Thursday, January 28, 2010

Horny Toads are BACK!!!

These little lizards have really surprised me as to how well they sell. Back a little over a year ago one of my vendors practically begged me to give a horny toad figurine a shot at my store. While I thought they were completely ugly and I personally have no "fond memories" of the Texas native, I did decide to buy 12 of the things and figured if they ended up on the clearance rack then it would not break the bank. About 500 toads and 7 styles later I can say I am truly shocked at how many people not only buy these lizards but actually have a fondness for them!!!

At Christmas time we could not keep them in stock. Every time I order from my vendor I do another dozen with the thoughts that I will have them in stock for a few months and every time I am amazed at how fast they fly off the shelf!

With all that said I am pleased to announce that we have received a new shipment of horny toads (aka horned frogs) at the store. I even ordered another style (yes that will make 8 different ones) that will arrive later in the spring. So if you are a TCU grad or just love those little lizards, stop by the store and pick you up one or a maybe even a whole herd of them!!!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Back from the Dallas Market...

This weekend Becky and I went to the Dallas Gift Market. It was two days of LOTS of shopping and even more walking! We say thousands of booths, lots of great new products, and had way too much fun.

We left Saturday morning early in the fog and the drizzle. We got to Dallas before 10am and the shopping was off and running. We spent most of the day just getting familiarized with what floors were showcasing what type of items (there are over 15 floors of booths and the Dallas World Trade Center when you add in Trade Mart and Cash and Carry). This was Becky's first time to Market so I showed her the basics and then we began whipping out the credit card.

We bought from many of our favorite vendors like Texas Products, J.T. Giftware, Young Country Decor, and Cactus Rose. These vendors still had all the top sellers and many fun new items. In fact, we already have Texas Products items available in the store now (thanks guys for such speedy service).

Saturday also meant a trip through the Food Mart where we sampled fudge, coffee, pies, toppings, and all sorts of good things. We have a new line coming soon but I want that to be a surprise!!!

Sunday was our last day at Market and with only 9 hours to cram it all in we had to hurry. We hit many of the vendors that we had seen in magazines or at other stores just to see what all they carried. We had our list, we checked it twice, and we didn't stop until we were both so tired we could barely walk and the announcer came over the PA system saying that Market was about to close down for the day.

All in all it was a great trip. We saw lots of new ways to showcase merchandise and we bought tons of great products for our customers to take home with them or give to family and friends. Come in soon to see all the great new items!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Texas Waffle Maker...

Over Christmas the Texas Waffle Maker was a huge hit! So huge in fact we sold out just days before Christmas. Then with all the snow and ice we had the next shipment was delayed. Thankfully we have received a new supply of the Texas Waffle Makers.

This is a great gift to give to family and friends who moved out of the state and it makes a unique wedding or housewarming gift as well. The waffles come out in the shape of Texas and will truly delight all those at the breakfast table.

We also have Southern Pecan Waffle Mix and Texas Buttermilk Waffle Mix. Add these items along with our Toasted Pecan Syrup to the package and you have a truly tasty Texas gift!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Fudge Flavor of the Month for January is...

...Caramel Pecan Cheesecake! If your New Year's Resolution is to start eating only good things then trust me...this fudge is GOOD!!! It is so yummy that you won't even mind a few more minutes on the treadmill to burn the extra calories. Stop in for a taste today!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Long Time No Post...

Hey Y'all...

So sorry it has been so long since my last post. Pecan season was literally "nuts" for us this year. We were so busy which is a great thing but I barely had time to see Dotty at night much less try to keep up with the blog. Now that things are slower I plan to do a better job though!

This time of year is a time for reflection for many people and that includes us here at the Pecan Shed. We look back at what was great and what was not so great. This year there were a lot of great things that took place and as always just a few...we will call them "lessons learned"!

Our Homemade Fudge was a huge success again this year. We had all the great flavors like Chocolate Pecan, Turtle, Tiger, Butter Pecan, Maple Nut, Chocolate Mint and more but we also added holiday flavors such as Pumpkin Pie, Divinity, and Candy Cane fudge. All three were huge successes. (My favorite was the Candy Cane just because it was so pretty!)

All of our candied pecans flew off the shelf as well. In fact we ran out of Chocolate Covered Pecans...not just once...but TWICE!!! (That was a lesson learned moment...both times! We are slow learners sometimes.)

The Texas gifts and souvenirs as well as all the gourmet food items, cookbooks, and just about everything we did not have nailed down (and some things that we did) all flew off the shelves, especially the two weeks right before Christmas! We had so many blank spots in our store I was about to begin to fill them with drawings from Dotty and Presley but luckily we made it work with what little merchandise we had left.

This time of year, even though I am still exhausted, is when I really begin to look forward to the Dallas Gift Market. I love filling the store back up with new and unique items. This year I will be going to Market on the 16th so check back to see what awesome items we get in!

The biggest "LESSON LEARNED" is that Mother Nature is a crazy lady!!! Back in August and even in September we thought this was going to be a bumper crop. We thought the pecans would be big, huge, and great and there would be LOTS of them. Not so it turns out.

The crop was decent but not great. The pecans were darker and not filled out as well as in years past. Usually we get over 50% of good kernels out of a pound of all our pecans (some varieties even run closer to 60%) but this year due to quality concerns we had to shell out most of the crop and then discard a lot of bad ones.

We had more than enough for the Pecan Shed retail store but we had to turn down many new wholesale orders. That is a shame but it is the name of the game in agriculture. Feast or famine is always the case when it comes to Mother Nature. However, we are luckier than some. Some orchards lost their entire crop due to a late freeze back around Easter last year and some lost their crop due to the drought down south this summer. Thus, we count our blessings!

I hope you all had a great 2009 and will have a great 2010! Sorry this post was so long. I will try to make the others shorter (since I won't have 6 weeks of information to cover).

"Tomorrow is a gift...not a guarantee."
Jill