Mom and Pop Place Blog

Well, I asked you for locally-made products and you really delivered!  WHo knew you were so crafty?  We have gotten to see cute knit dolls, batik baby ha-ts, funky stroller blankets, adorable hair clippies, hand-stitched wool diaper covers, and tons more!  Our “Locally-Made” department is growing by leaps and bounds.  Come and check it out.  My favorite goft for a new mom is a beautiful baby product made by another mom!

Adria

It’s that time of year again for our Huge Summer Clearance Sale!  We haul out all the things languishing on our shelves, slash the prices, and make room for new fall stuff.  (I’m sorry I just mentioned Fall but, in the retail biz, we think ahead.  You’re lucky I didn’t mention Christmas).

So, on Friday July 24th and Saturday July 25th, the front of our store will be transformed into a giant clearance section.  We’ve got toys (Haba, Manhattan, and more), clothes, diapers, baby carriers, summer stuff, instruments, body care products, nursing pillows, BellaBands, and loads more.  We want it all gone!  We need the room!

We even have some gently-loved items from our cafe play area: a dollhouse, kitchen center, shopping cart, and play tables.  Now’s your chance to transform your playroom into a Mom and Pop Place!  Except you can’t use that name cuz it’s trademarked……

Anyway, doors open at 9AM on Friday.  No early sales or holds.  Select items only.  All sales are final.  All that jazz.  Come early, shop nice, have fun.

My home for 8 hours on Monday.

I spent most of the day on Monday at Wisconsin’s Biggest Baby Shower in Appleton at The Building for Kids.  It’s massive event that brings together tons of businesses and professionals that serve new and expectant parents: doctors, toy stores, chiropractors, scrapbookers, doulas, you name it.   It’s like Mom and Pop Place’s Pregnancy Fair on steroids.  Mom and Pop Place hosted a booth to let people know about the products and services we offer.  It was great fun, but exhausting.  I loved talking to all the parents and professionals there but, after the 6th hour on my feet, I may have been going a little loopy.  I apologize to anyone who had to talk to me after about 5PM.

Last year, I brought Laureen (my cafe manager) with me to help out.   We had a blast but, it turns out, it was not really a 2-woman job.  This year, it was just me.  I set up my goodies, grabbed a stack of flyers, and got ready to schmooze.  It’s really a great chance to get the word out about Mom and Pop Place.  So many people said “Hey, I heard about that place.”  I hope that seeing us at the Baby Shower will give them the nudge to actually come check us out.  We don’t do any really formal advertising (like radio commercials or magazine ads).  Word of Mouth is such a powerful force in the new parent community.  Our customers really help us spread the word.  Nurses and Lactation Consultants have given us great publicity as well.  They know that we offer the things they recommend to their patients: discussion groups, well-fitted nursing bras, breastfeeding supplies. 

So, it was fun to meet so many new and expectant parents at the Baby Shower!  If you were one of the people I met, I hope you come and say “Hi” to us next time you’re in Neenah.

We’ve always had a challenge serving the needs of working parents (both customers and employees).  We want Mom and Pop Place to be the Place for all parents, whether they work in the home or outside the home.  Some people have requested that we stay open later in the evening or that we hold Pop-Ins later in the day to serve the needs of parents who work traditional hours outside the home.  On the other hand, we have found that parents who spend their day outside the home often just want to be home in the evenings!  All of us at Mom and Pop Place are working parents too, you know!

Most days, the store has been open 9 AM until 5:30PM.  About a year ago, we began staying open late (until 7) on Thursdays.  These hours seemed to provide options for most parents, regardless of where or when they work.  Lately, we have been seeing more and more parents rushing in right after work to pick something up before we close.  My AWESOME staff often keep the store open late to help these customers with bra-fittings and sling demos.  Obviously, there is a need for some later hours!

From now on, Mom and Pop Place is going to be open a little later on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Our hours will be:

Monday 9-6

Tuesday 9-6

Wednesday 9-6

Thursday 9-7

Friday 9-4

Saturday 9-3

Meet my girls!

As happy as I am to see Spring arrive, I know 4 ladies who may be even more excited.  I took this picture of my chickens last week on their first excursion of the year.  After ensuring that my neighbors’ dogs were nowhere to be found, we let our hens out of their coop to peck around the yard for an hour or so.  They were so happy that I was entranced watching them.  I spent the entire hour sitting in a chair and smiling as I watched them scratch and follow each other around the yard. 

I want to put in a plug for chickens as pets.  I LOVE my birds.  Best pets I’ve had.  Many towns (including Neenah!) allow you to keep chickens.  They take very little work, even in the winter.  You have to admire tiny animals who are able to weather our Wisconsin winters with no more protection than a small shed full of hay and their own poo.  Somehow, I relate to these birds.  First of all, they are the only other females in the family.  Between my hubby, my sons, my boy cats (well, “boy” cats), and a fish of questionable gender, I was ready for some female companionship.  You wouldn’t think chickens would fulfill my need for female companionship.  But, they do.  Chickens literally put all their energy into producing the next generation.  All they do is lay eggs and sit on them. That’s their mission in life.  They eat, but only to get enough energy to lay eggs.  They peck you if you try to take their eggs.  I respect that.  Chickens are also hilarious (one of the traits I look for in a girlfriend).  Have you ever watched a chicken hold her head high as she scratches around in dry leaves?  Hilarious.  Or watched them chase mosquitos in the air?  Hilarious.  It almost makes you look forward to Lakefly season.

My boys love their chickens too.  All the artwork they bring home from school manages to incorporate our chickens.  We have a lot of drawings, paintings, and collages featuring chickens.  I wonder what their teachers think?  Solon had an assignment where he had to decorate a T-shirt with drawings of his most prize possessions.  Right next to his renditions of his family and his house was a sketch of a taco and a drawing of a chicken.  That’s my boy.  The first thing Solon does when he gets home from school is check on the chickens to see if they need water.  Gage is something of a chicken-whisperer.  When the girls wander off into the neighbor’s yard, Gage can always corral them back to the coop.  If I go after them, they scatter in all 4 directions.  If Gage goes after them, they calmly come back to our yard.  Go figure.

So, go get yourself some chickens.  You won’t be sorry.  Or come visit mine.  We can have a cold beer and watch the girls scratch leaves.  There’s nothing like female companionship.