Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

That's right - " A Christmas Story " the classic holiday movie, is becoming a stage musical. An excerpt from the full article: "A Christmas Story," the beloved 1983 movie comedy about holiday hopes in a Midwest American setting in the mid-20th century, is being developed into a traditional stage musical by producers Gerald Goehring and Douglas C. Evans. Goehring and Evans were behind Off-Broadway's recent Frankenstein, the pop-rock musical, which will start its licensing life in the coming year, and is being developed for a tour in 2009. They told Playbill.com that they've been in discussions with theatres to get a production of their musical, A Christmas Story, on its feet as early as the holiday season of 2008." Other posts from this blog related to "A Christmas Story": Department 56 Sales: " A Christmas Story " comes to Providence Department 56 Sales: Complete list of " A Christmas Story " pieces Department 56 Sales:...

An excerpt from the news article : "In their upcoming Rare Book auction, Heritage Auction Galleries will offer a scarce first edition, first issue copy of Charles Dickens' immortal novel, A Christmas Carol , in exceptional condition, estimated to bring $40,000 to $50,000. "One of the most widely beloved Christmas stories ever written, it would be hard to overstate the importance of this well-known classic," said James Gannon, Director of Rare Book auctions for Dallas-based Heritage. "Originally released on December 19, 1843, A Christmas Carol was an instant sensation, selling more than 6,000 copies in one week. Since then, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his miraculous redemption has been adapted into nearly every media imaginable, making it an inseparable part of our modern Christmas traditions." "Although we tend to see the novel as a fairy tale today," Gannon said, "it was definitely intended as a strongly political work, written by Di...

I created the poll "Which Strategies Would Help D56 the most?" because I feel our audience could help influence changes in the company direction. I tried to come up with the five most logical suggestions. Perhaps next time I'll do the 5 most creative suggestions. I always send my poll data to MsLittown - the Department 56 customer advocate. I'll post her replies here. Thus far: Lower Prices 36 votes (63%) * This one is rather obvious. It's difficult being a collector and seeing all the new pieces reach towards the $100 mark. More Creative Introductions 15 votes (26%) * Seems like a call out for more creativity. Maybe they should revisit our many suggestion - My favorite suggestions for Halloween pieces - More ideas for Department 56 buildings - Creative ideas Dept 56 should consider - Set Department 56 to music Lower Production Numbers 15 votes (26%) * Less is often more! Movie/TV Placements 10 votes (17%) * This would be fantastic. I've suggested that they h...

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but think of this more as honoring the man who brought us Bronners . An excerpt from the full article : "The 81-year-old founder of a year-round Christmas decorations store that is one of Michigan's best-known retail tourist attractions has inoperable cancer. Relatives of Wally Bronner, 81, notified employees of Bronner's Christmas Wonderland on Monday that he was ailing. Bronner started out painting signs as a teenager and grew that business into the store, which opened in 1945." Bronners is one of the few retail operations to have their own Department 56 recreation. More details are in the earlier post "Featured D56 Shop: Bronners"

Each of these pieces are selling individually. You can reach the seller by email to ronandsue2@comcast.net and inquire about any of the items. The seller will send pictures to any of the interested buyers who need to see the piece. All items include shipping fees: NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE: Yankee Judd Bell Casting $25 Pennsylvania Dutch Farmhouse $55 Blue Star Ice Co $ 45 (All in box, some boxes have old tape on them (clear), displayed maybe 2 times) SNOW VILLAGE: Good Shepard Chapel and Church School $ 65 * very good condition box has small tear in corner Rosita’s Cantina $145 * in box, bottom appears to have some visible plaster in the holes, looks like it may have come that way. * Buildings below are not in a box otherwise good condition -- NORTH POLE: Reindeer Barn $40 DICKENS VILLAGE: Doctor Watt Surgery $65 Wheat Cakes and Pudding $20 Bumstead Nye $20 Tutbury Printer $20 Lomas Molasses $28

I recently found this website while perusing the Yahoo Group...they feature many of the new for 2008 pieces as "coming soon". You can see some of them on the Snow Village Halloween page. Many of the classics, such as the Black Cat Diner, are sold out. We ended up getting that one on Ebay last year. I found it for my wife as one of her wedding gifts. She loved it, and it really stood out among our halloween pieces. One of the most promising new halloween pieces is the " Rickety Railroad Station ", pictured here. The website offers many different product lines, including Archipelago, Byers' Choice, Department 56 - Villages & Accessories, Department 56 - Snowbabies™, Miss Martha Originals, White House Ornaments, Willow Tree Angels, and Yankee Candles. The shop itself is located just minutes away form Historic Mount Vernon Estate near our nation's capital. The shop, owned by Andrea & Stavroulla Ploutis is now 20 years old. I've added the shop to ou...

Patience Brewster has been producing the Krinkles line of ornaments and accessories for Department 56 since 2000. More than just ornaments, though, they became a brand and Patience and Department 56 have been intertwined ever after. The whimsical decoratives are almost as popular as the villages and the Snowbabies lines. In an excerpt from the news article : "Designer Patience Brewster will leave seasonal decor vendor Department 56 and manufacture ornaments, enamel boxes and gift items. Since 2000, Department 56 produced the Krinkles line based on Brewster’s designs. The licensing agreement between Patience Brewster Inc. and Department 56 expired in December 2007, but Department 56 will continue to sell the Krinkles line until January 1, 2009. Brewster’s 2009 gifts will be presented to interested retailers during the summer of 2008. Orders will be taken from July–September and shipped in early 2009."

Another place to scope out deals on your favorite villages! You can use this link to browse their current inventory of Department 56 buildings and accessories. A few highlights:

A children's classic book which evolved into a classic television special of stop-motion animation -- has virtually dissapeared from network television. In an effort to find out what has happened to good old Peter, and a little help from our friend Google, we've found quite a few sightings of the furry rabbit: Official Peter Cottontail Collector's Set of Figurines by Enesco Radko Peter Cottontail ornament Plush Rankin-Bass Peter Cottontail Original book from 1914: "The Adventures of Peter Cottontail" Find Peter Cottontail DVDs, Books & More

If you frequent a Starbucks, you've seen them. They're the little plush teddy bears dressed in outfits relating to the season or holiday they're released. We just picked up the Easter-themed Bunny Bearista for our soon-to-be-born baby (pictured here). I scoured Ebay to find others for sale, and created an always updated feed here of them. If you're reading this feed in an RSS reader or an email software program, chances are you won't be able to see the feed. You'll have to come back to the blog to view it.

Penny Miller caught news of this auction: On March 16th at 11 am Gary Ryther Auctioneers will be holding an auction with approx. 200 Dept. 56 pieces of Disney Series, Snow Village Series, North Pole Series, Christmas In the City Series, Dickens Village Series and a large lot of accessories. This auction will also be held live on line on Proxibid . Thanks Penny!

Many people don't know that Department 56 makes quite a bit more than just christmas and halloween themed villages. They offer spring time themes, special pieces for Valentine's Day and St. Patricks' Day and also Easter. What you see below are some of the Easter items from Department 56 ending soon on Ebay. If you're reading this feed in an RSS reader or an email software program, chances are you won't be able to see the feed. You'll have to come back to the blog to view it.

This is a Christmas story I've worked on over the years. It's an original, fictional story and I hope you enjoy it as I present it on a weekly basis. Underneath the Tree - A supernatural tale of Christmas Chapter One – "Homeward Bound" Interlude – Christmas 1988, 4:30 AM Drip. Drip! The sound was so quiet it was deafening. For minutes that seemed like years, I had listened for that sound. Please, oh, please let it start. I’d toss and turn in the bed just loud enough so the creaks would make their way into Mom and Dad’s room. They can’t still be sleeping – it must be five am already! Finally, I had enough of waiting – I leapt out of my bed and stomped on the floor. Surely that would get them up....Nothing! Frantic, I ran over to their bedroom. I didn’t know whether to cry or to yell or to poke. They HAD to get up. This was Christmas morning, and we must be the last family to wake up. I decided the "poke" method would work best. Dad would not budge, but Mom go...

Lenox Group, which purchased Department 56 two years ago, recently released their latest earnings report . It wasn't particularly resounding, and D56 wasn't mentioned at all, until they started talking about what they're going to do to come out of it: "integrate certain Lenox and Department 56 operations". In a related story, Lenox Group, Inc. announced they are going to work with IMC Licensing to come up with new products and markets . Excerpt: Lenox Group Inc. (NYSE: LNX), a leading tabletop, giftware and collectible company, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ending December 29, 2007. Net sales for the fourth quarter 2007 totaled $135.0 million as compared to $159.1 million for the comparable prior year period. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $4.4 million as compared to a net loss of $6.4 million in the comparable prior period. EBITDA (earnings before ...

Year one of this blog was so easy to publish and post - hundreds of new ideas poured out each and every day. A daily post was almost a regular thing. As the closer the holidays drew near, posting became less and less frequent. Of course, the fact that my wife is now 6.5 months along with our first child may have had a little to do with it, but not really. I am so blessed to be having a son (yes, we found out!) you'd think I'd be fueled to keep writing! The fuel may be the key, as I've kicked caffeine for the most part. Lack of caffeine = lack of creative stimulation. For now, at least. I still plan on publishing a more reasonable weekly post about my love for all things Department 56. I think there is still plenty of topics and discussions to be had - and I'd like to invite any and all of my readers and retailers to become regular columnists or guest bloggers. Simply comment below with your email address and we'll work on some potential blog post ideas. Of course, y...

* I found 30% off retired pieces at the Department 56 Growing Grounds . They also offered up retired Snowbabies at 50% off. Isn't that an oxymoron...retired baby??? * The Eclectic Shop features pieces at 10 to 30% off. Their website is a bit gray and colorless for me, but don't let that stop you from checking it out. * Fiddlesticks had a nice long list of discounted items. No pix, but hey, if you do your best detectiving, you never know what you'll find! * Shopping search engine Shopparell a seemed to have some fantastic prices for items. The Harley Davidson Motorcycle Shop (pictured above) was only $33.00! Wait, they duped me...it's a bid and the links all go to Ebay auctions. This site was more like Stuperella. Do you know of any good sales happening? Leave a tip in the comments below. You can be anonymous if you want so you don't offend your favorite retailer who thinks you only shop there!

If you are a regular buyer or seller of Department 56 collectibles, you're probably used to the fees they charge for various listings. Never let that be your only avenue on the web for sales, though. In fact, if you have a retail shop or an ebay store, a creative thing to do would be to place many free classified listings across all the available sites. In those listings, you can often include the website address of your store, your ebay items, etc. It's an extra step, but it'll pay off -- all those links to your merchandise! Very good search engine optimization benefit here. Craigslist is all over Google. Kijiji is a Craigslist competitor and they are owned by Ebay. Kijiji has vowed to take over the entire classified space. Of course, your online item listings should also be included on your website, blogs, social networks, news feeds, twitter , etc., and all other listings should point to your website's listing. Instant relevant link. Other free classified sites: OL...