I'm not entirely sure I ever want to see a friendly care bear ever again. I mean please don't get me wrong, those happy, joyful little faces are really cute but two massive launches within two weeks! Wowzers!! Both Irregular Choice and Erstwilder dropped Care Bear launches just 10 days apart. We did not expect the IC launch to be as popular as it was (you lot loooooove a care bear). Shoes, bags, purses and tights flew out both in store and online. Picture the New York stock exchange, people on the phone and tapping away furiously at their computers, shouting to one another whilst people run from one end of the room to the other, scrambling to get things from A to B as quickly as possible.
That was us.
That was us twice!! 
IC always launch at 12pm. You can be sure that the few minutes before hand, we're enjoying the calm before the storm. Things are prepped, the PC is loaded and ready, post bags at the ready. It's almost eerie how calm we all are, knowing that in a matter of moments it's all hands on deck. We're like a well oiled machine. Kirsty mans the computer, printing postage labels, sending invoices, trying to reply to as many requests and emails as humanly possible. Emily will be taking those postage labels, picking, wrapping and popping them in their postage bags and I'm usually with the in store customers, helping them with sizing advice, advising when it comes to heel heights and sole protectors. Then muck in with the postage options. We could never EVER have guessed just how much this launch was going to go off. Just how many little furry bears were destined for new loving homes. How many people were going to get their new pretties the next day and enjoy something so happy and colourful in a time that has been anything but happy. We couldn't have predicted that the 100% huggable bag would have been the first to go and ultimately, aside from the exclusive IC scarf, has been the most sought after and requested item since. Next out was Wishing Star. Mid heels always disappear quickly, but within 10 minutes, they were gone. In fact in just an hour we'd sold 80% of our stock and had put in a request for a few extras.
Seems as though Good Luck Bear was shining down on us that day...
And just as the hustle and bustle of the Irregular Choice collection started to ebb, flicker away gently if you like...Erstwilder came in and went,
"You know what would look good with these shoes? HELLA AMAZING BROOCHES, PINS AND SCARVES!"
They weren't wrong either. All the bears, plus some necklaces, 4 designs of scarf (head and neck) plus some earrings sauntered into Rockamilly. I say sauntered, as if they already knew the power they had over hundreds of thousands of people. Who would have guessed that a few bears, a racoon, a rabbit, a cat, a penguin and a lion that looked like Leo Sayer would have such a cult following. No one talks about Care Bears. They aren't like other retro nostalgic cartoons that you hear spoken about so lovingly. In fact I believe there is a secret cult for Care Bear lovers and you've all just exposed yourselves with these collections haha. Who'd have guessed that Grumpy Bear would be the sell out, sought out and controversial item of the day. Normally it's the free gift that we run out of so quickly but no, not this time. Grumpy Bear clearly had the raging ump and he wasn't sticking around.
In fact the rest of the bears quickly followed suit and decided, they'd prefer to be somewhere else too. They also quickly departed. It took us 3 hours to get to all orders made at 6:03! that's only 3 minutes worth of orders. The magnitude of this collection was mind blowing. We sold out of nearly everything, a few pin badges and earrings are still loitering around but we predict they'll be finding new homes soon.
Of course with any launch, there comes the disappointment of missing out on what you've got your heart set on. We know that's rubbish. We miss out too. So I've created a a checklist for how you can make the most of a launch day and you can find that here.
All in all, we always LOVE a launch day at Rockamilly. They are stressful, fast paced and nerve wracking but very rewarding. Seeing something through from beginning to end is crazy satisfying.
Stacie xx 