Oh. My. Word.

Today, after ten days of hard labour, physical exhaustion, so much excitement and a sleep worse than the night before Christmas, the store opened. I could. not. wait. And I knew exactly what to wear.

My red “kimono” dress from last year has been my go-to dress for many things now; it’s light, comfortable, breezy and can be dressed up (with boots!) or dressed down (with nice sandles). I thought with the crowds we would be have warm temperatures plus I needed something that had colour and stood out. Voila, the dress.

I was at the store for two hours before the opening. The president, Glen, called in to wish us well. There were some people from head office who said they had heard nothing but fabulous things about us and that they were blown away by our store. That for them, our store gave them the same feeling as walking into the very first one fourteen years ago did.

We did it girls, is all I could think because our store is truly beautiful. And trust me when I say this as I have been in a lot of Anthropologies! But I think one of the reasons why our store is as beautiful and magical as it is is because of the people that put it together.

Oh, I know it is a store and we are there to sell you goodies but I will tell you that honestly, our store is made with so much love; love for the product, love of creation, love of making things, love of the customer experience. It’s not a building with product; it’s a place with a heart. Perhaps corny but I assure you, it’s true. Our store has a soul and when women poured through our doors today we heard from them that they knew this was true.

People often ask why I only buy my clothes from this store and I say it’s because I am not a shopper. To me, the experience is as important as the product. I ran into a home store several weeks ago to just get some tie backs for my curtains. The experience was horrible (bad smell from fake fragrance, clerks complaining about customers, customers each out of bins) that when it was my turn I said, “I know it’s only $20, but I don’t want you to have my money because you’ve just made it really unwelcoming to be here.”

I’m sure they talked about me after but there is something to be said for pride in one’s work, pride in where you work, and pride for the customer. I don’t care if it’s the corner grocer or an Anthropologie - it’s the experience we’re all looking for, isn’t it? Something special to make us feel like our day wasn’t a waste or just another way to kill time. And that’s why I love our store so because for those of us who built it, we built it the way we’d want to experience it. And it worked.

And so the dress was a hit and I felt fabulous I must say - even though during my six hours on the floor was completely chaotic and wonderfully crazy! The dress was part of the special experience, for me. I wasn’t buying but there was something to it that helped me feel the part of creating something wonderful. Everyone should have such a dress. And such a day.