Have you heard our big, sparkly news? The I.D.E.A. Store is celebrating its first anniversary! We opened our doors to the public on Oct. 1, 2010. Hard to believe we've been in business a whole year. And what a year it's been! Sometimes it seems like a blur ... we've been moving THAT fast! We've added volumes to our inventory, nearly doubled our retail and warehouse space, and made dozens and dozens of new friends in just 12 months. As we go to press with this newsletter, we are about to hit 1,000 friends on our Facebook page! Woo hoo!

With your help, we've been able to interrupt the local waste stream by making sure perfectly good materials (like the tiny, sparkly shoe in the photo!) are re-used for your creative and practical projects. We've also learned a lot about what you want from Central Illinois' only "Eco-Edu-Art Creative Re-use Marketplace," and are hoping to learn more about how we can serve you better in the future. Keep talking to us! And keep on shopping at The I.D.E.A. Store (of course!). As you've figured out by now, you just never know what in the world you may find here from one day to the next!

Also ... be sure to stop by the store between 5 - 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, to help us celebrate this important milestone! Drop by, say hey (or even "hej på dej" ... that's Swedish for "howdy"!), and join us for refreshments in our new classroom space. Of course, we'll be open for shopping, as usual! And rumor has it ... there WILL be cake!

Meanwhile, if you want to learn more about how far we've come in the past year ... and where we're going in the future, read this this news release.

Group photo (L-R): Carol Jo Morgan, Claire Billing, Ning Zulauf and Gail Glende Rost. Left: Outstanding in his field ... well, hard at work at the 'Fantasy Fence' in downtown Champaign, Peter Woods.

 

Whether you're a store regular or you've only been in once or twice, you've undoubtedly had contact with one or more of these friendly, smiling folks. Cheerful, yet industrious, this group has been the unstoppable - and unflappable - force behind the store right from the get-go. With one whole year behind us, we thought it was long past time for some formal introductions. 

Carol Jo Morgan, The I.D.E.A. Store Co-founder and Environmental Outreach Specialist. Some people still remember Carol Jo as "The Bead Lady," which also was the name of the business she owned and operated in the community for 13 years. But what you may not know about Carol Jo is that she also has degrees in social work and natural resources & environmental sciences, and has worked in both fields. Her other "past life" experience includes nearly 10 years of teaching and developing the predecessor to The I.D.E.A. Store.

Carol Jo says helping to launch and sustain the store is "a dream come true for me because it supports quality education for our community's young people and helps conserve natural resources for their future. Keeping reusable and recyclable materials from being landfilled helps conserve our precious natural resources, and that's my personal mission. I'm proud to be a co-founder of The I.D.E.A. Store."

Claire Billing, Volunteer Coordinator. Claire is originally from the northwest side of Chicago, but has lived in Champaign-Urbana for 30 years. She earned degrees in dental hygiene and health care management from Southern Illinois University (and has worked in those fields), and also has a master's degree in higher education management from the University of Illinois. She retired after 20 years as a staff member at Illinois; she held various positions in the School of Art + Design over 14 years, then served as an academic advisor in the English department for six years.

How Claire got where she is now: "My good friend Carol Jo Morgan offered me the opportunity to volunteer at the upcoming The I.D.E.A. Store, mentioning they had a need for a Volunteer Coordinator. I thought this would be a good fit for me, so I signed on in February 2010 during the planning stages, continuing to the present. I hope to be part of the store for the long run. I work at the store two days a week and from home -approximately 25 percent time - and enjoy it very much. There are great people to work with, including the best volunteers in C-U! Being artsy/craftsy all my life, I even had the opportunity to take an assemblage art class at the store last winter ("Cigar-box Shrines," taught by Melissa Mitchell) and got hooked. That's when I fully realized how wonderful the store inventory really was. I strongly believe in conservation so the creative reuse philosophy of the store is right up my alley. The I.D.E.A. Store is a happy community of like-minded folks who are dedicated and hard working but also have fun in the process. I am delighted to be a part of it."

Ning Zulauf, Assistant Store Manager. Ning, who is originally from Taipai, Taiwan, has made her home in the Champaign-Urbana community after earning a master's degree in technology management from the U. of I.'s College of Business. She started at The I.D.E.A. Store as one of its original volunteers.

How Ning became a team member: "After I decided to settle down in Champaign-Urbana, as a former international student, I wanted to make more friends and get to know the community  more. The attraction of The I.D.E.A. Store is the wonderful and encouraging volunteer environment. The more I volunteered the more time I would like to be here. I have been growing with the store since the beginning - first, as a volunteer, working part-time, to being the only full-time employee here. I feel truly lucky working with wonderful folks and am proud of being part of the "dream team" at The I.D.E.A. Store!

Gail Glende Rost, The I.D.E.A. Store Co-founder and General Manager. Leading the team is the seemingly always bubbly and super-organized Rost. A long-time resident of Champaign-Urbana with extensive experience as a volunteer in the community, Rost earned her bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and master of fine arts degree in graphic design from the U. of I. Her primary responsibility for the last 12 years has been as the Executive Director of the Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation. The I.D.E.A. Store is an earned-income enterprise of the Foundation.

Why Gail is where she is at the store today: "I got here through a mandate from the CUSF board of directors to identify new sources of sustaining revenue for CUSF. I love my new friends! I love the mood of the store and the challenge of designing and implementing a new idea. And of course, I love the 'stuff'!

Peter Woods, Warehouse Manager. Peter earned an associate arts degree from Kishwaukee College and was accepted to Layton School of Art (now Milwaukee School of Art and Design), but received his acceptance letter and draft notice on the same day. As Peter puts it, "Uncle Sam won." He later earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from the U. of I. and completed two semesters of training in architectural historical preservation at the Art Institute of Chicago. He worked in the environmental consulting field for nine years in Chicago and Los Angeles before moving back to Champaign in 1986 and starting a design/build landscape architecture firm. He sold his share of the business to "retire" in 2009.

Peter's path to The I.D.EA. Store: "My retirement was short lived as I was looking to start something new. My daughter had just moved to San Francisco and told me about  SCRAP (a business similar to The I.D.E.A. Store.) I had visited this facility in the early '80s but sort of forgot about until she mentioned it. I looked into the possibility of a franchise and they said they didn't think it would happen. So, I continued to look at other similar ventures when I serendipitously ran into Gail and found out that she and Carol Jo were also on this same track to start an artist/educator re-use store. I joined the founding team and the rest is why we are The I.D.E.A. Store ... and celebrating our one year anniversary.                                                                 

 Practical Magic in the classroom!

Urbana High School teacher Margaret McDermott recently sent us a thank-you note with photos of her store finds which she put to practical use in her classroom. Margaret thanked us for making it possible for her to purchase hanging folders for all 76 of her students Urbana High School at The I.D.E.A. Store's back-to-school paper blowout sale. She also was grateful for being able to purchase affordable fabric, which she re-used to jazz up her classroom bulletin boards.