store happenings

They skies may have been grey but it was a sun-shiny day inside our new Ann Arbor shops thanks to our fantastic firefly fans!

We enjoyed live tunes by talented guys all day long.  Here is a little taste of the day…

One big hit of the day was our live photo booth.  It was fun because even the camera shy could hide behind silly glasses or marvelous mustaches.

Even Steve’s shy mom and sister picked up some props and posed for us!  See all the silly photo booth photos HERE.  Many fans asked if our props were for sale so I put together a few of my simple drawings for you to print at home.

I suggest printing on a light weight card stock.  Then just cut them out and hot glue a thin wooden dowel or kabob skewer to them and your good to go!  It’s a sweet and simple way to add some fun to any party.  Print the photo props HERE.

Thanks again for making our opening day one to remember!  Looking forward to seeing your smiling faces for many years to come!  <3 team catching fireflies

It has been a busy start to 2013 for this firefly family so we think it’s about time to celebrate!  So on Saturday, March 16 we are throwing a little party for all of you!  Lots of action is happening at all THREE of our locations…

To kick off the GRAND OPENING of our third location in Ann Arbor we are giving away free goodies (like that cute bag pictured above) to our first 100 firefly fans through the door!  We’ll also have acoustic music throughout the day, a live photo booth with silly props, sweet treats & 20% OFF EVERYTHING all day long.  We are located at 419 Detroit Street in the Kerrytown district of Ann Arbor and are open from 9-6 on Saturday.

Can you believe our Rochester location is 7 years old already?  Stop by our turquoise train depot for fun times, sweet treats and 20% off EVERYTHING all day long.  We are located at 203 E. University in downtown Rochester and are open from 10-6 on Saturday.

Our Berkley location may be our original and oldest store BUT it has a BRAND NEW LOOK!  Come check out our new digs, enjoy some sweet treats and get 20% OFF EVERYTHING all day long. We are located at 3117 W 12 Mile in downtown Berkley and are open from 10-6 on Saturday.

And if you can’t make it out this Saturday or don’t live in the area we are also extending the 20% deal when you shop online NOW through March 17 when you use coupon code: PARTY (we also offer free delivery to all our locations)

Hope to see your smiling faces this Saturday.  Thank your for celebrating with us!

The last two days of our fast and furious facelift were the most work.  Once again I have to thank our team for all their hard work, late nights and extra shifts needed to pull this off.  We are about at 90% completion in these photos.  This week we’ll put up more artwork up on the walls, add tree branches budding with paper lanterns in a few displays, light up a marquee sign that reads, SMILE and place a clothesline or two in the baby & kitchen section to complete the look.

But without further ado here are the fruits of our labor…

After we add all the extra touches we’ll do some before and after shots for fun.  Stay tuned…

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We went through our share of colorful paint on Tuesday.   Our fabulous firefly team is doing an amazing job helping us transform our whimsical space.  We are so grateful to have such a positive, flexible and hard working crew.  Thank you gals!

Now… if we could only teach Piper how to paint trim work.

The back half of the store floor also got covered in chocolate brown paint.  The only thing we didn’t move this time was the kitchen sink.

In addition to painting there was a lot of taking apart and putting together displays.

Now… if we could only teach Piper how to use a drill.

And then there is transitioning all the product.  This is when I say…”Why did I think we could do all this in 6 days?”

The next two days will be filled with finishing up painting some displays and then merchandising all our whimsical wares in their new spots!  Here are a few more peeks of how things are starting to come together.

As you can see, it’s back to the shop for me!  Stay tuned…

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It has been 6 years since the last time we gave our original Berkley location a makeover and we decided it was time to mix it up again.   Inspired by our latest location we’re turning our current sherbet color theme into a more punchy palette.  Also we are saying goodbye to a lot of our traditional shelving and adding more industrial spool table tops.

First the un-fun part… tearing apart the store after the store closes on Saturday night.

For some reason when we first moved in that space over 12 years ago we decided to put down 4×8 pressed wood boards to cover the commercial carpeting.  I still can’t recall why we made this choice but it does mean we need to paint the boards from time to time.  This marks our fourth coat and means everything in the front of the store has to be stored in the back while we paint away.

As you can see, this paint job was WAY overdue and it was also time to say goodbye to our floor fireflies.  This marks the end of our first night… or shall I say morning (a lovely 1am first coat finish)

Day 1 included taking down all our wall art, patching hundreds of nail holes and painting, painting, painting.  Ready for a red wall behind our check-out?

Day 2 included a big delivery of industrial spools and other display pieces plus more painting of walls, furniture and more.  In the evening we started to position some of our displays so we can start transitioning all the product from the back of the store to the front so we can repeat this process to the back half of the shop!

Now it’s time for me to close this computer and head back to work!  Stay tuned…

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After many weeks of preparation we happily opened our doors on Detroit Street this Wednesday.

It seems so long ago when we originally looked at the space and to be honest, it’s still sinking in that it is finally a reality.  We had a blast putting everything together and are delighted with how it turned out!  Here are some of the classic before/after shots…

Talk about the power of paint, right?  And now for the rest of the tour…

We invite you to stop by anytime to see our colorful world in person.  We are open Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat. 9-6 and Sun 11-5.  Also for a grand time, make plans to visit us on Saturday, March 16 for 20% off everything, acoustic grooves, sweet treats, a live photo booth & free goodies for the first 100 firefly fans.

Looking forward to seeing many of your smiling faces soon!

We are finally entering the pedal to the metal week at our new shop in Ann Arbor.  Everything is finding it’s place (including the awning) and this week it’s all about getting pretty products placed in the shop.

Here’s a quick tour of how things are coming together… 

My dear friend, Aly stopped by on Saturday & yarn bombed our lengthy limbs we have scattered throughout the store.  I’m also loving these cool vintage inspired spools to hang our handbags.

The kitchen space is starting to fill up.  Our lovely little craigslist kitchenette didn’t come with burners so we just fastened these pots to the stove top as permanent display pans.

I had lots of fun filling up our bath hutch with jars of Hydra shower bursts, soaps, teas & chill pills.  The dressing room curtain is actually sheet from Target dressed up with fancy fabric & yarns. (We’ll be carrying Ellembee tees)  I’ve mastered pounding nails in mortar… after bending numerous ones first ;-)  Also so excited to be offering Cellar Door soap here too!

Necklaces will soon be hanging on clipboards and our smaller side of the shop is starting to take shape too.  This is what Katie & Elliot will be doing the rest of the week as our new crew prices & displays things feverishly.  Now I need to go to bed so I can refuel and head back to the firefly frenzy tomorrow.

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Another week has flown by at our new Ann Arbor location.  Steve has become the master of creating our check-outs from old doors… this will be his fourth & fanciest one yet.  And God bless Katie, our new manager for painting TWENTY window panes and our GIANT bumpy brick wall.  Her and the color, grape leaves have become best friends.  We’ve also found many terrific treasures on craigslist… claw foot tub, retro sofa & kitchenette ~ oh my!  Lucky for us we have the important essentials to get us through each day.

Steve, Jule & I spent last Saturday sawing, painting & positioning fixtures.  I love turning industrial wire spools into tables and ladders into shelves.

Jule got quite the work-out painting this bench a punchy lime…

One of my favorite parts is seeing the displays start to take form.  Everything is still in rough stages, but you definitely can start to see the general layout of the kitchen, bathroom & other sections.

Jule brought this sign to life by screwing in every single light bulb.  I can’t wait to put these awesome letters up on the wall!

And just a reminder of the before and after…

This week our full firefly team starts.  We’ll continue to paint & position displays & start pricing & putting out product!

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