🌟 Reflecting on 2025 & Looking Ahead
Another year down, and a new one to look forward to!
2025 was a whirlwind, especially the first half. After over two years of development, we officially launched our new Odoo ERP system, which replaced nearly all of our major software system workflows across the business. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you, our amazing customers, for your patience as we worked through the growing pains: communication delays, technical hiccups, stray emails, payment bugs, and learning curves galore. To top it off, we lost a key employee right as it all went live and had major supply chain upheaval when Tariffs hit the majority of our manufacturers. It was a tough stretch but we made it through, and I truly believe we’ve come out stronger on the other side.
Now that we’ve had a full year with Odoo, I can confidently say: it was absolutely worth it! The business is now positioned to scale, evolve, and improve without needing another major overhaul. Getting here took longer than I hoped, and I had to hit pause on other projects—but now, in 2026, I’m excited to get back to them.
Our goals for 2026 are simple and focused:
- Finish the showroom refresh – We made great progress over the holiday break (see below!), and we’re excited to complete the rest soon.
- Continue development in Odoo – We still have several internal systems to build out, especially in HR, customer service, and automation.
- Make progress on our online store – I’ll be honest: this has been a slow process. With over 50,000 customizable products in our catalog, building an intuitive online store is incredibly complex. I still have foundational backend systems to build before most products can go live, but my hope is to begin publishing select products by Q4 of this year.
- Launch custom shops for frequent customers – I’m working on a personalized shopping experience for our regular clients. Schools and large organizations will soon be able to log into their portal and reorder frequent items—like name badges or monthly awards—with just a few clicks.
- Improve customer experience – As always, we’re investing in training, systems, and service so we can offer the best possible experience and product selection.
We’re grateful for your continued support and can’t wait to keep building with you in 2026.
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Kari Wiens (she/her)
Owner/Manager
👋 Meet Kimberly – Our Newest Team Member!
We’re excited to officially introduce Kimberly (Kim), who joined us back in September and has now completed her trial period and engraving training. She’s been doing a fantastic job behind the scenes and will soon begin training in customer service. So don’t be surprised if you hear her voice on the phone or see her name on a mockup or email!
Kimberly has already proven to be an excellent addition to our team, and we’re thrilled to have her on board as she continues learning the ropes. Be sure to give her a warm welcome if you see her in the shop!
🛠️ Showroom Remodel in Progress
If you've visited us recently, you may have noticed things look a little different around here—and that's just the beginning!
While we did a quick setup when we first moved into this location, we knew it wasn’t the long-term vision. This year, we’re finally giving our showroom the full professional overhaul it deserves. We’ve partnered with an interior designer to create a clean, cohesive space that better reflects our brand and showcases the variety of what we offer.
Over the holiday break, we kicked things off with fresh paint and added 4 new slatwall panels (for a total of 6!) to greatly expand our display space. We've also cleaned up the front entry and added a new TV display that plays a rotating slideshow of custom projects we've completed. Eventually, this screen will also show live updates like our current turnaround time.
Still to come:
- Painting the front counter for a cleaner, longer-lasting finish
- New shelves and furniture, including customer seating
- Improved lighting to spotlight products
- An entirely new layout of display items with real-world examples and ideas to spark inspiration
It’s going to take a few more months (we hope to finish construction by summer), but the full showroom refresh will roll out throughout the year as we create and install all-new displays.
We're so excited for what's coming and can’t wait to show you more in 2026!
✨New Equipment Alert: Fiber Laser Incoming!
We’re excited to share that we’ve added a brand new fiber laser to our shop! This powerful machine opens up new possibilities for custom engraving—especially on bare metals like gold, silver, and stainless steel, as well as harder materials like stone and marble.
Throughout the first half of 2026, we’ll be focused on getting it fully set up, testing its capabilities, and training our team to ensure we can offer the highest quality results. Our goal is to expand what’s possible for customer-provided items and fill in a gap we’ve long wanted to cover.
Stay tuned—once we’re confident in its capabilities, we’ll announce new engraving services and examples of what this machine can do!
Start writing here...
🌟 2026 Begins! | 👋 Meet Kimberly | 🛠️ Remodel in Progress | ⚙️ Fiber Laser Coming Soon