My goodness, what a difference a few weeks can make! Rick, Katie and I have all started new journeys recently, yet we meet up at frequent intersections along the way. Katie's thoroughly enjoying college life, and it's a wonderful time to be a Theatre major in Kansas City. With the vibrant 2011/2012 seasons at Missouri Repertory Theatre and the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the theatre scene in KC has never had such an illustrious beginning. Katie will be able to witness and work on many productions over the next four years, and she is thriving in college academia. It's such a joy to watch her enjoy college life - boy, they do grow up too quickly!
Rick and I are dividing our work life into different sides of the consumer goods world. Life as a Senior Product Manager at K&Company is a gift, nothing less. It's such a perfect transition from my years at Hallmark & Bitterman's, and to work with such a creative and knowledgable group of people is an absolute delight. Getting back in the groove with our Asian partners has been really interesting too, and I'm hoping to make a trip to our factories there next year.
And our biggest news this month has been the opening of "Uncle Ricky's" in Liberty MO - we opened on Friday, September 23, during Liberty's Fall Festival, and it was such a warm, welcoming homecoming. We saw several of our customers from our American Homestead days, and the response has been gratifying. To see Rick in action again in a retail venue has been a joy - he's is such a dynamic "shopkeeper" and is back to his old tricks. If you haven't been by to see us, we're open everyday except Sundays.
The best part of opening "Uncle Ricky's" has been the combined efforts of the McKernan family - Katie has taken on the buying responsibilities for our personal accessories department, and she has a real talent for merchandise selection. She's managing the inventory, building displays and reordering best sellers - she's already sold out on some items! Rick's at the store everyday, and has met with sales reps all week preparing for the holiday selling season. And we're all three at the store on Saturdays, greeting customers, sampling gourmet treats, and selling great product. So we get to be together on the weekends and build our new business venture. So our journey continues - in separate lanes, and on the road together - what a trip!
