Sayonara To The Penny

As of today, Feb 4th, the Royal Canadian Mint will start phasing out the use of the penny.  The coin will no longer be distributed.  This means sooner or later, we are going to run out of pennies.

The penny is still legal tender and we will accept them indefinitely...so don't throw them away just yet!  We still have a small stash of pennies left so we will be able to give exact change for cash transactions in the coming days.  However, once we run out, we will not be able to get new supply from the bank and so we will adopt the rounding guidelines as recommended by the Government of Canada.

The total purchase amount, including HST, will be rounded up or down to the nearest 5-cent increment.  This is applicable to cash payments only.  Credit card and debit transactions will continue to be charged the exact amount as usual.

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For more information: http://www.mint.ca/store/template/default/pennyinfo.html

(Photo and infographic by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

Welcome 2013 Year Of The Snake

The nengajou is a New Year's postcard that is traditionally sent out in Japan on the first day of the year. It is the way Japanese express gratitude and maintain friendships. 

Our Year-End Schedule 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Our Year-End schedule is as follows:

• Dec 24th 10AM - 5PM (shortened hours)
  
• Dec 25th shop closed
• Dec 26th shop closed
• Dec 27th-29th open 10AM - 6PM
• Dec 30th-Jan 2nd shop closed
• Jan 3rd  open 10AM - 6PM ....onwards, shop open per usual.

(Photo by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

Free Postage Stamp Gift Tags

All throughout the year, we get a lot of mail and packages from Japan sent through the post office.  We get a lot of stamps too!  We collect all of them and turn them into gift tags.  They are complimentary to anyone who makes an in-store purchase in December (while supplies last!)  No minimum purchase amount!  Hope you like them!

Mail-order customers who would like some, please let us know and we'll put some in the box for you too!

(Photo by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

Extra Shopping Days

It's that busy time of year again.  Our bricks-and-mortar shop will be open (10AM-6PM) on all Sundays from today leading up to Christmas Day!  

(Photo by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)

Stocking Stuffer Discount

Our Sincere Apologies

A few days ago, we sent out an email announcing our online store.  It has come to our attention that we inadvertently placed the mailing list addresses on the "To:" field instead of the usual "Bcc:" field, which resulted in everybody seeing everybody else's email.  Unfortunately, it was too late to undo this.  We can only offer our sincere apologies and promise that it shall not happen again.

Your trust is sacred to us and we work very hard to earn it.  This egregious and serious error on our part is unacceptable.  If you feel uncomfortable being on our mailing list, please let us know by direct email and we will promptly and irrevocably delete all of your contact information.  We hope it wouldn't come to this but if it does, we understand.  It our fault.

Internally, we are renewing our vigilance.  On hind sight, we do know the factors that caused this error...but we won't make excuses for ourselves.  It was our responsibility and we are sorry.

Special Offer: Free Shipping

Special Offer: FREE SHIPPING for orders of "haori" to destinations in Canada and continental USA. 50% off on shipping for other international destinations.

If you order something else with the haori, we will apply the "haori only shipping cost" as a discount to your total shipping estimate!

Offer is good for orders received on or before Dec. 24th, 2012.

Click here to go the haori page.

Hope you find something you like!

Note: Normally, shipping to Canada and U.S.A. will be via Canada Post expedited parcel. For international destinations, shipping will be via Canada Post international parcel.  We reserve the right to change shipping methods without prior notice.  Of course, we'll let you know what it's going to be before we ship!

With A Little Help From Our Friends

Any entrepreneur will tell you that setting up a new business is never easy.  Back in 2008, as newcomers, we found it doubly hard to set up. Apart from not really knowing the rules of the game, we lacked that built-in network of family and friends.  You know how it goes...you need to find out about something or need to get something done, you ask your elders, your cousins and your friends.  Sooner or later, somebody somewhere will turn up and say, "Hey, I know this guy who can help you...."  and thus, you move one more step forward towards your objective.  

Thankfully, for newcomers to Canada, there are the immigrant services organizations.  In Nova Scotia, they are ISIS - Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services.  ​

The people there were literally our first friends in town.  To any immigrant who is serious about settling and setting up shop in Nova Scotia, ISIS is a gift from heaven and we cannot thank them enough for helping us on our way.  Now we have our little shop and things just keep getting better!

For sure, you have to have the ideas and you have to do all of the legwork.  They won't spoonfeed you but they do have a vast network to help answer your queries, introduce you to knowledgeable people and provide guidance along the way.  So if you are a new immigrant to Nova Scotia, get in touch with them now.  You won't regret it.  Promise.  (http://www.isisns.ca/)

In the video, make sure you watch from 4:47.  You'll get a glimpse of the inside of our shop! (^_^)

The video was originally posted here: http://www.newcomersuccess.ca/index.php/videos/ciip-settlement-series-atlantic-provinces?lang=en-GB#

A Doll Finds A Home

​Don't you just love it when things fall into place?

A few weeks ago, a lady came to the shop looking for a Japanese doll.  She said they had a beautiful one at their home when she was growing up but sadly it was no longer with her.  Unfortunately, we did not have Japanese dolls in our inventory.  They do tend to be very expensive and delicate...therefore, difficult to ship...which translates to very high shipping costs because of the extra special packing required to protect them.  The best we could tell her was that we'd look into it and see what we could come up with but we did give advanced warning not to be shocked at the price.  We do know there are some "imitation" ones out there but really, the craftsmanship would be very different...as would the price, of course; but we did not want to go down that route.

​As it happened, about a week later, another lady visited the shop bearing...guess what?  ...a Japanese doll in her hands.  She wanted to sell it and so came to ask us if we could find a buyer.  We could hardly believe the timing!  The doll was authentic.  It was not new, of course, and there were some parts that showed the passage of time....frayed edges in some parts, some errant hair. We also saw where a little repair had been made.  But still, the doll still looked grand and elegant with her drum.

We immediately called the first lady and she came by to take a look.  "It's even better than the one I had as a child!"  she exclaimed excitedly.  She didn't mind the flawed parts we pointed out and was very happy to give the doll a new home!

Now, we have two happy ladies! ...which makes us happy!

(All photos by the ikebana shop.  All rights reserved.)