Yippee!!!

We did it!
You, more correctly, YOU did it! 
Thank you to all of our wonderful fans in getting us up to 276 fans (at last check) on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barrie-ON/ri-VYOO/102136757527. 
We haven't been working very hard on the marketing end of things at ri-VYOO so far.  Most of our customers have come from referrals.  I'm sure you all know our strong feelings on word of mouth advertising. :)  So, although most businesses put marketing at the fore front of their launch, we haven't.  We have focused on building a diverse inventory, streamlining our processes and working on achieving our mission statement and intended image. 
After months and months of working on these things it is really wonderful to get out there and make some in roads with meeting so many new customers!  It is so amazing when a new customer takes that chance to reach out and contact us.  Many times, they really have little understanding of how we do things around here.  Trying out any new store is always like that.  Have you ever just wanted to go into some cute little store, but find that you are a bit nervous about it?  If you do go inside and it's only you and the shopkeeper in the store that can be even more awkward!  All I can say is "Been there, done that!"  (actually, I am very guilty of trying to avoid that situation).  Since we understanding this feeling, it's so important to make every ri-VYOO customer feel completely comfortable when they call, email or come by.  So take the chance!  Have a question?  Go ahead and ask it!!! 
Are you skimming through to find out the winner's of our contest?  Should I blab on a bit more?
ri-VYOO would like to thank all of all of you for putting the word out about us. 
We would also like to congratulate James for referring Tiffanie to us. 
We are so happy to give them each a $25 Gift Certificate!

Let's do this again....
$10.00 Gift Certificates to fans 280 and 290....oh and to the person that refers them!

275 = $25!!!

Math at ri-VYOO rocks!  At least we like to think so!
So here is the number that we are working towards right now: 275.  275 is the number of fans that we are so excited about that we have turned it into a contest.  Our 275th fan will get a $25 Gift Certificate to shop at ri-VYOO....and so does the person that referred them!
Pretty exciting!!!!
But let's go back to math for a moment.  What exactly can $25 get you anyway? A hoody and a T?  Maybe some jeans?  We thought that we should give you some ideas of how far $25 gets you with ri-VYOO....

Jeans, denim skirt, knit sweater and 2 long sleeve T's ($26.00 total)

3 great outfits for the holidays: velvet pants, 2 skirts and 2 long sleeve T's ($26.00 total)

A whole bunch of comfy clothes: yoga pants, fleece sweater, knit sweater and 3 long sleeve T's ($26.00 total)

Or a whole matching wardrobe, complete with winter Jacket! ($25 total)



Now that is what we call great math!!!

Lest We Understand

November 11th. 
The one day that we set aside to think about everything that we have as a country. 
The freedom that we have and the countless men and women who have defended that freedom for us.
"Lest we Forget" is the moto of the day. 
 But that has got me thinking. 
How many of us truly remember? 
How many of us can even begin to understand?


As a person who has lived my entire life within the safety of the GTA, how can I "forget" when I have no reality to truly understand.  I have always been afforded my luxury of freedom to say what ever I want (sometimes to the chagrin of others), to go wherever I have wanted to, when I have wanted to and how I have chosen to get there.  Education has been mine to capitalize on,  the Arts mine to enjoy, and travel to take advantage of (whenever it makes it into the family budget). 
I can move freely.....without restriction. 
All of this is thanks to everyone who has ever put themselves on the line for Canada.


As mom to young children, this is a very hard concept to teach.  How do you teach everything that we take for granted?  As an adult, I can not honestly imagine a life any other way.  I cannot imagine the horror of a war on our homeland.....or even of having someone I love away with their safety in question.  I can, however, imagine the dread of my children not having the same Canadian freedom that I know nothing else but.


So, with this Remembrance Day upon us, I have chosen to embrace "Lest We Understand".  Teaching my children the importance of valuing what we have as a country and why we have it.  Hopefully the coming generation will not have horrific stories pertaining to the defence of our country.  We can only hope that in the future those who stand for our country do just that, without the worry of bloodshed and only in the pursuit of peace.


In the meantime, thank you to everyone who goes beyond in the defence of what we take for granted.  Your bravery makes you hero's and patriotism is to be envied. 
Our Canada is what it is because of you.

What the heck is ri-VYOO and how the heck do you say it!?!

ri-VYOO.....what a weird name!

We have had countless people ask us how the name of our business is pronounced and where we came up with it. Once we fill them in, the next question is "Why the heck did we spell it so strangely?" 

For those of you who are puzzled by the same questions, this blog's for you!

You may or may not have seen the mini-contest that we held yesterday.  We thought that it would be fun to see if the desired message that our name is meant to send is reaching our customers.  We got some fabulous responses....ones that truly made us smile!

Here they are:

• It's pronounced review :) Reviewsic [ri-vyoo-zik] - I googled it! LOL
• I second that.... Pronounced like review, meaning to give it another look!
• pronounced "review" means to take a 2nd look.
• it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled ... to me, it means a super convenient, highly affordable and great quality source for kids clothes ... I regularly "take a 2nd look" at the albums ... and a 3rd ... 4th ... ;)
• a formal or official examination  REVIEW :)
• Review...the way to dress your children so they look fantastic and your hubby doesn't cringe at the receipt! :)

Talk about being bang on! 

Our name ri-VYOO is based on the phonetic spelling of the word, being written how you pronounce it. "Review" is such a blah, unexciting word that we thought that we needed something a little more memorable!!  The idea behind the name "review" is twofold.  Firstly, it is based on the idea that our inventory is getting "reviewed" a second time.  We thought that it was really just a little nicer than saying recycled or used.  The second is our "invitation" to shop at your leisure and come back as often as you would like to "review" our ever changing inventory.  It was really awesome to see that you guys had it figured out!!!

So.....now onto choosing a winner.....

We wrote down everyone's name,

put them all into a hat (a fedora, 'cuz ri-VYOO customers are so cool!),

had a little help from a little person,

drew the winner name,

And all that's left to do is congratulate Chantal!

That was lots of fun! 

Thank you to everyone who participated and to all of our customers and fans!

What a Great Week!!!

This week has been incredible! 

As ri-VYOO continues to grow and pick up momentum, we have the fortune of meeting many new people.  We have added many new fans this week, so a big "Welcome" to you, and I have had the chance to introduce myself personally to the many new buyers and sellers who have been by.  I always take a little something away from each conversation.  It's so interesting to find out how these people found out about us and what encouraged them to come by to buy or sell.  Many of our customers are by referral, something that we are so grateful for, while others have just been searching for alternative options to buy or sell recycled clothing. 

As ri-VYOO has grown in service time (we are over 1 year old already!) it is also amazing to see the relationships that we are building with our customers.  Customers who originally made a very small purchase to get a feel for what we were about are now coming by regularly and are very confident in knowing what quality of clothing and service they can expect from ri-VYOO.  There really no better feeling than that as a retailer!  These customers have also been patient when mistakes have been made (last week was a very bad week for mistakes!) and know that we are more than happy to right the wrong.

I would like to share an email that I received yesterday:

Hi Maryann,

Not sure if you're still looking for pictures of kids in your clothes, but thought I would forward these of my little poser wearing some of her new digs :) She loves everything and so do I - thanks again (see you soon!)

Here are the wonderful pictures of a beautiful little ri-VYOO model...

 She was so sweet when she was here.  She fell in love with the sweater and wouldn't take it off!  It was just one of the many high points of this week.....so far!