You (rubber duckie) light up my life

Crazy hairs

I can't tell you how great it is to watch people smile. In the store, right at the register, we have basket of crazy hair ducks,at our shows we have a rack full of these funny ducks. No matter where they are, these squeezable crazy haired ducks light up and quickly become a favorite of all ages.
                                             Remember: A smile, like laughter, is contagious! 

Rubber Duck(ing)

I have a great job, I get to spend my day looking for new rubber ducks for Quacker Gift Shop to share with all of its wonderful rubber duck collectors. Today,instead of finding a new ducks, I found something new to do with all those ducks we love to collect, its called rubber ducking. According to the pragmatic programmer if you "place a rubber duck on your monitor and describe your problem to it. There's something magical about stating your problems a loud that makes the solution more clear." There is even theory behind this rubber duck(ing) action its called ThinkingOutLoud and Self Talk. Just one more reason to love rubber ducks!

Gotta love rubber ducks

Once again, ACCION and IDEA Marketing have put the spotlight on Quacker Gift Shop.
But there's more...I got my pictures taken too!

Great weekend for rubber ducks at the Chocolate Fest

This is Quacker Gift Shop's new 2010 show setup,

It was prefect and business was great!

What could be more fun than wine and chocolate? Rubber Ducks!
The Quacker Gift Shop had a great weekend at the 6th Annual Denver Chocolate Fest this weekend. Rubber ducks were everywhere.

Bet you did know Oompa Loompa's liked rubber ducks!

What to do with slow days

Over the past several months, we were on auto pilot, we sent more internet packages than ever before, our retail store celebrated its first Christmas season, and we successful completed an over booked festival schedule. January has a new focus. The store is decorated, the Valentines are up, and several of the winter projects have been completed. Even in the best of times January is a tough retail month so Steve and I am have been focused on several ways to grow our customer base (both online and retail) at Quacker Gift Shop.

1. We are focused marketing

We have commented to writing a blog three times a week, we are creating a quarterly newsletter, and creating a press kit that will serve our niche market RUBBER DUCKS!

2. We are using our extra time for good

When sales are slow, it's the perfect time to concentrate on all those little things that we don’t normally have time for. We are adding new products to Quacker Baby, developing LS2M Krown (our wholesale division), and preparing the store for the Quacker Reading Corner.

3. Get to better know our accounting program

How much is coming in? How much is going out? We are focused on what we can do to cut back and lower our monthly expenses. Figure out what you can afford to spend on advertising or supplies each month. Understanding our money and accounting is the half the battle. If we lay it all out, it will help us prioritize, plan and spend more wisely.

No one ever said any of this would be easy, but we did not go into business for ourselves because we thought it'd worry free, right?

Adventures with Quacky 2010

For the new year, Adventures with Quacky has a new focus. Previously we shared pictures of our shows, sponsored events and the opening of our new store. As we planned out 2010 we wanted to expanded our blog and share with our readers the everyday of Quacker Gift Shop. We also wanted to introduce ourselves as the owners of this crazy adventure. Often times I see I great business and wonder, who owns that business? Other than years of hard work, what did they do to have a great business? Over the next year, our hope is to answer those questions and beyond, some days and weeks are better than others, it’s far fantasy island (ok, I just dated myself) but at the end of even the worst week, it’s a dream come true.

My husband Steve and I (I’m Jennifer ) will be the primary bloggers. In our absence (I am already thinking about sun and a beach), we hope to have one of four child fill in for us, it will be interesting to read their commentaries relative to the family business. The other reason we may rope the kids in is that Steve and I are both full time students and sometime the workload gets very demanding. Steve’s focus is Business Management and mine Human Communications (Ethics and Rhetoric).

With the business, four kids, school, four pets, and each other we stay busy about 16 hours a day. We hope you enjoy our adventures and we look forward to your comments.

Quacky has a new home!

Hello my duckie friends. It has been a crazy summer and fall! My friends at the Quacker Gift Shop have recently opened what we believ to be the very first all duckie retail store in the United States. With over nine hundred different ducks and thousands in stock, the Quacker Gift Shop is one of the quakiest places on the planet! In addition, the store features some of the handmade soaps by Delish Bodyworks, a sister company of the Quacker Gift Shop. The quacker baby sectioin has little duckie products designed for the newborn to toddler set. If you have ever wanted to send something different than flowers, the Quacker Bouquet is just what you need. with custom designs and a duck for every ocassion, the Quacker Bouquet is the perfect gift for discriminating duck lovers everywhere. I hope you stop by and say hello; I'm sitting in the window everday! Quack On!

Territory Days was Rip Roarin Fun

Hello all you duckie fans, Quacky here to report on the weekend going ons with the Quack Gift Shop. Our friends were at two huge festivals in Colorado over the Memorial Day weekend. First was territory Days in old Colorado City. The weather was a bit on the cool and wet side, but that didn't keep the duckie fans from checking out the cowboy ducks, military ducks and even the scream duck! We had so much fun, we'll defiantely be back next year. The duck booth was set up on western wear, and Steve and Jennifer even kept on their cowboy hats most of the days. The hospitality was great and during one rain, some of the ducks had to take a dip in the gutter run off. Watch for the next report from the Boulder Creek festival, and wait until you see our newest member of the flock, the famous Lady Quackington

The Denver Duck Drop was a great success!

Hello Duck Lovers, Quacky here again. This past weekend, Quacky was at the Denver Duck Drop, supporting the Denver Foundation and the Denver Public Schools of Southeast Denver. The event was in part sponsored by my friends at the Quacker Gift Shop. There was a design your own duckie booth and Quacker's booth of ducks too. With more than 3000 rubber ducks floating down the creek and over 80 prizes, the duck drop was a great community event. Here are a few pictures from the fun. Hope you enjoy them! Hundreds of people attended the event. When the fire department released the ducks, you could see the cowd race through the park to see who had one. Councilwoman Peggy Lehman's staff led by Sunni Rodgers once again did a marvelous job setting up the event. Thanks to all the volunteers and students who sold the tckets for such a worthwhile event!

Happy Monday! We had a great weekend here in Colorado. Quacky spent the weekend at Mollie McGee's Craft show in Longmont Colorado. My quacky rubber ducks spent the weekend at home, but my gift shop bosses were showing their hand crafted soaps. We did bring a spa gift set with a rubber duck and soap and of course the wonderful ducky gift bouquets! People loved the creative new soap scents and of course smiled big at the rubber ducks on display! Stay tuned for more adventures, we have a great big summer ahead. Remember, we'd love submissions of your favorite ducky pictures and will be happy to post them on www.quackergiftshop.com. That's all for now. Quacky

Quacky here again, spring time is here and all the little ducklings are hatching. Some of my new ducky favorite friends are Rubba Ducks, my friends and I are looking forward to a nice splash in the tub. The good people at Quacker Gift Shop, www.quackergiftshop.com have a great selection of my Rubba as well as all of my favorite ducks. Check them out!

Day 4 at the stock show

Hi Quacky friends-

Today is day four at the stock show! Mutton bustin and bull riding are the big events of the day. Quacky went to the poultry exhibit to check out his ducky friends and couldn't believe his eyes. Mixed in with the hens, roosters and geese was a very rare Western Yellow Duck family. You'll see by the picture that their cage allows the Western yellow the ability to move freely for comfort. Judging is tomorrow, and Quacky is very excited to see how his yellow friends do among the best of the feathered best! For your very own Western Yellow, go to http://www.quackergiftshop.com/. That's all for now - quack quack!

Day One at the Stock Show

Hello quacky friends. It's day one at the 109th annual National Western Stock Show in Denver Colorado. With hundreds of exhibits, live animals and nearly 750,000 attendees, the National Westen is one of the largest stock shows in the world! Quacky is here with the Quacker Gift Shop too! This year, we have cowboy, cowgirl, ropers, pigs, cows, chickens and more to satisfy even the most discerning duckie fan! If you are near Denver from the 10th to the 25th of January, make sure to stop on by. If not, come to the web at http://www.quackergiftshop.com/ for the best selection of fun rubber duckies you'll see!

A Quacky Fall

Hello all my quacky friends. I've had a really busy fall, stopping at lot's of holiday gift shows in Colorado to help my friends at the Gift Shop. The really big news is that my new website www.quackergiftshop.com is up and running. Here you can find the most quacktacular collection of all things ducky on the web. The best part is that it just keeps growing. You can even see where the gift shop will be next by checking out the calendar. I'll be posting some pictures real soon from my adventures this fall. I hope you check back again.