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Meanwhile, back at the Village
I had a great time at the store today. Things are settling down from the holiday season, and we have cleared out most of the ornaments and nativities. The few that are left are selling quickly at 1/2 price. A lot of new items have been coming in the last few days and they have been attractive and interesting, very ethnic looking creations in black and brown. Our manager, Kitty has got the store reorganized and there is room to walk and look at stuff and enjoy the place again. The holiday was a big success. In November and December we had record net sales of over $220,000 and we were the third highest of over 150 10,000 Villages in sales of gift cards. This is all to say that business is good in Austin, and people really love to shop at our store.
Today I got to work with several volunteers that I don't see that often, one couple a mother and her daughter, which is a fun combination. The folks who volunteer at 10,000 Villages are really interesting people, and the store has provided me with a really good source of friends acquaintances and experiences.
One neat thing that happened today was that a drunk stumbled into the store and handed over a wallet he had found on the street. All the money and everything of value was still in tact. In Austin we even have a high class of drunks. Anyhow, I found some ID cards in the wallet and showed it to our volunteers. The mother of the mother-daughter team said "I know that girl. I taught her in the 5th grade." She got out the phone book, and was not able to find the girl's number, but started calling girls she thought might know her. In about 1/2 hour she had her cell phone from a friend and the young lady came in and picked up her bright blue wallet after getting a call from her 5th grade teacher. I thought this was delightful and just made me feel great about the town I live in.
Later a woman came in who was teaching laser hair removal at a seminar at the Hilton and who lives in Detroit. She told me "I'm here by myself, and don't know this town and could you tell me a good place to eat. I'm tired of eating in the hotel, but I just don't know where it's safe to go." Of course I recommended the Magnolia, my favorite Congress Street eatery, but I also realized that she thought she was in a seedy neighborhood. I explained that Austin looks seedy, but that is the way we like it and we are really in a time warp, and it is really the 70's here. I explained that the South Congress neighborhood is really a very good, in fact an expensive neighborhood, but in Austin we don't like things to look like they look other places and we have a different aesthetic and she was perfectly safe to walk around this area... and practically any other area of the city... and enjoy it. She visibly lightened, and I was amused that someone from Detroit found South Congress to be threatening. This is a subject worth thinking about.
Later I saw one of my favorite local musicians, Bob Livingston do a photo shoot next door in front of the Continental Club. I first heard Bob at Ruta Maya at an anti war benefit, and later Gail and I went to one of his concerts at the Continental Club where he did his "Cowboys and Indians" show. This was a benefit to buy musical instruments for public school kids. Bob is an authentic Austin musician (formerly played with the Lost Gonzo band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Murphy and lots of other really cool folks) and had a hit with Michael Murphy with a song he wrote called "Geronimo's Cadillac".) He has developed an interest in World Music, and in his Cowboys and Indians shows gets together with musicians form India, Nepal and other parts of Asia and blends the Austin sound with their sounds. He travels all over the world with his son, also a singer song writer named Tucker Livingston, and they explore other musical cultures together. This is the kind of thing I really love. Kitty, our store manager, who knows that I am a big fan of Bob Livingston goaded me asking "Have you intoduced yourself to him yet?" I told her he was busy with his photographer, and she said "You ought to introduce yourself to him. It might just change your whole life." I know a double dog dare when I hear one. Low and behold... a few minutes later, Bob Livingston is roaming around our store looking at drums and stuff. I took Kitty up on the double dog dare and showed him around the store, explained Fair Trade to him, and told him I had been to a couple of his concerts and thought the stuff he did was really great.
He liked the store a lot and bemoaned the fact that he had not found it before Christmas, but we agreed there would be a Christmas next year and he said there were also plenty of birthdays and other occasions between now and then. He told me he was doing a fund raiser to fight some development stuff on Town Lake with Jimmy La Fave and the Flat Landers at Antoine's tomorrow night and I told him how we do fund raisers for non profits at 10,000 Villages and I this evenig I bought tickets for the deal at Antoines for me and Gail. Who knows, maybe it will change my whole life?
Also during the day a gal came in who is from Romania and asked about hooking up with 10,000 Villages to sell local needle work and wood carvings and another couple were asking the same thing about some pottery form Honduras. I don't know if 10,000 Villages will be able to accommodate them, but we had great conversations about ways to help artisans in third world countries, and I learned a lot about craft traditions in Romania and Honduras.
Four people filled out cards saying they wanted to be volunteers and I had a lot of fun telling folks who came into the store about our organization, the artisans, how the stuff is made and Fair Trade. What a great Austin kind of day at the store.
Today I got to work with several volunteers that I don't see that often, one couple a mother and her daughter, which is a fun combination. The folks who volunteer at 10,000 Villages are really interesting people, and the store has provided me with a really good source of friends acquaintances and experiences.
One neat thing that happened today was that a drunk stumbled into the store and handed over a wallet he had found on the street. All the money and everything of value was still in tact. In Austin we even have a high class of drunks. Anyhow, I found some ID cards in the wallet and showed it to our volunteers. The mother of the mother-daughter team said "I know that girl. I taught her in the 5th grade." She got out the phone book, and was not able to find the girl's number, but started calling girls she thought might know her. In about 1/2 hour she had her cell phone from a friend and the young lady came in and picked up her bright blue wallet after getting a call from her 5th grade teacher. I thought this was delightful and just made me feel great about the town I live in.
Later a woman came in who was teaching laser hair removal at a seminar at the Hilton and who lives in Detroit. She told me "I'm here by myself, and don't know this town and could you tell me a good place to eat. I'm tired of eating in the hotel, but I just don't know where it's safe to go." Of course I recommended the Magnolia, my favorite Congress Street eatery, but I also realized that she thought she was in a seedy neighborhood. I explained that Austin looks seedy, but that is the way we like it and we are really in a time warp, and it is really the 70's here. I explained that the South Congress neighborhood is really a very good, in fact an expensive neighborhood, but in Austin we don't like things to look like they look other places and we have a different aesthetic and she was perfectly safe to walk around this area... and practically any other area of the city... and enjoy it. She visibly lightened, and I was amused that someone from Detroit found South Congress to be threatening. This is a subject worth thinking about.
Later I saw one of my favorite local musicians, Bob Livingston do a photo shoot next door in front of the Continental Club. I first heard Bob at Ruta Maya at an anti war benefit, and later Gail and I went to one of his concerts at the Continental Club where he did his "Cowboys and Indians" show. This was a benefit to buy musical instruments for public school kids. Bob is an authentic Austin musician (formerly played with the Lost Gonzo band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Murphy and lots of other really cool folks) and had a hit with Michael Murphy with a song he wrote called "Geronimo's Cadillac".) He has developed an interest in World Music, and in his Cowboys and Indians shows gets together with musicians form India, Nepal and other parts of Asia and blends the Austin sound with their sounds. He travels all over the world with his son, also a singer song writer named Tucker Livingston, and they explore other musical cultures together. This is the kind of thing I really love. Kitty, our store manager, who knows that I am a big fan of Bob Livingston goaded me asking "Have you intoduced yourself to him yet?" I told her he was busy with his photographer, and she said "You ought to introduce yourself to him. It might just change your whole life." I know a double dog dare when I hear one. Low and behold... a few minutes later, Bob Livingston is roaming around our store looking at drums and stuff. I took Kitty up on the double dog dare and showed him around the store, explained Fair Trade to him, and told him I had been to a couple of his concerts and thought the stuff he did was really great.
He liked the store a lot and bemoaned the fact that he had not found it before Christmas, but we agreed there would be a Christmas next year and he said there were also plenty of birthdays and other occasions between now and then. He told me he was doing a fund raiser to fight some development stuff on Town Lake with Jimmy La Fave and the Flat Landers at Antoine's tomorrow night and I told him how we do fund raisers for non profits at 10,000 Villages and I this evenig I bought tickets for the deal at Antoines for me and Gail. Who knows, maybe it will change my whole life?
Also during the day a gal came in who is from Romania and asked about hooking up with 10,000 Villages to sell local needle work and wood carvings and another couple were asking the same thing about some pottery form Honduras. I don't know if 10,000 Villages will be able to accommodate them, but we had great conversations about ways to help artisans in third world countries, and I learned a lot about craft traditions in Romania and Honduras.
Four people filled out cards saying they wanted to be volunteers and I had a lot of fun telling folks who came into the store about our organization, the artisans, how the stuff is made and Fair Trade. What a great Austin kind of day at the store.
BTW, Joyce Burkholder, our Akron-based Purchasing Director, is a good contact for artisan groups interested in partenering with Ten Thousand Villages.
Cheers,
Wilson