Port Charlotte, FL (82 degrees, clear blue skies)
We have worked for one week now at a kiosk in a mall. It's located in a very nice Simon Mall in Port Charlotte Florida. This is new type of job for us and it will last for two months until just after Christmas.
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| Slippers and fleece blankets |
We are selling sport memorabilia of all types. Our location is right next to Starbucks and the food court. Perfect! The company we work for is called Slippermania and the owner hires fulltimers for 26 locations all over Florida. He advertises in Workamper.com but we heard about him through fellow workampers at Indy KOA.
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| Santa Hats |
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| Wreaths |
Four guys with the company arrived the night before and set up the booth for us. All the merchandise was arranged by them and when we arrived to was ready to rock. Well sort of...the mall supervisor had us move the booth slightly and it took a couple of days to get the fax and phone line hooked up.
Most of the merchandise is football (pro and college) and basketball. We keep track of what we sell and this is faxed to the warehouse at the end of the day. New merchandise arrives every few days.
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| Gnomes |
I've struggled a little learning all the team logos. However, it has been much easier for John and he is really good at helping the customers find their teams. I added a app to my IPAD that tells us the scores and stats for the teams. Our best sellers are the Steelers, Patriots, Yankees, Ravens, and Ohio State. Interesting!
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| Monkeys |
We have not worked retail in the past but its a quick learning curve. The customers are fun to serve and they get so excited when they find their favorite team. Plus, they sure don't seem to blink at the prices although the items are reasonable and good quality.
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| "Big Footed" Santas |
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| Christmas Ornaments |
The owner originally started with sport slippers and has expanded with more items each year. We work every day until just after Christmas. However, we can hire staff to fill in for us. During the 23 hour marathon of Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend we'll probably arrange that if possible. Our friends JC and Bev are helping us during the week of Christmas.
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| Everybody love Mickey |
We've enjoyed it and are making friends with some of the mall staff. The hours are long and my only complaint is my feet hurt from standing on concrete floors. John found a good deal on a stool that we added to the booth today. Our goal is to pay off our new tires for the motorcoach and have some extra spending money for diesel this winter. We will be playing in Florida with our friends JC and Bev for three months after the booth closes down.
We found a campground four miles from the mall called Harbor Lake RV Resort. It's an Encore park and very nice. The streets are wide and there is a nice pool and activities.It is a mixture of RV sites and park models.
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| Our site |
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| Park Model |
This little guy came up to greet us after we first arrived. My friend Gaye says the wood storks remind her of little old men. :)
The beach is about ten minutes away. We won't be seeing much of it for awhile except on Sunday when the mall hours are shorter. However, we did go out the first day we arrived and checked out the beach near Venice. It was really rough and windy that day with some after affects Hurricane Sandy. We sure do love the ocean...don't you?
I think we are going to like it here. Stay tuned.
