Essentials/Blog

Sydne and I started watching season three of Weeds a few nights ago and we saw something slightly familiar in a restaurant scene. The mugs used in the table setting are the same ones we used to sell in the store. HA! Serves us right for being behind on our TV watching…

Customers at Essentials have known for a while now that we have a keen interest in Japanese design. What customers might NOT know is that we also have a website devoted exclusively to product from Japan or product inspired by Japanese design. The site is called Japanistic.com.

This month’s window at our Northampton store is a subtle nod to our Japanistic.com website. The window features product exclusively from Japan, and sports the Japanistic tag-line done up in collage (the line reads: Style and Design in a stylized script). Check out the images below and check out some of the product you see here on our website (due to the incredible difficulty in managing apparel inventory online, we are unable to sell many of the awesome clothes you see below. You will just have to come in to the store).

Being a relatively small boutique owner means that you can easily get bogged down by the day-to-day business of keeping the stores going.  This means that sometimes we are slower than we want to be in getting product on the website. Well, we put our foot down this week and have been taking TONS of photos. John just put a bunch up online of Babar, The Little Prince, and the ever-wacky Barbapapa. More pics will go up next week, so stay tuned. To see the new product online, go here.

Well, you asked for it and now you’ve got it! We just added a Staff Picks section at ShopEssentials.net. Every month (or s0) staff choose no more than three items to share with the world. The chosen merchandise can come from any part of the store and truly represents what staff like or are into at the moment. The selection rotates often, so be sure to visit often, or sign-up for our on-line newsletter. Here’s a little sample:

We finally got the Bastille Day photos up and they look great! Thanks so much to everyone who came to have fun with us and share in the festivities. Thanks also to our great staff: Colette, Sarah, Hannah, Rose, Madison, Ella, and Emily. Please note: we did our best with quality of photos and names. Please excuse any errors in spelling. If we got your name wrong, please let us know and we will make the change.

This just in from our friends over at People Against Racebending. This is a direct copy from one of their Facebook updates….

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Here are two new opportunities to spread the word about The Last Airbender controversy and the People Against Racebending!

Are you going to San Diego Comic Con 2009? Want to volunteer with racebending.com?

Fill out our volunteer form!
http://racebending.com/sdccform.php

Or e-mail info@racebending.com with your contact info!
—
We have a flickr!
http://www.flickr.com/people/racebending
http://www.flickr.com/photos/racebending/

Show Paramount, the media, and the rest of the world exactly how diverse and fabulous the People Against Racebending really are! Just follow these 4 easy steps:

#1 Create a “BOYCOTT THE LAST AIRBENDER –> racebending.com” sign (It can be made out of a piece of paper and a Sharpie, I’m not fussy, as long as it fulfills #2!)

#2 Take a picture of yourself with the sign, making sure the sign is easy to read by the picture-viewer.

#3 Write a paragraph (or less) about why you are personally boycotting TLA. (As a guide, think of what you wrote in your answer to the survey awhile back.)

#4 Send your photo and your paragraph with your some iteration of your REAL name, your age, your location, and your self-identifying ethnicity to promote@racebending.com. (Name can be first & last OR first name only OR first name + last initial, etc. as long as it is not a screen name. Location will be used in our map. All other info is supplementary survey info that will not be disclosed unless we see fit to change that at a later date. We’ll keep you updated!
And that’s it!

There are a few extra details (Please show your face, keep it PG, groups are allowed as long as all group members supply a paragraph and the information outlined in #4)– Check them out at http://community.livejournal.com/racebending/69744.html

Need examples? Check out the flickr.

Questions about photos? Just e-mail me at promote@racebending.com

Cheers!

The Guillotine has arrived. It is now at the Northampton store!! Eric Breeden outdid himself. Click here to find out more about the Guillotine, and when you can get your photo taken with it.

I realize this is short notice, but wanted to let people know about the first Asian American Comic-Con on July 11 in NYC. Here is the info and the link:

On July 11, 2009, the biggest Asian American creators in manga, mainstream and indie comics are gathering for a unique one-day event, featuring interactive workshops, intimate interviews, and hands-on opportunities to learn from the top talents in the trade. Meet and mingle with the masters. Get autographed copies of your favorite graphic novels and original sketches. And take part in provocative panels like:

–NERDPOP: The rise of the nerds, and why geek chic is changing the game
–EVERY COMIC IS ASIAN AMERICAN: An all-star lineup of novelists and poets reimagine their favorite comic book characters as Asian American
–POP GOES EAST: How the Asianification of American pop culture has reshaped the graphic novel
–THE NEW VILLAINS: Muslim insurgents, North Korean dictators, and Chinese spies, oh my!
–WRITERS’ BLOC: Leading comics writers discuss the craft of writing in panels, and show how graphical narratives allow for stories impossible to tell in any other medium
–VISUAL STORYTELLING–THE MASTER CLASS: Top comics creators show off their individual approaches to telling stories with pictures
–CAN COMICS PAY THE RENT?: Is there a future for the comics industry? And do you belong in it?
–SIMILAR DIFFERENCES: A one-on-one interview with alt-comics wunderkind DEREK KIRK KIM
–ASIANS IN BOXES–FROM CHOP-CHOP TO SILVER SAMURAI: A guided tour with science fiction legend William F. Wu, as he shares samples from his collection of thousands of comics depicting Asian images…good, bad, and definitely ugly
–HAMA TIME!: A spotlight interview with comics pioneer Larry Hama, creator of the G.I. Joe universe and winner of this year’s KIYAMA AWARD celebrating the achievements of Asians in comics!

Our annual Bastille Day Extravaganza has been announced! It is going to take place July 10, 11, and 12 (the 14th falls on a Tuesday this year). We are going to have the usual 20% off sale during that period, but like years before, we are offering some special opportunities to save even more. Check out the Bastille Day page at ShopEssentials.net for more info.

Some highlights of this year’s Bastille Day Sale:

• Off with Your Head
  In addition to the usual fun stuff, we are going to have an actual Guillotine in the Northampton store, thanks to Eric Breeden. On Saturday, July 11, strike a gruesome pose and one of our staff will snap your pic and email you the photo. After all, it’s not a party until someone loses their head!
• Dress-Up
  Also on Saturday, July 11, come dressed as your favorite character from French fiction or history and take another 20% off one item (that’s a savings of 40%). You can come to either the Northampton or Amherst stores.

See you this weekend.

New at the store this week are Garron card files, and more Comic Book Notebooks. I like the card file holder because it is simple and clean and makes organizing the business cards and scraps of paper in my wallet much easier. The notebooks are a different take on the classic Artemis Comic Book paper journals. These have the spiral for those of us who like a book to lay completely flat.