After 8 years, over 150,000 orders, and 60,000 customers there are so many great stories about our team, makers, and of course our loyal fans like you.
Reflecting on some of my favorite store experiences is a great reminder of how wonderfully special our jobs are. The stories that follow are a tiny glimpse of the magic that has happened within our doors.
You don't have to be from Pittsburgh to be a Pittsburgher
Working in the Strip District one day, two gentle-giant types wandered into the store. Cheerful and burly, the arms of one of the two men was covered in Pittsburgh tattoos. As the team and I struck up a conversation, complimenting their ink-work - which included a Penguin, “yinz”, and Big Ben - we unexpectedly discovered this was their first visit to Pittsburgh. Adding to the surprise was that they were both traveling from Germany.
Their love for Pittsburgh grew from the seed connection to their German football hero, Ben Rothelisburger. Their Pittsburgh obsession grew to a deep kinship for our city from afar.
We've encountered visitors falling for our city many times over, but this felt like an extra special connection from our new friends. Whether it’s the comfortable sense of home, or a city that warmly welcomes you from any locale, Pittsburgh is home to anyone who embraces its spirit.
Layers of creativity
Early in our store adventures, when we had only one store in Mount Washington, several artists and customers gathered after hours for a meet-the-maker event. One of the featured artists that evening was Jeff of Hey Beast. His Pierogi Penguin art was already a big hit with our customers (and still is 8 years later!).
Jeff brought his sketchbooks and a few small sculptures of his cute animal creations to share his artistic journey with us. As I flipped through the sketches, I was captivated. The characters living on the pages were full of joy and charm. Some were the kernels of what would become an art print, others were jolly creatures that lived only between the two covers.
Jeff's sketchbooks were a reminder of all of the practice and effort that is put forth behind the scenes, which may translate to one enearing Penguin print that continually sells out. But even more so, they were an example of the overflowing creativity of Jeff, and any artist who has a passion for their practice.
Team spirit
The holiday season is always a whirlwind, and not only did we have our "4th store" at the Holiday Market, it was the first year of our new love, concept store in Market Square. As tradition in prep for the season we hold an all-hands team meeting. The team trickled to the Strip District store that evening, and to my joy one after another they came in wearing our new holiday crewneck - our embroidered love, logo decorated with string lights. I knew our team loved the design, but to see that so many of them had bought one and worn it that evening was heartwarming. It was the perfect reminder to pause and be thankful for this sense of community and team pride we had cultivated. The gratitude we feel for having such a wonderful team is priceless. Ttheir support for us, love for our designs, and team spirit are our biggest success.
An origin story that keeps writing itself
As an only-child I relish in alone time and can keep myself entertained for hours. Being so comfortable going it alone, I never had predicted I would create a business with a partner. Unlikely as I have found business partnership, I can attest from previous experience where I tried to go it alone, that it is way better to have someone on your team from the start.
Many of the biggest steps in our business were taken sitting around Kelly’s dining room table. One of my favorites memories was the earliest task of taking first guesses at what products to order for the Mount Washington store. Thankfully, we knew many talented artists, and began the ordering process with around 40 local vendors (including ourselves). Planning our budget funded by our Kickstarter, we pulled the trigger and filled our shelves.
We were so focused on the merch that a few details slipped, like when we ran out of tags the day before opening, and made a desperate Staples run to get some labels to finish pricing t-shirts. And thanks to friends Lisa and Lindsey who were there the whole time, pricing, painting, and even dressing like Uncle Sam to drum up our opening day business.
Looking back over the past 8 years it is almost unbelievable that so much time has passed. We have matured as a business in many ways, however, it feels fresh like we are at the beginning, and there is so much more growth to come. We thrive on that feeling; it keeps us excited, energized, and engaged in our mission.