Ruination & Despair

On 1 April 2010, the Main Event, a party supply store in Mount Airy, is moving from its former digs on South Main Street to the exalted Twin Arch Shopping Center, where it is taking over premises formerly occupied by Carousel Cards and Gifts. In what we consider a shrewd move, the owners have decided to cater to the established habits of Carousel’s loyal customers by selling cards and gifts in the new location, while also, of course, continuing to provide party supplies to their own fanatical customer base. In what we consider an even shrewder move, the owners have declined to stock merchandise from the likes of Hallmark and American Greetings, in favor of cards from smaller, more interesting manufacturers. Finally, in what we consider the shrewdest move of all, they have opted to carry a solid supply of Archelaus cards!

We therefore encourage everyone within driving distance to descend upon Mount Airy on this auspicious occasion (and afterwards) to purchase Egyptian mongooses, Peruvian llamas, misbegotten sea creatures, and other popular favorites!

This morning we shipped an order to Paperwork, a fine stationery store on Milwaukee’s East Side. We hope they will do well there.

Check out this exciting offer from an advertisement found on a Slovak website.

The Community Pharmacy in Madison, Wisconsin, has taken the plunge and ordered Archelaus cards, which we obligingly shipped this morning. The pharmacy is a workers’ cooperative, established in 1972, when such things were in vogue. This fact no doubt explains their commitment to such subversive concepts as good health, a humane workplace, and a clean environment. Obviously a hotbed of dangerous radicalism!

This morning we shipped an assortment of fine cards to Accipiter, a gallery for “lighting, crafts, and fun,” at the Cameron Village Shopping Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Any store named for a genus of birds of prey that includes various species of goshawks and sparrowhawks is likely to be a good outlet for our cards, so we are, obviously, very pleased and excited.