Happy Retirement

The sweet smell of a happy retirement is in the air.  A wonderful person, Linda, has decided to retire from her life as a retail shop owner.  Linda is a soft soul with a kind helpful personality.  So, to celebrate her retirement, she offered all manner of friends, acquaintances and general folks just passing by a lovely gift  - 35% off merchandise.

After two email announcements and a good old fashioned post card, the first day of her retirement sale began today.  The two needles in the upper right corner of this photo should give a hint as to the type of store and what might be on sale. 

I was in the store just last Thursday to scope out what I might want to purchase and where it was located.  After all, 35% off retail does require some forethought and planning.  I had it all figured out.  Grab first, then sort, then put back anything I did not really want and then walk up to check out.

Imagine my utter shock when I arrived bright an early on this Monday morning to discover this:   

Over the weekend, Linda and some elves moved the merchandise!  That's right, the display of just a few days ago was gone and piles of patterns filled the space.  All of the glittery holiday festive yarns were no longer on the back wall out of the way, but moved up to front and center for anyone to purchase.  

It is a good thing that I had that game plan.  

Grab, sort, put back, then pay.

So, as soon as Linda turned on the lights and opened  the door I made a bee line to my first location for grabbing.

Around the fluffy white stuff and past the lace merino, avoid the display duck, ignore the baby patterns and go straight to the wall.  Yes, the wall of needles where, on Thursday, the Addi's hung out waiting for the retirement 35% reduction in price.  Score!  I was able to fill in a few holes in the needle collection and double up on the favorites. 

And then I grabbed a few other things, sorted it out and forgot to put anything back.  I did remember to pay.

I'll confess that when Linda's retirement was first made public, there was angst amongst her following.  What would we possibly do without the store?  Where would we go on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or Friday or Saturday just to sit with a lap full of yarn and friends who understand?  Yes, there was angst.

And then, wonder of wonders our worries were calmed with the grand announcement.  Nancy, who owns a yarn store just two blocks away, needs to move because her lease is up and the small space she currently occupies is no longer sufficient.  Nancy is moving into Linda's vacated space and our little yarn world will continue with just a few weeks of  hiatus.   Nancy is even adding a washer on site where she offers felting services.    Before deciding to retire, Linda's staff and Nancy had planned to co-sponsor a knitting retreat for September.  And this is not the first time that the two stores  joined resources to hold a retreat.  I just love the way that this whole yarn thing works.  Friendly competition between shop owners - - co-opetition at it's finest!

Happy retirement Linda!  And welcome to Nancy.