Where to Start??

It is easy enough to say I am going to weed this stuff out of here, but exactly where do I start this task? A look around tells me that I can jump in anywhere - just depends on what method I plan to use. Should I start with the shelves that have the most "stuff" sitting there with no rhyme or reason to their display? Or maybe using one of the good ole accounting rules would work best - first in, first out! That's what I'll do - that should work perfectly. Next step is to choose an inventory category or store department and start pulling from the shelves.

I think a good place to start is in the Bath section - lots and lots of singles in the towels and shower curtains as well as the bath rugs. This should be really fun. Time to check the Inventory Reports and see which ones qualify as "orphans" - they will be the first ones to move from the shelves into the "fantastic garage sale". Then I'll move on into the things that have been here the longest and see if any should move to the blog. It should take only a day or so, and I can have them all sitting there on the pages at the blog. It's time to do it!

If I really get moving along here this afternoon I can have some of these up and ready to go! And then I can work on getting the email ready to send out to all our customers and let them know that they can visit the "fantastic garage sale" any time and reserve their choices for pick-up at the shop. What could be easier!

That's the Rub

Ah, that's the rub! Well, really, it is. That's what it is if you're doing the rubbing with the your favorite towel. Towels are an individual preference sort of thing. Some of us prefer a really soft, absorbant, thick towel while others go for the spartan spa type that has more of a "stand up" texture. Then there is the line drawn in the sand, or floor tile, between "the neutrals" consisting of white and ivory, natural, champagne, and all the other romantic names for that range of hue. On the other side stand the support team for "the colorful" towels that span the rainbow all the way through Roy G. Biv. My favorite towel for a long time was the Abyss superpile towel. We sold it in the store in New Orleans and it quickly became a favorite of many of our customers who really appreciated the soft hand and absorbance level. Now, I have discovered a new favorite that graces my shelves here in Baton Rouge. It is theMilagro by John Matouk and Company (http://www.matouk.com/). And while I have often been on the side of the neutrals, I find myself admiring the beautiful color range of these towels. They are thick, luxuriant, absorbant, and just plain beautiful! The threads used in the towels is an Egyptian cotton "zero twist" thread.

Another wonderful and "new to us" towel is the one offered by HomeSource. It is a microcotton fiber and it also comes in a deep palette of beautiful colors. Homesource also offers a towel made from the bamboo plant and this particular towel is made in very soft colors. The third towel that makes the favorite towel list is the Etoile Towel made by Yves Delorme. These are also long-time favorites of some of our long time favorite customers in New Orleans. The color range has been expanded and now includes a range of soft hues that will grace any bath or powder room in which they reside. Their absorbancy and "hand" are second to none.

I am taking some of each home with me today and I will do all those things that I can imagine a person doing to a towel in the confines of the laundry room and/or garage. I do this with almost everything that I sell so that I can be sure that what the vendor claims about care is actually what I can replicate in my home. Sometimes a seeming "winner" in the towel wars loses in the laundry room.

How pleasing it is to see a beautiful towel draped over the rack just waiting to envelope you in luxury of texture and color. Enjoy!