Switching up the Seasonal Schedule

For the past 20 years I've announced the Spring Seasonal menu at the beginning of February. This year I'm moving it to March 1st.

When we were just a sprout of a company, I created the calendar to fit my schedule of early spring craft shows. As the company has grown, the timeline doesn't fit well with the way we are doing business now. With the greatly expanded holiday rush season, I'm not able to physically catch up with inventory and create a whole new spring line in just the first week or two of January.

Creatively I'm out of gas too, needing just a little more time to get rested, recuperated and back in the groove too. So I've been feeling like the spring menu is just a slapped together thing. Not the fun and creative expression I would like to do. You might also be noticing that it's still very much winter when you look out of your window in February. Having a spring fling seems more reasonable during March, April and May, and that's when my show schedule for the year begins also.

The Summer newsletter will also shift - from May 1st to June 1st. Summer seasonals will be available May, June and July, or a bit longer if we've still got stock. Autumn will be announced at the normal date, September 1st, and generally continue through the end of the year, or as long as possible, into November.

I'm still looking at the Winter Holiday launch. It normally happens on Nov 1st, but we may push that to December 1st, just to even out the year, with three months in between each cycle. Holiday gifting and shopping needs to be accommodated in those few short months, so we're still working on those details, but will keep you posted. I hope that these small shifts will allow me to keep up with inventory better, get a little more freshness into the creation of new things, and flow better with my current show schedule.

Everything evolves and it makes sense to look at the process from time to time, to make sure it's serving the highest possible outcome instead of just churning through the business-as-usual model. Let's give this a try, but I'm also hoping that you all feel free to make this an open conversation too and give me your feedback about how it's working on your end. Looking forward to hearing what you think!