What's Up Wednesday #18

This week on What's Up Wednesday, a new book and lots of information about what's ahead on Balloon Fiesta Stuff!

Albuquerque Gerdy is the latest book to hit the shelves at Balloon Fiesta. It's a charming story that celebrates discovery, exploration and imagination. Gerdy, the roadrunner, finds a treasure map and ventures on a quest to find the riches. Along the way she travels to a number of special places on the map in Albuquerque, including the Sandia Tram, the Rio Grande Zoo, and Balloon Fiesta. But what makes this book special are the embedded videos. Similar to our calendars, you'll be able to scan the pictures in the book and watch the book come alive. Written and illustrated by Sandi Wright, this book will keep your young reader entertained while learning all about Albuquerque. Check out a short video on how it works at https://balloonfiestastuff.com/products/albuquerque-gerdy-book.

Now for an update on upcoming items. the 2023 calendars have been completed and should be on their way to us soon. Watch for them toward the end of June or early July. The poster is also on it's way. We have an artist signing session scheduled for mid-June which will make them available in early to mid-July. Remember this is the final installment of a 5 part series. The first 4 posters in the series are still available now. Consider ordering them, in anticipation of grabbing the final poster in the set later this year. And a large order of 50th clothing items has shipped. Again we should have these in July. 

Finally this week, an insider tip. This is the first year our online store has been in full swing with a regular event on tap. And it happens to be our 50th. As you might expect, demand for merchandise is huge. In years past, we would order items for sale only at the event in October. Now we are ordering items for October, but also making them available ahead of the event via our online store. So what is happening is that we're having to set inventory aside for sale in October. That limits the amount of items we can make available online and in the gift shop. Due to the seasonal, dated and custom nature of much of our merchandise, some items can be re-ordered in time for October. Others can not. In order to ensure those items are available in October, we have to limit the online and gift shop quantities now. Here's the bottom line. If you see something you like online, you should order it now. We may sell out online. Don't get shut-out. The item may be available in October, but only on the field. 

It should be noted that we are slowly adding more year-round and ever-green merchandise to the store. These are items that can and will be restocked and refreshed all year long. 

Thanks for supporting Balloon Fiesta through your purchases. And stay tuned. June and July are going to be huge months for new merchandise.