GIFT CARDS
I had 18 days to find a new credit card processor in September when our processor of almost 10 years dropped us with very little warning, I never really got an explanation other than a generic our policies have changed which means a bank bought the bank and our merchandise is now a problem, I have only a handful of issues a year not even in the double digits yet FG is considered high risk?? What a load of bullshit, I ended up with a processer with higher rates and fees and now am switching again to a more reasonable company, it was hours and hours of me and my staffs time dealing with this and the casualty in this was the gift cards, I wasn’t able to transfer them over but I did get a list so if you have one, I can look up the remaining balance and send you a store credit for the amount.
MASKS
Fantasy Gifts in Minnesota was closed for 7 weeks and then curbside only for two weeks before we could open last spring, when we did open we required mask use for our staff and guests before the Governor of Minnesota required it months later, I was and am so angry at the folks who bitched and complained about wearing a mask and continue to do so, one asshole customer actually lifted his shirt to show off his gun and then went to get his mask from his car, I have an amazing person who calmly responded to the hostile gesture by simply saying we have masks for a dollar, when I called the local police for guidance the officer on the phone sighed and said yes, what the customer did was illegal and the clerk would have been justified in calling them. I don’t care how many weapons you own but you need to be responsible with them, I haven’t put up signs saying no weapons because if you carry a concealed weapon responsibly how would anyone know? I have the whole thing on video as the stores have live cameras, I will be putting up signs about that so maybe just maybe folks will think before brandishing and yes the officer used that word a weapon when asked to wear a mask. Although a vaccine looks promising it will take quite a long time before non-mask wearing is going to be allowed in FG stores. So please don’t be an asshole wear a mask and do not threaten a salesperson who is doing their job.
MERCHANDISE
Covid has had my buyers scrambling to find merchandise as the orders have only about a 60% fill rate as companies are keeping their staff safe with staggered shifts and yes a fair amount of the products come from overseas and other countries have had stricter or longer lockdowns and stay at home orders. Even the US based companies are taking over a month to fill orders instead of a week. We do have some new items in, the Viotec line of USB rechargeable vibrators have been popular, they are on the myfantasygifts.com site and I know I have seen other items come in but new items sell so fast and with the long lag times between orders and getting the stock in anything I highlight here may be low in stock by the time you read this. That said I was just handed these items, NS Novelties FireFly Moon Stroker a glow in the dark hand held masturbation sleeve for $34.99, NS Novelties Bondage Couture Line Wrist Cuffs for $29.99, Love Buzz 20 Function rechargeable vibrator for $59.99 and the Valley Vamp Vibrator from the California Dreaming line at Cal Exotics for $99.99 We do seem to be able to get most Lube lines in and it sells as fast as we get it in, the blush line of dildos are always popular and I saw pole dance poles come in a few days ago, Fleshlights have been almost impossible to get in but the buyer has orders in but no idea when they will be fulfilled. Our lingerie buyer is bringing in a new line of packaged lingerie with the Penthouse brand name on them, they really caught my eye as being sexy and gorgeous and come in s/m m/l and l/xl
STORE HOURS
With the natural social distancing in the stores, limiting the store to 6 customers at time, good HVAC, and counter UV light systems, counter shields. We have been doing our best to keep staff safe but since the staff does not live in a FG bubble there have been times when a staff member cannot cover a shift and when we can’t find a replacement that store may not be open for a shift, we have signs on the door saying where the nearest other FG store or stores are, Thank you for your understanding. Our current hours are Monday – Saturday 10am -9pm and Sunday 12pm to 8pm
WEBSITES
In April we built a website myfantasygifts.com to help us do curbside and now instore pick ups as the site Fantasygiftsmn.com is a partner site with orders fulfilled out of warehouses in Colorado and they shut down too. For the local website orders placed during the hours of 9-4 Monday through Friday are filled as quickly as we can if the items are in stock at the store you have chosen for pick up, if and item is out at that store or the order is placed after 4 or on a weekend it will be the next business day when we can search for it, one of my buyers does try to check on the weekends but she deserves time off and it is not guaranteed that she will see that order, that said we are busting our butts, I will even deliver your order, I had one order in at 4:46 pm, it was in stock in the warehouse and I drove it out 26 miles away and only 48 minutes the customer had the items!!!! everything worked out perfectly but that won’t be everyday as much as I wish we could.