Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Let’s make "Black Friday" less Blechy!

We’ve always wondered about the shopping phenomenon which has come to be known as “Black Friday.” Why do big box stores make their customers and staff get up super early and fight crowds just for a few good deals?

We thought we’d make the whole experience a little more pleasant! No need to get up early—just stop by during our normal hours for a cup of hot cider. And, with a purchase over $30, you can draw an instant-win prize from our Black Friday fishbowl. You’ll draw one of the following fabulous prizes:

  • A $5 Peapods Gift Card
  • A $20 Peapods Gift Card (at least 4 available in the fish bowl!)
  • A $50 Peapods Gift Card (one of these in the bowl)
  • A Moby Wrap gift set including a Moby Wrap, Baby Blanket, and Baby Hat (a $70 value)
  • Our giant “Red” Fraggle Rock Doll (a $120 retail value)
Plus, receive a free extra large reusable canvas shopping bag with every purchase over $50.

Plus, our Buy 5 Get 1 Free sale on Bum Genius 4.0 pocket diapers continues.

PLUS, All Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size Diapers will be on sale for $11.99. (We've got lots of smalls, fewer mediums and larges)

As always, gift wrapping is free.

Let’s make the day after Thanksgiving fun and fabulous!

P.S. We’ll be closed on Thanksgiving, Have a great day with your family!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Big Announcement: Peapods is Moving!

We are excited to announce that Peapods will be moving in January to a bigger (and in many ways, better!) location at 2290 Como Avenue West in St. Paul. We will remain at our current location through the Holidays.

The new store will be about 50% bigger than our current store, so we'll have even more room for new products and increased selection. What's more, we'll have some great new neighbors. Within one block of our new store is Bibelot gifts, Micawbers Books Store, a branch of the St. Paul Public Library with a special children's book collection, a Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop, the Finnish Bistro and Bakery, a post office, a great neighborhood grocery store, and the Muffaletta Restaurant. There's also two great city parks within easy walking distance.

We'll be easy to get to, too. We're about 3/4 east of Highway 280 on Como, just a hop skip and a jump from I-94 and Highway 36.

Our store will be in the old Saint Anthony Park Harware Store building, which we've purchased and are now busy renovating. With our lease expiring at our current location, we really wanted to own our next building so that we could strengthen our roots in the community, make investments to improve the sustainability of our business, and to ensure the long term viability of our family business.

We've always felt very much at home here in Macalester-Groveland. And, while we're excited about our new store, we're sad to be leaving the neighborhood that's nurtured us so well for 12 years. We simply couldn't find a suitable building to buy anywhere nearby. In many ways, this feels like we are closing our current store and opening something new. We are extremely thankful to all of our current neighbors and we hope you'll visit us often in our new store.

We've been working on this project for over a year; getting our finances in order, looking at buildings, and then long months completing all the work that goes into buying a commercial building, which is about 200 times more work than buying a house.

Over the next two months, we'll be pounding nails, painting, sanding, and scraping to prepare our new space (during the Holiday season no less!) So, if you see us with saw dust in our hair or paint on our clothes, that'll be why.

Millie building new basement stairs, Dan framing in a new restroom.

Finally, we'd like to thank our Realtor, Steve Townley, who stood by us throughout the 6 months it took to complete this transaction; Park Midway Bank, which provided our financing; and Stew and Kathy McIntosh, the previous owners of the hardware store, who allowed us to begin work several weeks before we closed the purchase.

Thank you to all of our customers! We think you'll really love our new store!