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Page 1: (Holy cow can we really say decades? YES we can! Oh my ...files.constantcontact.com/2ba04b2b001/25c6218a-cce2-4824-aae1-73d... · We've traveled life's journey together and along

***IMPORTANT NEWS***IMPORTANT NEWS***IMPORTANT NEWS***IMPORTANT NEWS***

***IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH***

We are reinventing ourselves!It is with a sincere combination of sadness and excitement that we announce to our

customers and friends that we have come to a major decision about the future of our business The Front Porch in Waukesha.

****TAKE A BREATH---WE ARE NOT CLOSING****

This is a long email so grab a glass of wine or a cup of tea--or if you'd rather just stopin or give us a call to find out the scoop feel free to do that!

First let's discuss the "why" then we can announce the "what, where and when!"

Why?It's no secret to most of you I'm sure, how intense the amount of hours are needed to run your own business.When we started The Front Porch back in 1998 we were much younger (haha) and the climate of specialtyretail was much different. The economy was booming, the silk floral industry was emerging into areas oftechnology in manufacturing that astounded us all with the ability to create realism that had never been seenbefore. All of this made it an exciting time to be starting a home decor business!

We jumped in feet first (as we often do!) and are confident in saying we quickly became a leader in theMidwest in our immense selection of the highest quality silk floral available. Customers traveled from as faraway as Chicago to our location at The Market in Watertown to find the best the world had to offer inpermanent botanicals. Our business was born and we continued to grow over the years to expand into homedecor, gifts and eventually a women's fashion boutique which has become such a popular part of The FrontPorch today.

We have come to realize over the past 20 years that The Front Porch is more than just a store. It has become agathering place for many. It's been a place to leave life's troubles at the door and escape to a place you canrelax and enjoy a cup of coffee, a chat with some friends and to get some creative inspiration to beautify yourlife. Much laughter and even many tears have been shared regarding life's poignant moments with so many ofyou. We've traveled life's journey together and along the way have shared so much. We've celebratedweddings of children, welcomed new babies yet also grieved together through illnesses, ailing parents anduntimely deaths of family and friends. We are truly humbled by the fact that so many of you are no longer justcustomers-you have become cherished friends.

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We consider it an honor to have been a part of your lives for so long by teaching you a new creative skill orhaving been allowed into your homes to help you make it a prettier place to live.To have been the recipients of that trust you've placed in us throughout the past 20 years-is something we willforever be grateful for. The memories of working with so many of you over the last few decades is somethingthat will never fade no matter what the next 20 years brings!

(Holy cow can we really say "decades?" YES we can! Oh my goodness)

So HOW is this all going to work? What are we saying exactly?

This is perhaps one of the toughest parts of our decision to re-vamp the way we are going forward with TheFront Porch. As we contemplated how this would all be re-structured one of the sticking points always cameback to "How can we just retire completely? We will miss our customers too much!" So we came up with theperfect compromise! We will consider ourselves to be "semi-retired" and here's how:

We are going to cease being a full-time retailers and reduce our hours to being a "pop-up shop!"

WHAT does that mean exactly? WHEN will this all happen?

We will be starting our Semi-Retirement Sale shortly and start the process of selling down all of the currenteveryday inventory in the store! We plan to be sold-out no later than Memorial Day Weekend. Yep you heardthat right-ALL of our current inventory will go! (Wow huh?)

We have been ordering like CRAZY over the past few weeks and have the highest levels of fresh, newinventory in both the boutique AND the home accessories, gifts & silk side of the store EVER! We wanted togive all of you the best chance to stock up on all those lines you love from us and trust us...now is the time!

This will not be your average "retirement" sale at all! We will be re-stocking all departments all the waythrough the final weeks of the sale. Why? Because we consider it a great big THANK YOU for yourcontinued loyalty over the past 20 years and wanted to offer you all the categories of fun products you havecome to love at The Front Porch--but at a great bargain! So NOW is the time to stop in (often) and say hi...share a special memory you have about The Front Porchand STOCK UP on silk flowers, decorative accessories, gifts and clothing!

We will both be on-hand almost everyday throughout the next 3 months to share a cup of coffee, laugh over afunny story and help you pick out whatever you need for yourself or your home!

If you have been putting off refreshing those yucky silk arrangements NOW is the time to get them done!

If you're planning a wedding in the next year get your silks NOW while we have a huge selection and can get them finished for you!

(we are happy to still special order quantities for anyone as well)

The sooner the better because as you can imagine it may get kind of crazy around here!

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There will be a gradual markdown schedule as we liquidate what's here (including some of our covetedvintage fixtures) over the next few months so make sure to watch your email and our website/facebook pagefor our markdown schedule as it happens!

Okay so we told you that part...what's NEXT?

We will POP BACK UP and stay open for the holiday season only!

Here's how it will work:

We will open the store back up around October 1st for fall & Christmas and stay open through the endof the year!

We will remain in our current location. We are actually pinching ourselves that we will still able to dowhat we love --but do it in a way that allows us to scale back a bit and strike a better work/life balance!

We will be coming back this fall with BOTH sides of our store. Not just fall and holiday decor but alsothe boutique and gift side! So basically no difference from what you are used to at The Front Porch!

On another exciting note we will be announcing our ONLINE STORE in the next few months too! A projectwe have been working on for some time and and are so excited to launch! (clothing, jewelry, gifts and somedecor) And...If all goes well during this Fall/Christmas 2017 "pop-up" and our landlord is willing, we areconsidering popping up perhaps TWICE next year! Once definitely at the holiday season again but alsoanother time possibly for Spring from March 1st-May 31st. Keep an eye out for announcementsregarding that towards the end of this year!

Thank you for being a huge part of our Front Porch family for so many years! Remember we will still be here to serve you....just in a different way!

We are looking forward to taking a breath--rejuvenating and coming back again for a FABULOUS 2017 holiday season!

Vicki & Ann


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