GumDrops Wet Weather Boutique

Ever look at the date and say “I can’t believe it’s already [insert date here] !”… Ever do that every week?

This past May I made my first visit to Toronto, and was gone for a mere 7 days. Much to my surprise, Shanda had big news for us when I got back to my ‘Wet’ Coast homeland. “You are moving into GumDrops Corporate Head Office in 6 weeks.” She told Brianna and I. As much as I was going to miss seeing all the little ones gear up for fall, and introducing rain boot newbies to our world.. It was exciting to move up. But there wasn’t much time to be excited, I suddenly saw my to-do list grow faster than your children! We scoured Vancouver to find two lovely ladies to continue our legacy, hehe. (You’ll be introduced to Morgan and Taylor on the blog soon enough, stay tuned!) Then we scoured Vancouver for an office space fit for us GumDroppers, thanks to West Broadway we were set.

While Brianna and I were training and preparing Taylor, Morgan, and ourselves- Shanda was working like a busy bee getting the office set and ready to go. After some Ikea furniture gone awry, paint spills, and everything in between… It was time to move in.

I write this now in the comfort of our new office space (rather than the under stairs hobbit space at the west 4th Location). I can’t believe it’s almost the end of June! And for the record, the to-do list has not shrunk. We have much in store for you. Kitsilano street music festival (I think I heard something about firefighters and a dunk tank? Had me at fire fighters.),  website upgrades out the wazoo, a new collection of GumDrops coats (YES!!!), and the biggest of all: The upcoming opening of our first franchise location in Victoria!

Keep your schedulers out and ready, we’ll be updating you all on our latest GumDrops events and adventures as they come!

False Alarm everybody!

Just a minor set back...

Just Before The Splash

Well it’s a bit gloomy out today so I thought what better way to raise our spirits (especially after that ghastly hockey game last night!) than to announce the winner of our May photo contest! This months winner was submitted by Jessica Brown and it’s a great, vibrant action shot of one of my favorite things to do…Puddle Jump! Now we know this lovely couple isn’t wearing any rain gear but we decided the only way to puddle jump safely is to puddle jump in rain gear!  So on behalf of the Puddle Jump Safety Committee, we have rewarded Jessica with a $75 credit towards any rain gear because obviously these guys are in need and as always, safety comes first!

So congratulations again Jessica! And if you want to win $75 worth of rain gear take your best rain shot and enter our monthly photo contest here! http://www.gumdropsonline.com/photocontest.htm

-Brianna

What a crazy week of news! William & Kate’s Royal Wedding, Osama Bin Ladin’s been caught after 10 years & Canada is in the recent general national election! And with all that going on you might have forgotten that this Sunday is Mother’s Day! But don’t worry, we are here to help you pick the perfect gift for your Mom, even if what you have planned isn’t front page news! .

Here our our top picks for Mom:

Kamik Heidi: Also vailable in Slate Grey, Yellow, Celery Green, Red and Black!

Purple always seems to be associated with Mother’s Day so these Kamik Heidi Rain boots are perfect for any mom on the go! Kamik boots are molded after a shoe last, so they are fitted throughout the foot, have a slight arch support and are super light weight! All that foot support mixed in with this gorgeous color make these the ultimate walking Mom rain boots!

Hunter Gardinia Black Wellies

Almost everyone one knows of Hunter Wellies, and so you can’t go wrong giving Mom the Cadillac of all rain boots! But instead of giving her the classic solid style, why not brighten her rainy day with some beautiful flower patterned Hunters! These are a limited edition pattern that come in Black or navy blue and are only for Spring so they are the perfect unique boots for a unique Mom!

Bogs Yellow Anne: Also available in Red and Black

Finally a Mom favorite, the bogs! Bogs are well known for being temperature and keeping those Mom toes warm! However, if your not in need of the  -40 degree Celsius temperature rating but think she needs just a bit of extra warmth then the Anne’s are the boots for her! The Spring bog lines still have a light neoprene lining which makes the perfect for keeping the foot warm without over heating them! The bogs also have anti-microbial technology which keeps the boots fresh and reduce humidity as well as they have an anti- slip sole! So if your Mom needs the perfect all around boot, then Bogs are for her!

The Hunter Regent Grosvenor....also available in a shorter version!

And just because I think they are the classiest boots we have, I had to throw in the Hunter Regent Grosvenor. Perfect for Mom who is anything but practical and always fashionably excellent!

B

Are you a Vancouver Canuck’s Fan? Well now you can show your proud to be a Canuck and cheer on our boys rain or shine! You never know what our weathers going to be like in Vancouver so don’t be afraid to show your team spirit in the rain!

So if you have yet to see the perfect Canuck colored rain boots to match your team jersey then check out this selection of Hunter Wellies to make your Canuck outfit perfect!

Hunter Cobalt Wellies

Hunter Original Green Wellies (also available in Original Short and The Huntress!)

Hunter Metallic White Wellies

It’s game 3 of round 2 tonight so make sure you get you’re Canuck ready before its too late! (because everyone will want a pair for when they make the Stanley Cup Playoffs )

Its the start of a new month, and you know what that means! Its time to announce our April Photo Contest Winner which is Miss Alissa Elke! Alissa took a bright and cheery picture of her and her friends Hunter rain boots after a nice bike ride around Stanley Park and as she put it her “Hunters are a Bloomin!”

Bloomin' Hunters

So if you want to win $75 towards a new pair of boots, a coat or even an umbrella then don’t forget to send us your best GumDrop rain shot! And if you’re really up for a challenge, I’d love to see some Canuck themed photos! After all we have the perfect Canuck Coloured Boots! Go Canucks Go!

B

Who would have thought that a single pair of fun gumboots could have changed not only my life, but all of yours as well. In the last 3.5 years I have had the pleasure of sharing your stories of childhood memories puddle jumping, nostalgic moments of carefree rainy days, and current memories being made with your friends and families!

It is now my turn to share my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all of you who have supported my business over these last few years….so thank you!

GumDrops has given me the ability to expand my business acumen, explore my design abilities, make big mistakes, grow with better solutions, work with amazing people, and not to mention meet and design a custom rain coat for HRH Prince Charles (yes I will be watching the Royal Wedding this weekend)!  It is now giving me the platform to grow and expand into the world of franchising!

Yes we are budding! We all know that with growth, structure changes and opportunities arise. The award winning GumDrops Flagship location, in the trendy neighborhood of Kitsilano, is available as an established franchise. With that, I would be grateful for your referrals to applicable people looking to spread their wings and be a part of the team at GumDrops.

PSSSTTTT, we are also set to open up another location the Fall…keep your eyes peeled and ears to the ground for details of where, and when you will be able to get your GumDrops goodies!

Can you guess where it will be?

For initial information on franchising with GumDrops CLICK HERE!

Happy Easter from GumDrops!

With Easter weekend quickly approaching, and stores selling out of their chocolate treats- it might be time to step your Easter Bunny game up, and surprise your little one with something a little out of the norm during their hunt this Easter.

Here are just a few of my personal picks for this Easter that would be a great addition to any Easter egg hunt!

Kidorable Pink Lotus Boots

Any boot by Kidorable is… Adorable (ha.. ha…) but the Pink Lotus boots have the pastel palette down to match all the Easter festivities.

Hunter Red Gloss Boots

Start the day with a fun pair of classic red wellies! Also available in black, fuschia and green to match Mom or Dad!

Hatley Cookie Monster Boots

Include your little one’s favorite Sesame Street characters! I’ve got a sweet spot for Cookie Monster, but we’ve also got Elmo and Grover!

Check out the rest of our kids boots selection or pop by the store with your little one to get them ready for Easter egg hunting!

I was flipping through Elle Canada Magazine this month and saw a very cute Promotional Editorial on Barbie & Ken. Now I don’t even have words to describe to you how much I love Barbie (I’m sure my back in 20 years will know from the hours and hours I spent as a kid hunched over my Barbie Dream House in my room!) but lets just say I still go to the Doll section in Walmart and wish it wasn’t uncool and socially frowned on to buy Barbies when your in your 20s!

So as I was flipping through the article when something caught my eye. The second page was labelled Calgary Stampede and had Barbie and Ken dolled up in all their Calgary Cowboy gloriousness. Now I’m a born and bred Calgarian so I always have a soft spot for anything Stampede, but surprisingly it wasn’t her sitting on the iconic (well to us Calgarians anyways) white and red bull pen gate but it was that she was wearing some pretty familiar looking boots. So I read the side blurb and low and behold it said “She tucks her Hepburn style skinny jeans in Hunter Green Wellies“! So you can imagine I pretty much died when I realized that they had made a tiny replica of my favorite rain boots just for Barbie!

Although I’m almost certain I can’t buy my Barbies a pair of Hunter Wellies, I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe Hunter might pull a Christian Louboutin and design a collection for Barbie. And you know I will be the first person lined up to snag a pair no matter what age I am