Our day begins at about ten to 9:00 am, when our office manager pulls into the back lot of downtown Anoka and enters our happy, colorful shop.
The first part of the morning is spent returning phone calls and invoicing. Paperwork time! We love it when orders are waiting for us online from customers all over the country (and a few from other countries). Most of our orders are sent to our fulfillment center in St. Paul to be shipped out by our tireless friends at Ideal,
but small orders are packed in house. Every order gets a few of our famous Scatter Joy cards and a personal note thanking them for their order.
but small orders are packed in house. Every order gets a few of our famous Scatter Joy cards and a personal note thanking them for their order.
10:00—time to open the store! This complicated procedure involves turning the satellite radio on to a soothing station,
pulling the cord on the open sign, and propping the door open to welcome customers and let in fresh air. Sometimes that “fresh air” is a cloud of exhaust and cigarette smoke, but what can you do? On a good day, the birds are chirping, the air smells like breakfast at G’s and Truffles, and the marching band is gearing up over at Sandburg.
As customers select goodies to take home from the store, supplies must be replenished from the back room.
Recently, the shop got some extra special product courtesy of Cheryl's move and subsequent need to clean some things out: antique head vases! If there are any interested collectors out there, shoot us a line; these lovely ladies need good homes.
When she's in town, our owner/author Cheryl can usually be found working away at her desk or hanging out with pictures of her famous (at least around here) mom in the store:
Lunch is often enjoyed across the street at GrassRoots (Cheryl) or at a desk with a good book (Torrie).
In between helping customers in the shop, our general manager toils away at her computer invoicing orders, concocting newsletters, and overseeing shipments to customers all over the continent.
5:00 - Before you know it, it's time to close up shop (literally), tally up the day's sales, and head out to the car to drive home.
See you tomorrow, Anoka!
