Pick Up Sticks Retail Website

 Have you heard?  Pick Up Sticks now has a retail website at http://shop.pickupsticks.net.  We’re so excited!  And we’re very proud of our site -take a look and tell us if you don’t agree that it’s totally fun and eye-catching! 

 And why do we now have a retail website?  After years of requests from customers who weren’t able to locate a retailer or a specific charm, we decided the best way to take care of our collectors was to create a place where they could find every single item in our line.

In the process we had to learn how to launch the space shuttle of computer programming and digest an entirely new technological language, replete with words like hosting platform, HTML, A-files, security certificates. . .we were old dogs learning new tricks, and let us tell you, it wasn’t pretty.  Who knew jewelry-making girls from rural New Mexico could actually figure all that out?  It was like calculus (which none of us passed). . there were days when it hardly seemed worth it.  But now we’re totally pumped about the results!

As always, we still think the best way to get your Pick Up Sticks addiction fed is to find a retailer – a place with an owner who loves the line, staff wearing interesting combinations of charms, and a gorgeous display full of your favorite photos charms, trinkets and necklaces.  We talked about how to find your favorite Pick Up Sticks retailer before (http://bit.ly/dP2iAR) and we urge you to do just that.  Actually getting your hands on our jewelry really makes for some fun shopping.  But if you’re unable to get to a brick and mortar store, or if your retailer can’t order the charm you want most, you can always check out our new site. . .

Take a look and let us know what you think.  Here’s a five-star review we recently received from a customer – she’s exactly the person we were looking to serve when we created the website:

Reviewer:  Patricia from central NJ

“I love my mermaid pendant…from the first moment I saw it on a display in a little gift shop in Sanibel Island, Florida 3 years ago, I knew it was for me! I get complimented every time I wear it. It never fails that someone will notice it and say, “what is that necklace you’re wearing?”. I love the art work, as well as the message. I once thought I had lost this pendant…couldn’t find it anywhere…I was so sad, because I had no idea how I’d ever replace it…and then one day, it popped up…a very happy moment! And, for some reason, it wasn’t until just a few days ago that I noticed the inscription on the bottom of the pendant “pickup sticks jewelry”…and then I found your wonderful website! And now, just days later, you’ve started selling retail! I couldn’t be happier! keep up the good work!!”

Thanks Patricia!  And thanks to all Pick Up Sticks fans.  We’d love to hear more of your “searching for Pick Up Sticks” stories.  If we can, we’ll find a retailer near you so that you get the full experience of shopping the line.  And if not, feel free to find us online at  http://shop.pickupsticks.net/!

Pick Up Sticks Retailer of the Month for June 2010 – Merle Norman of Central Arkansas

Robyn Steinmetz owns several Merle Norman and Hallmark stores in Arkansas, and she’s been amazingly successful at marketing and selling Pick Up Sticks jewelry.  Her enthusiasm for the product along with her great displays (does this girl know how to display jewelry or what?) made her the perfect pick for the Pick Up Sticks Retailer of the Month for June 2010. 

We’ve listed all five locations – be sure to drop by and congratulate Robyn on being our very first Retailer of the Month!  Or if you want to leave a comment here, we’ll be sure to forward it to her.

Here’s what Robyn has to say about her Pick Up Sticks experience:

“We love selling Pick Up Sticks in our stores most of all because its FUN!!  You can always find a saying that will make you smile.  Our customers have fun reading them and picking them out for themselves as well as for their friends and family.  They make great gifts to suit any personality.  Your friend or loved one will know that you took the time to choose something special just for them.” 

The stores in which Robyn carries Pick Up Sticks are in the following locations:

Merle Norman, McCain Mall, 3929 McCain Blvd. North Little Rock, AR 72116  – 501-758-5760

Merle Norman, Northpark Mall, 4639 J.F.K. Blvd., North  Little Rock, AR 72116 – 501-753-6679

Merle Norman, Towne Centre, 115 Audubon Dr., Maumelle, AR 72113 – 501-891-9977

Merle Norman, Bowman Heights, 303 S. Bowman, Little Rock, AR 72211 – 501-312-9696

June’s Hallmark, 2608 W. 28th Ave., Cabot, AR 71603

You can find Merle Norman of Central Arkansas on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/profile.php?id=100001044662612&ref=ts. 

If you’d like to be featured as our Retailer of the Month, shoot us an e-mail with your own Pick Up Sticks retailing story and some photos of our jewelry in your store.  You know we love hearing your stories!

What's In a Name?

Pick Up Sticks. We’re asked all the time how we came up with that name. And we thought fessing up would be a great way to begin one of our blog posts. But of course, we want to save that story for the end of the post – the best for last and all that. . .

I love you cousin!

Before we give you that tidbit, we want to talk about blogging. We are, first and foremost, family. As most of you know, Glena and Sabrina, the owners of Pick Up Sticks, are cousins. Practically sisters. So similar in appearance that frequently customers will initially meet Glena in the booth during show season, and then come back later, mistaking Sabrina for Glena. If you’ve wandered the website, you’ve read their bios (about which we’ll do an in depth post later. . .). I can tell you, as their pal the Blogwriter, that these girls’ creative business streak goes way back. I have a lot of stories, but we’ll save those for later. 

Bisbee, AZ - Sabrina's Trailer Trash Birthday Weekend

Some of the stories involve water skiing with boys from Texas, some involve a dalmatian in a swimming pool, some involve dancing with questionable cowboys, some involve trailer trash proms. . .

But wait! This blog is all about profession- alism. All about business. Maybe just a little about fun. Or a lot about fun. What we hope to do is to let you know what’s going on with Pick Up Sticks and give you information that will both entertain you and help you market the line to your retail customers. At Pick Up Sticks we’re all about the customer. Sabrina says that when she’s designing, she envisions the woman who will be buying our charms, and the reason she’ll be buying them.

So, we’ll tell you more about Glena and Sabrina (hang in there – I have some really great trailer trash prom photos to post. . .), and we’ll introduce you to Jalaina and Candace and Brenda, the girls you get to talk to every time you call the studio. We’ll post some photos of us at work.

We might even show you Sabrina’s adorable husband, Bruce, in his order-filling apron, surrounded by the poodles (yeah, we’ll even devote a blog post to the poodles. . .), and Glena’s mom Anna Lee at the table surrounded by baggies and charms.   Because all these people are family as well, in the best possible way.

We’re excited for you to get to know us better, and from time to time, we’ll also post info you send us. We want to know all about you. The best part of running this business is going to shows and meeting all of you and hearing the stories about your retail stores and how Pick Up Sticks works for you.

So here goes. If you have a great testimonial (and thanks to all of you who have already provided one), e-mail it to marketing@pickupsticks.net, send some photos along, and we’ll include your story in the blog.  Be sure you let us know who wrote the copy and all the names of your principal players.  We want to give you full credit!

Oh, by the way. The name thing? Well, in the beginning we were Sticks and Stones Jewelry Company. We were searching for fun names for what we were doing, way back in 2000, and the husband of one of our pals suggested Sticks and Stones. Whimsical, fun, playful – just like our jewelry. But when we got out there in the world and started doing well, we had to register our name. Checked out Sticks and Stones, and it was taken by a tableware company. So we had to sit around the table in the backyard and drink several Coronas with lime and eat lots of freshly made pico de gallo and think hard and someone, somehow, came up with an even better, even more playful and memorable name. Now we’re Pick Up Sticks. And very happy being who we are!

More later. . .