Lost in thought

Charlotte is an absolutely perfect place to live but most people complain about the humid summers at some point or another. It's true that it is hot here but we've also adapted to dealing with the heat and even occasionally making an enjoyable aspect of life. Summer is officially over and the Friendly Rooster team has been reflecting on some favorite things they loved about living here this past season. Of course in Southern North Carolina we'll still have a month of summer weather so this list is just a touch of arbitrary/wishful thinking. 

Food:  Food Truck Fridays in South End can be a load of fun. Lots of good choices here.  Also, the eclectic group of restaurants in Plaza Midwood are all standout choices.  Soul Gastrolounge, The Peculiar Rabbit...even Fuel Pizza are great choices.

Water: As hot as Charlotte can be, we thankfully have tons of water to cool off in. The US National Whitewater Center is one of these places, and it is fantastic.  At times it feels like you are in a jungle in Costa Rica.  It has zip lining, a whitewater course, mountain biking, flat water kayaking, paddle boarding, ropes courses, and a pretty cool restaurant with a good craft beer selection.  We also have some great lakes for wake boarding and jet skiing (or just parking some boats together and hanging in the water.

Sports:  Knights games are held just over the border in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  This Minor League team has a nice low-key feel to it.  It's family-friendly, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.

Movies:  Badin Drive in Theater is old-school and a great throw-back way to catch a flick.  Get there early and the kids will play a round of touch football under the south screen.  The concession stand also has some pretty good food that isn't your typical theater fare.

Fall is starting this weekend, and the leaves will be changing in about 6 to 8 weeks.  Looking onward to our next fun season in this great city!

Ethical Brand Spotlight: Tip Toey Joey

At www.friendlyrooster.com, we love to promote brands who are ethical.  Our best selling brand, Tip Toey Joey, is a fantastic example of this.  The company was started by husband and wife team, Scott and Ana.  They are a great example of partners who both bring excellent strengths to the table while balancing the other one out.  They constantly strive to push the brand forward while still maintaining its roots...a very delicate balancing act, indeed!  Here is a little of their back story from Tip Toey Joey's Brazilian website:

When our daughter was born, our world changed completely. Those eyes, that nose, those feet – we were absolutely in love. When we couldn’t find shoes worthy of those beautiful little feet, we set out to make our own.

Created by an Australian dad and Brazilian mum, Tip Toey Joey shoes carry our passion for kids and design, as well as a good dose of real parental practicality. From our original Baby line to our Toddler and Junior collections, Tip Toey Joey shoes are healthy, high-quality and comfortable – because we design them for our very own daughter.

When we introduced our first shoes to Australia back in 2007, we knew we had something good, but we never imagined we’d get this far, growing from a small, local business to a well-respected, worldwide brand.

We are incredibly proud of Tip Toey Joey – a business we affectionately call “our second child” – and we look forward to sharing our beloved little shoes with your family for years to come.

The goodness of Scott and Ana also shows through in the factory where they produce their shoes.  As retailers, we've toured many a factory in our collective days.  Most of them were not even close to the horror stories you hear about in the news, but each one of them made us thankful for our current jobs/lifestyle.  The Tip Toey Joey factory, however, actually looks like someplace we, ourselves, would like to set up shop.  They crank out super cute and stylish shoes, yet they still manage to enjoy themselves in the process.  Check out these photos and be rest assured that when you buy Tip Toey Joey shoes, you're making a purchase from an ethical company that you can feel good about supporting!  

And if these photos don't do the trick, don't forget about their Share Your Love of Shoes™ program where for every pair of TTJ shoes you purchase, we donate a pair of TTJ shoes to a beginning walker in need...

Here's a little bit of the Children's Day celebration party at the Tip Toey Joey's factory based in Franca, where all kids - employee's daughters and sons - were invited to express their imagination!

This was an image from last fall's marketing campaign

And here are folks at the factory having fun with the mask used in the marketing images

More fun with marketing images on the factory floor

A nice relaxing evening at the end of the day after a job well done

Celebs love FORE! hats for kids

At www.friendlyrooster.com our number one seller is shoes (we know, big surprise).  However, our second best category is hats.  We're so excited that our customers get how important this stylish accessory is that so easily completes any little tyke's ensemble.  Fore is our best selling hat brand, and it is no wonder as to why.  The hats are completely rad, and celebs are constantly in the tabloids with their offspring who are sporting this fantastic brand.  Here are a few images to back us up on how cool these hats are...

Ava (Hugh Jackman's daughter)

Benjamin (Giselle and Tom Brady's son)

Bronx (Ashlee Simpson's son)

Mason (part of the Kardashian clan)

Max (Christina Aguilera's son)

Skylar (Rachel Zoe's tyke)

Zuma (Gwen Stefani's little one)

Welcome aboard, matey!

The brands we carry at www.friendlyrooster.com are fun and creative....not just in the product they offer, but also in what they decide to name their product.  One theme from this past spring and going into summer has to do with the open sea.  These items have been among some of our best sellers this season, and it's no wonder why.  Here's a tribute to this season's nautical nod.  If you find yourself in a boating situation with your little boy this season, be sure he's wearing one of these!

Fisherman Bucket hat by Appaman

Boat shoe by Native

Flipper by Pediped

Fishy by Tip Toey Joey

Fisherman by Tip Toey Joey

Let's find outfits to go with our shoes!

Every once in a while at www.friendlyrooster.com we like to dream up cute outfits that our shoes would help complete.  Here are a few that we are loving at the moment...

Peacock dress from Tea Collection with Tip Toey Joey's Dawn sandal in gold

Fantastic vintage-inspired dress coupled with TTJ Shiney sandal in red

Chambray halter dress with Livie and Luca Petal sandals

Tunic and legging set from Splendid Littles with Tip Toey Joey Love Ballet Slipper

Mod floral dress from Mini Boden with Native Jefferson shoes

Who says yellow is for cowards???

This season, color continues to play an important role in footwear.  And the color that has risen to the top this spring at www.friendlyrooster.com is a bright, sunny yellow.  And is it any wonder why?  Who doesn't want to see their baby girl in a sundress and yellow sandals from Tip Toey Joey?!?!

Or this hat from Appaman with a cute tee, shorts and flip flops...

Even Malia gets in on the action with her yellow Jefferson kicks from Native

Yellow is a fantastic color, and you should definitely not be afraid to have your little girl wear it boldly this spring and summer.  So go and let her color flag fly...

Movin' on up

We know...we're an online shoe store, not a 70's sit-com.  But we feel as good as the Jefferson's did in their new "deluxe apartment in the sky" now that we have some new features at www.friendlyrooster.com.  Let us fill you in:

1)  Live Chat
Hans, our Manager of Customer Service, is super excited about this one.  Now when the "Hey there! How can I help you" logo is up, customers have the option to IM their questions and concerns.  Many websites have this feature, and now we are proud to say...so do we!

2) Related Products
This feature is fantastic.  Every time an item sells, the site records what is bought along with it.  The site then compiles this information over time and makes recommendations to customers based on what other customers have bought.

So, more cool stuff will be coming our way, but that's what we have to report so far.  Progress is good!

Mad Men starts tonight...and we're excited!!!

You can't work for a shoe company, even a baby and kids shoe company (such as www.friendlyrooster.com) and not have a love for fashion.  Fashion is art that we live our lives in, it's fabulous, and no one "gets" that more than Janie Bryant....costume designer for Mad Men.  We do watch Mad Men for the interesting story lines.  We absolutely watch Mad Men to see and dream about Don Draper.  But mostly, we watch it because of how fantastic the clothes are.

In honor of Mad Men returning tonight for season 6, here are some of our favorite Mad Men images...

Zappy...who knew?!?!

Last year, Isabel Marant came out with super cool fashion high tops for ladies.  At first they looked somewhat odd to the eye.  They are almost reminiscent of the Air Jordan's from the mid-1980's.  Then they showed up on the street.  New York, LA, Hong Kong, London...women in all of the trendy, happening cities were wearing these shoes with leggings or skinny jeans and an oversize shirt (not unlike the way the Air Jordan's were worn circa 1984).

The good news in all of this is that Tip Toey Joey was on it.  Within months, they came out with Zappy.  In November, www.friendlyrooster.com put it on our site with a note saying that it was on backorder until January.  We sold out of every single pair before the shoes ever hit our warehouse.  Here is an image of the shoe...

So....as soon as we shipped those little darlings out, we wrote our next order, and we added a second color.

and a third color

All three of these items are up on the site and will be available mid-March, and we've already sold some on back order again!  We love seeing little girls wearing these shoes, so please feel free to send in pictures of your little ones getting their style on.

Reducing our carbon footprint in 2013

When www.friendlyrooster.com launched last year, we had a vision/mission to always consider sustainability and social consciousness when possible.  How did we do this?  We worked with ethical manufacturers, we started the Share Your Love of Shoes program™, and we recycled on our end.

We thought, for year one, that we did pretty good.  But as 2013 drew closer and we began to near our one year anniversary, we thought "How can we do better?  What can we do further?".  The most natural next step presented itself almost immediately.  Packaging.

We think about packaging in two ways.  First, many of our suppliers already work towards sustainable packaging.  But we asked, "Do shoes need to ship in a box, inside of another box?". Sure, shoes for as long as we remember, come in a shoe box.  But do we still need that extra packaging?  Without the shoebox, packages are lighter, which means that your purchase uses less gasoline during transport.

Second, we think about packaging/shipping materials.  We use USPS to ship our product.  They ship us USPS boxes and shipping supplies to use in shipping product to our customers.  This is a great set up for when we need it.  But we receive lots of shipping materials for when we purchase supplies online or when we receive product from our suppliers.  So, when possible, we are going to recycle those items when we ship our product to you!  So don't be surprised if your item arrives in an Office Depot or Amazon box.  It just means that we are doing our part to keep this planet going for our children...and yours!