps, are you a diehard drum, slightly tapered, drum only. Are you okay with. Like how, where, where's your fear fall? How do you feel about this? Because I really want to know where, where people fall, because we didn't buy many of them because when we have bought them in the past, they take longer to sell on the, on the floor? Yeah. Right. In our store, in our storefront. Um, but I know, like when I look at, let's, let's use Studio McGee for example. Yeah. Probably 80% of the lamps that she carries. Has that kind, has that changed? So I know that, that I know the customer's needs one is there Right. But she also has a more modern aesthetic. There is some traditional elements to it, but it's very modernized. Right. Um, so all the companies that do classic Southern, so I'm thinking about like Curry, which, you know, we can't Right? Do most of those through the price points anyway. Um, the companies that did do beautiful lamp ups, they're all gonna be. Five, six,$700 for a lamb. For a lamb. And you know, usually you need more than one. Well, and so that's, and that's in our store. Here's what I, when I was, when I was working on the beach house in Rosemary, I went down to where in Rosemary Rose. So I'm trying, I'm trying to paint a picture, right? So people aren't saying, this is not, this is not. So, okay. For those that listeners, if you don't know where Rosemary is, it's north of Panama City Beach. Okay. So it's in that kind of Emerald coast, emerald, uh, water aisle area, right. In Florida. So it's on the panhandle. So, and it's beautiful. The water's gorgeous. And then there's an area of Rosemary beach and the beach, and then there's area next to it named Alice. And this is where. Um, the rich elite go, so like the house next door to the property that I worked on, it was for sale for$24 million. Right now, that's an extreme. Not all of them are like that, but it's ridiculous, right? So, but when I went down there first, looking to see what we could source and find there, versus me ordering and sending down, I could not go into a lamp place. Or, or a home accessory store and find a lamp for under 700,$1,200. That's, that was the price point. Now these are the people that have these million dollar home, multimillion dollar mod dollars, so it's no problem. Um, I, but that was nine years ago. I'm like, how much of these damn lamps now? Mm, mm-hmm. Like, what are they selling? So I look, I love it. If you can afford your$1,200 lamp, that makes you happy. Well, I think I can do it with what we were given. We found some beautiful lamps. I agree at some decent price points. At decent price points. I don't think we left as many with many Cho as many choices as what we wanted. Truthfully, no. No. But with what we were given the parameters of, I'm not going, I'm not willing to pay for that. And I know our customers will be insulted by that. We did the best we could and I feel okay about that. Okay. About that. Yeah. Um, art, I, we didn't do a, had a ton of art, but the art that we got, I loved. Yes. Yeah. I will say that. Not that we've ever left with things I hated, but I, I, everything we got, I was like, yep. Love that. Love that, love that. Um, and that was another one that was, we'll say some sticker shock. Um. But, you know, I don't wanna scare people, but it is what it is. Like, you know, we try to shop and be fair and find things that well, but then let's go. Our number one thing is we never, when we find something and we're like, that would be offensive to have at that price point in our store. Yeah. Right, right. I don't, so of, of, of what we've. Did accessory wise, lamps and art was the disappointing layers. Yeah, I agree. Right? Yeah. Now when it came to accessories and things like that, we did okay. Yeah, absolutely. I think we found some good values. Mm-hmm. I think we got some, uh, great things that we stayed pretty focused on being very tradit, very traditional thisSo around. I don't think that we, I say refined, traditional. Refined, traditional. Right. Um, that if it smelled too modern to me, I just did. I just. I walked away from it. I just didn't wanna deal with it. Y'all might, might've bought something, but that new Southern traditional is where we went. It feels like what we bought the most part. Yeah. Is that fair? I think so. Um, let's talk Christmas trends. Yep. Okay. Um, so every show,'cause that's, that's really what we're there for. so every showroom we talked about, I think in the last podcast I drive down, we talked about. The whole Ralph Lauren. Like, that's kind of like our natural aesthetic. Anyway. Um, it was funny because every showroom we went into, everybody used those terms, but because knowing how long that they had to work on the, like they start working on these themes a year ahead before they're released. So these thing, the themes that we bought today, which are for Christmas 26, were started to be worked on. Uh, spring of 2024. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, you know, it's, it's far enough. So I really, and I mean this sincerely and honestly, when on TikTok, that whole Ralph Lauren thing, it was all thrown around. It was really heavy there towards the end of the season. I think literally if a, if a company had a theme with a plaid in it that was red, right? They called it Ralph. They called it their Ralph Lauren look. Right? Because they knew it was on everybody's mind. Um,'cause a lot of'em are like, this is not Ralph Lauren. He just had red and a plaid in it, you know? Um, but, um. That was a lot of places there. You know, one that we saw that was a lot of places as well, and it's never one that we've done is really white and black. Yeah, no, was a little, it's a very, very specific look. It was neat, but I think it scared me a little. It uh, it it, have you ever walked into anybody's house and, and they've had a whole white black theme? Maybe one, two houses in 30 some years. Yeah. You just don't see it very much. Right. And, and it's, and it was a broad spectrum. So like we saw from re it was very formal, almost had a little bit of um, uh oh. Chanel had like, yeah, Chanel inspired, which the I McKenna one of their product designers, I know she's obsessed. With, um, designers and Chanel, so it makes sense why if, if her hands were in that one. And some of the other ones went really country, but it just seemed really, you know, well, I will say that we did introduce black and white. In a way, but we introduced it with black, white, a Nutcracker. Mm-hmm. Informal. And our kind of mix on that I think is gonna be maybe McKenzie Child s Inspire, inspire, inspire Bush. Uh, so we did it, but the red changed it. We we're literally talking. They was just black and white, black, white, gold. Uh, black, white, silver, and that just felt so stark. But, um, our take on it, I, I liked what we end up finding. Okay. We've mentioned Mackenzie Child, so now I have to, yep. Did you all see the video of them being interviewed on the boat that they live on? No. No? Okay. So listeners, you've got to go look this up. I can, I can't tell you where to go'cause I have no idea. I just saw it like on TikTok or Instagram or something. Um, but it's a very sad story. Mackenzie Childs is. Um, really her name and she's an incredibly talented sculptor and pottery maker. Um, and you know how they say like, artistic people sometimes aren't the best business people'cause like, you know, he's right brain, left brain. Well, it was a disaster. And so they ended up selling, they had to end up selling, um, the naming rights and everything. It is just they've turned into these pitiful old people and it kinda makes you feel better. Impoverished. What you mean? Yeah. I mean, they had, yeah, they, it mean they were just, they had, it was a huge company and they benefited wonderfully from it, and because they just did not have any business. Sense. And then someone comes in to save it. And so of course there's the sadness of like, okay, well she no longer can use her name. Right? So she sold the rights to that and um, she's just an artsy court. Little, like, uh, she'd be one of those older ladies that you would see somewhere with like seven colors in her hair. And I'm not talking about like Auburn, I'm talking about like purple, pink, yellow. Mm-hmm. All that, and her and her husband's very ill. And they live on a, a boat that they bought that's docked somewhere and the boat's in a really bad shape. And it's just, it's a, it's a, it's a really sad update on it. Um, oh, thank you for sharing. So, I didn't mean to bring it down, but No, I know. I want people to, I just think that, um, you hear that name, then you're equating her story. You're to get understand her a little bit more. Yeah. So it, it's really a name and really what the company's become now is so different than what it was. Um, and, you know, listen, the people that bought the, the, the right. To it like that. It's, it's there. They've been smart, right? They've been smart. They've done what they've done. And, um, so I'm not bashing'em by any means, but when you find out the real truth, uh, of what happened to her and her husband, it's uh, are they older? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Uh, sad. And then it's also, I mean, and I've mentioned this only because I think that it's important for, uh, not important, but I think, you know, good people don't know this. You know, she's no longer involved with that brand. And then the same thing with Christopher Radko. He's no longer involved with the company Christopher Radko, and he hasn't been for quite some time. Um, and you know, it's, everybody always thinks there's, there's that, there's that one. Person at the top of it and Right. Huh? And they're no longer there and have nothing to do with it. Um, and there's, you know, all kinds of Christopher Radical drama, and I'm not getting into that.'cause there's all kinds of li uh, uh, liable lawsuits going on. I ain't gonna touch that with a 25 foot pole. Well then what reminds me is in this world of. Be the dolly, don't sell your song rights. Mm. Right. Mm-hmm. If on you, and it's like, I'd rather, I'd rather keep it to myself than let anybody else own me. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. I guess I don't, that's easier said than done. Right. And I, and they were in, they were in situations where I think that they felt they had had and, and so that, it makes you sad, but, um, all right. Let's talk about pretty. Or happy stuff again. Sorry, didn't mean to bring her down. Ooh. Um, we went through one showroom. It's coming called K and K, which is based out of Ohio. That was one of them. I walked away with feeling really good. I thought that the price point was beautiful. Their aesthetic is beautiful. Um, a great little sit about some little snowmen and little, uh, little Santa clauses that are, I I ordered lots of CLOs. And guess what kids we bought, uh, snow in a box. Fake snow in a box. In a bag. In a bag. In a bag. Oh, we get outta the box bag. We you get in a box though. We got some. So I'm gonna create little cliche moments all with my little Santas. Uh, and we bought bags of pea gravel. We bought bags of little pumpkins we bought. If it was in a bag that we could throw in a jar and a close of close to go, we clothes to go. You know, speaking about can cake, I find this. So can cake's been around? For a very long time. I remember them as like, as soon as, oh, they were tiny. Um, when, uh, I began working with you all, so that's 21, 22 years ago. Um, and so like I know that they were always a part of it and they started out home accessory and then they kind of expanded and just jewelry. Then they did clothing. Okay. Here's what I'm gonna say about these people. I don't know the full story about who all is on their product development team, but they're headed, I think they're still headed by two guys. Is that they were, yeah, they were there. Brian then, and I don't know if they're married anymore, but the, I, I don't remember what their names are. Um, but they, uh, they're always there. And for someone who lives in northern Ohio, they understand. Updated Southern, traditional. Mm-hmm. Yes. And classic. That's fair. Yeah. And that, so I don't know where they're from, um, where the, the two guys are originally from. So I don't know where that, but it, to me, it's amazing that someone that's there, and for our Ohio listeners, I love you got friends that live there. Of course they're from Kentucky. Um, but. Um, they're, I just, I just find it very fa fascinating.'cause I think most of the people that I know in Ohio definitely do not consider their themselves Southern, Southern, right? They're, they're all Midwestern. That's how they kind of see it. Um, and. I just think it's interesting that they get it, they get it right. Have consistently for years. Mm-hmm. I'll, I'll say it that way and do it well. So props to them. I tell you one of the fun things that we did, and it gives kudos to, um, our marketing director, uh, audience one kiln. She, uh, said, capture moments, uh, of, of your interactions of being in Atlanta. Tell your story basically of being in Atlanta. So I was like a dog with a bone and they always say, I do this, drive'em crazy. But I just kept saying, take this video, take pictures, get your camera out. Let's do an interview. Let's tell our story to the point of, I know that they both wanted to strangle me, but I also do know I. That I, I, we all at the end of the, of this road trip said we got that right because we've taped many segments that we'll be sharing, but you need to go, uh, follow us in that format, uh, and, uh, see some of the videos that we posted. And it really is telling the story of how. We've met people and how we've known so many sales reps or company, uh, owners, and this relationship that we've developed that's been so important. But also to see some of the, the, the stories of how we know each other. Uh, in Atlanta. I thought that was fun. I, at the end of the day, it's probably a pain to hide end that for you all. But I really do think it was kind of fun that we got to, yeah. Have some nice little conversations, some with some friends of ours, and, um, we've taped them and we'll be sharing those with, uh, those who follow us. Yeah, so if you haven't seen any of the, the sh as we're shopping, they're all on our socials, so. You can go through there and they're down in the show notes so you can go see them there. The other thing I always really enjoy about market is going and seeing the people that aren't in our area, but we know from other places or like other stores. So it's always fun like to see. Yeah, it's like a little reunion. Shout. Shout out to Eden Low. Shout out to. Did we see? Uh, well, we saw quite a few from Lexington. We saw, uh, I think I saw from, from afar. I couldn't see, uh, uh, and I waved, but I dunno if she saw me. Um, one of the girls from Interior Yard, we saw, um, oh, our friend. Uh, two chicks. Uh, and two chicks. Yeah. She's always the sweetest person. Yeah, I saw. And, um, I'm trying to think of who else. And then of course we ran into Jeffrey Searles, um, who he's, he's such a mess. Uh, but a fun guy. Oh. Jeremy is a superstar because of those red glasses and because of his posting, because of the social media. Now there's three of us in these, right? But they only see Jeremy in those big red glasses. The red glasses. He had multiple people come up to him and say, I love you. You're so funny. I remember, I love your glasses. Meanwhile, Stuart and I are kind of standing, standing in the corner as wallflowers. Not having a drink. Yeah, having a drink, which is perfectly fine. Truthfully, I'd rather Jeremy do all the social media. I could care less. Uh, so let him do it. He's young. He's young and useful. And cares, uh, I mean, he's gonna own the company. Any mom's company? Oh, Jesus, Stuart and I also had a conversation, um, because Stuart's, you know, quite a bit older than me and he's looking at retiring soon. It's not. I'm older. I'm, it's a joke, kids, I'm older one. Uh, but I was like, wait a minute, if you're retiring, I need to retire. I need to retire before you do, or when you do at least. And so we were talking about that in our exit plan. And, uh, so we're gonna leave, uh, Jeremy High and dry now. Don't think about it. It's tomorrow. And, uh. But, um, you know, we're getting old. Um, let's see, who else did we see? We saw, oh, I saw Brett and Matt from Foundry, uh, 3 1 7 in Indianapolis. It was nice to see them. Um, saw, uh, so who we also saw, okay, so all of this is the other part I love. We saw Brian Lane from Brian Lane. So Brian used to be a customer of ours in Lexington, and then he and his husband had moved, uh, up a few various places, and I think now they're back in western Kentucky. But he was always creative. He was a hairdresser in his fir in his first life. We'll say it that way. Does he still do that? Uh, I don't, I don't think so. He might, I'm not sure. Um, but now he makes arrangements and sells them. Uh, in his Etsy shop, he also buys products and sells them. His website saw him in Donna Stevens. And so it was wonderful to see him. Um, but then also we were stopped. We were at dinner one night and Jennifer walked up and introduced herself to us. She followed us on our socials and I don't remember what the name of her business. Is, and of course it's in my phone and this is how we're recording. Can you post it in the notes later? Uh, yeah, it'll be in the show notes. I just don't want to touch my phone'cause I'll screw up the recording. Um, but I'll put it down. She was so sweet. And then we met, oh Lord, what was the name of the, we met another one in, uh, when we were with Kathy. The one, she was in western Kentucky, uh, in Hoff. I think it was Hawkinsville. Oh. Um, Florida was twirled in the tree skirt. Yeah. When you were twirling in the tree skirt. And I haven't posted that video yet either. I don't, I don't think I got it. I haven't even seen it. Okay. I, oh, okay. I got my stuff. Um, oh yeah. But it's so, it's fun. So I just love, I love connecting with people. Um, but it is a nice reminder to keep continuing what you do.'cause when we're at home, so we were at dinner and, uh. And we'll talk about that if FIAs to go in a minute. But we were at dinner and this lady walks over and she's like, are you the boys? Are you all the boys? And she's, now, I do remember she's from Lexington, North Carolina. Mm-hmm. Correct. South Carolina. South. South Carolina, South Carolina. And anyway, she was, she just basically, she. She has a full-time job, but she also does crafting and makes Reese and stuff. So she has, again, Etsy. And um, what she said, she's like, oh, I just do little res and things like, and I was like, no, no, no, don't do that. Mm-hmm. Pick yourself up. Mm-hmm. And believe in yourself, right? Mm-hmm. And we, you know, so that was what I've got from that conversation was an encouragement to say no. You, you, if you are taking your time to come to market to find all this stuff, you are not doing just a little re mm-hmm. Don't shrink your value. You are working right. You are working. But, but here's what was the, to make that happen. Um, the head scratching to me, and of course, you know, I can't edit sometimes. And there was a guy sitting over there and she said, and my partner, gosh, she kept, and then she said it third time and I was like, what, what do you mean partner? Like, business partner? She said, oh, no, no, I've got, I got divorced and I, I'm never gonna get remarried again. So. He's my partner. She said, I feel weird about calling my boyfriend and when I'm 40 something. And I said, well, call him my lover. Oh Lord. So she introduced, uh, I think his name was Sean, uh, her lover to us. He, he was a nice as me. He was trekking along. Yeah. He was just, he was like, he was supporting her. He was overwhelmed. He was happy to have a steak for dinner. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. So now I give all the credit to business partners in that I've said this before, all I have to do is sit in the car, in the back and then get to Atlanta and don't even know which building. And I just point, I want that, I want that, I want that, right? So, bless Stuart's heart, he's takes care of all the reservations and get all the hotel rooms. It makes it always convenient. He gets the car, picked up the rental car, and it's always warmed and ready to go. Right. What a blessing. I get that Jeremy makes all the food reservations. That's another story for another day. But with that said, chew, I want those shoes. Uh, we have our first reservation and we go to this restaurant and, uh. Of which we've been to before, which we've been DOT before, which is not my favorite, and Jeremy keeps saying, I know it's not your favorite, but the long story is we get there at 6 35, we get back to the hotel room, which is only two or three blocks away at nine oh o'clock. Now that means that Jonathan, the waiters apologized and he said about four times your food's coming, your food's coming. It never came half the time. Right? So to the point of the manager even comes out and apologizes that the kitchen's backlogged and I'm like. No kidding. Right? I didn't say all that. I didn't say anything. Right. But, uh, he apologized. He even comped some of our, again, we didn't ask for this, right. Nobody threw a fit. Now I'm, I'm kind of being IRR irritable with those two. You were the angry old man. I was the angry man, but I never said anything to anybody. Right. Just wouldn't do that. Um, but they complied it. But it, that was two and a half hour long dinner to get some very overpriced, mediocre fried chicken. Oh, Jesus. I love, I love my, well, you loved yours, I'm sure. Sure. It was fine. So next night, we as reservations. And we've eaten there before and I like the food pretty good. Ush, right? It's very overpriced and okay-ish. Generally, right? It's food in the city. It's food. Well, I'm it be more expensive. They don't, they don't understand. They've never been here. I'm telling you, very overpriced for very okay food, right? So we, we have to make a judgment call and it was the right judgment call because it's either because you have reservations rather be a little early to be a little late. So we're about 15 minutes early, we have a reservation. It's. Six 30, we get there roughly six 15 for the, um, what's the person at the front desk? Um, the hostess. Hostess. The hostess to say, oh, no, no, no. Mm-hmm. Your reservation is at seven 30. Now, you don't understand how impatient I am when it comes to this stuff because I, oh my God, he is like a toddler. I am a toddler and it's awful, and that's just, I have many good traits. This is not a good trait. That is true. It is true, right? Mm-hmm. It is true. So I can't'cause, well, first I have. Now used my phone all day long taping all this stuff, and I have no battery pack, so I'm never, so I, I wouldn't leave anyway to go back to my hotel room because I would get lost because I don't know what s I'm in. Right. But the, the voices in my head said, you know what? I would, I'm just ready to leave. I don't care if I eat or not. I'm tired. I don't care. I'm not even hungry. I'll just go back to the hotel room. Well, I can't leave because I would get mugged because I would talk to somebody or, and I don't know where, well, I can't use my. Phone.'cause I only have 2% battery left, so I can't put it on my phone. All these things are in my head, Jeremy. Right? So finally, you know, the, the hostess said, well, I'll try to see if I can get you seated early. Well, that didn't happen. Well, we, we got seated seven minutes early. Seven seven minutes. Seven minutes, come on. So we were there an hour and 15 minutes standing there. Couldn't go into the bar, which I don't drink. But the bar was full. So it was full. It was full. So for us to get seated at seven 30 to eat. Now the only thing I eat there,'cause they're mostly about steak and I don't really like steak. So I've waited an hour and 15 minutes to get a hamburger. Now I have to tell you, and I said the boys. That hamburger was maybe'cause I was real hungry. I don't know. No, that hamburger was probably the best hamburger I've ever had. Barring my grilling, my own hamburger in my own house, it, it really did feel, tastes like it just was taken right off the grill. It was a very good hamburger. And that's where we met the girl that night, the. Yeah, see and you see, and you stayed, so I'm complaining the night before I'm like, I'm exhausted because of this long day and he can get to the hotel room by nine o'clock. Well, that night we got back at 9 30, 9 30 and I, and I was like, this week is never going to end. Right. It was, now look, night before, lot Night was we actually, Stuart drove us out to this amazing restaurant. We actually drove somewhere and it was back earlier in our time. And it was a really good, really good, what is it called? Two urban licks. Two. Two Urban licks. Look that one up in Atlanta somewhere. And if you ever go there, get the uh, salmon chips, let me tell you, they're very good. I dream. They're very good. I dream of eating those. I, I, they, last time we were there, they told us they had one worker that their entire job is to make the salmon and it's a big restaurant and'cause that they serve so many of them. Wow. They so good. That's great. Yeah. Anyway, we had a good time, right? Yeah. I think we found some great stuff. We had some hiccups. We overcame, uh, most of them. Uh, but we can check this one off of. Mo. Alright. Uh, this was like buying trip number, uh, 67 245. 245 71, buying number 71. So, um, had a good time. Yeah. Well, and hopefully it will be coming in. Well, it won't be coming in. We did the stuff that we brought, the everyday stuff will be coming against me. Um, but Dwayne's continuing to put pictures and stuff together, some of the Christmas. Things that we, uh, bought so we can have some mood boards and inspiration boards, and so all of the girls at the store can see and be inspired and excited, and I think it's gonna be a good 2026. I'm excited. Yeah, be good. Alright, well, I think that is enough for today, and we will see you all again next week. See you soon. Bye. All right.