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!

Get 'em While You Can!!!!!

We are putting all Hallowe'en costumes on sale! 
All costumes now $8.50!!!!! 
With a price like that you really can't go wrong!!!
Here are some of the costumes still available:

Want to see more?

Click here to see the whole collection:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209834&id=102136757527

Don't forget that any item marked with a "***" is a clearance item and is only $1.00!

Happy Shopping!!!!!

Things to Be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
What a wonderful busy week!
Here at ri-VYOO, we have been working hard on improvements to our laundry area and facilities and our foyer. As you may already know, all of our inventory is freshly laundered before it is catalogued and stored. The great thing about this is that all of our items are clean and ready to use when they are purchased! The bad thing about this is that it wore out the old washer and dryer!!
As the finishing touches are completed, we are very thankful to have all of the work of creating a more efficient area over with and also to have had the opportunity to need to make these improvements because of all of our wonderful ri-VYOO customers. ri-VYOO's focus as always been to be as environmentally friendly as possible, with recycled products and packaging, and biodegradable detergents. We are excited to now be able to use less energy and water in this process, as well.

At the foundation of any business is it's customers. Without these customers, no business can stay standing. We are very thankful for our customers....people who are willing to shop "outside of the store" and support local independant retailers. Karen recently shared her experience of shopping ri-VYOO. Here is what Karen had to say:
"I picked up from ri-VYOO and was greeted with a smile, while my products were packaged neatly in tissue paper and packaged in a pretty bag - a very pleasant shopping experience."
Thank you so much for sharing Karen! We are happy to share a $15 Gift Certificate with you.
Enjoy the day everyone! We all have so much to celebrate on this wonderful holiday!

Trick or Treat?

Hallowe'en is just around the corner and no doubt has your house filled with planning and excitement for all concerned. What to be for Hallowe'en is such a big decision for children. Around our house it's starts with the debate on whether scary/not scary is the look for the year and then moves on too who is being what so no duplications happen.

Once this absolutely perfect costume has been chosen, then comes the task of actually finding it!!! Sometimes, this is impossible....Other times, the price tag is the scariest part of the costume!

Of course ri-VYOO can help with this! :) A quick browse online to have a peek and see if we have what you are looking for, and then the not-so-scary price of only $10.00 per costume! Our selection changes daily, as things come and go, so check back often....or have your little one join in on the browsing to help with inspiration for the big day or maybe even find exactly what they were looking for!

Monday's ri-VYOO Outift

Little boys....now there is a bad investment for your clothing dollars!

Who knew a wardrobe could go through so many disasters, both natural and otherwise!?

On our home front, our little guy has done damage with everything from permanent marker and scissors, to the more expected fight with spaghetti sauce and the visit across the sidewalk via jean covered knees. Regardless, these things happen and parents have to hope that by the end of the season there are at least a few items in the drawer that are incident -free!

Or....you could shop at ri-VYOO!

Although you may still be upset that a favorite T-shirt is now destined for rags, you can take comfort in the fact that the cost was only $3.00. Now that is the kind of price that most don't mind taking a gamble on!

Monday's ri-VYOO Outfit

Long Sleeve T-Shirt - $3.00

Jeans - $8.00
Hat - $2.00
Total outfit cost - $13.00

Friday's ri-VYOO Outfit

Yippee!

It's Friday!

The most aniticpated day of the week!

There is no more appropriate day for a funky outfit, just to put the icing on the cake for the arrival of the end of the work and school week!

It's always great to put those funky seperates into something with a little more edge! :) That's just what we did for Friday's outfit.

Friday's ri-VYOO Outfit:

Cropped Sweater - $5.00

Long Sleeve T - $3.00

Skinny Jeans - $8.00

Total cost for today's outfit: $16.00