_Dear Friends,_
It is finally here! The Grand Opening of our new store in the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester is Saturday at 10AM. The fun and games, raffles, door prizes and deals will extend all week. The store looks fantastic; Katie and her crew are ready for the customers and a bunch of the Small Dog team will be coming from Vermont to help with the crowds.
It has been a long time in development and I cannot begin to tell you just how proud I am of Katie who has been the leader of this project from day one. She has had extraordinary assistance from Michelle and Will, who will be the assistant managers in Manchester and from a whole slew of Small Doggers who have put in a lot of extra time and positive energy into this project.
Mark and Matt have hired a great tech team and have gotten the network installed at the new store, Art and Lucie have made sure we have the inventory on time and packed and drove the truck to Manchester. Hapy has been the details guy that he usually is and has made sure that the design elements are suitable for more stores down the line.
Kerry has made about 4 million phone calls, checking references, doing screenings and making sure we have the most awesome team on the planet. Ed, Kali and Ben have done the marketing and have installed a gigantic virtual funnel at the entrance to the store. My friend Russ Bennett from Northland Construction did the design and construction work and I think you will agree with me that it looks fabulous.
The whole Small Dog team has had a hand in creating this new store while keeping up with our existing business of providing world-class customer service to you, our valued customers and friends.
“Check out a sneak preview of the store here!”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalldog/
I went to Manchester on Wednesday to meet up with my Apple Rep, Mike Hogan, who has also provided us with sage guidance as we designed the store. He has even sat in on some of the interviews for new employees.
Katie and I, the world’s most fanatical Boston Celtics fans, couldn’t resist getting some tickets for the exhibition game in Manchester vs. the 76ers. There were nine of us watching the boys in green dismantle the Philly team. Katie was disappointed that Shaq didn’t give her a piggyback ride on the court, but it wasn’t because he didn’t get asked!
I am heading back first thing on Saturday morning and will be there through Monday for the grand opening, I hope to meet many of you at the Mall of New Hampshire!
