Smallbear...PLEASE reopen!!!! C'mon, Steve....

[wampcat1]

I miss the way things USED to be...
:oops:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Seriously...any idea when the bear cave will be open?

[Ballz]

After NAMM?

/Rick

[Hal]

I should go help him out :-D

[cd]

Why don't you email him and find out?

[mrsage]

Updates - Mid-January 2005

Our backlog from Christmas has all been shipped. If you have not received an order that you placed on or before 12/24/04, you should see it soon.

A note to newcomers to SBE: In the past year, the volume of orders from my store overwhelmed my ability to process and ship. This was my fault; however understandable, I had not invested early on in an industrial-strength shopping cart and back-office software. The limitations of my tools finally caught up with me. I shut down Christmas Eve to catch up and rebuild.


The first three weeks of this shutdown went almost entirely to shipping backlog; it had gotten that bad. I also tended to other internal projects, like getting in 1,000+ boxes and 20,000+ Alpha pots, and answering mail. I have not until now had sustained time to work on my new shopping cart. I am now giving all of my time to that.

I estimate that I need one full week to get the shopping cart done. But I will be visiting NAMM this coming week to do shopping and meet some of the people who have supported SBE, both as customers and vendors. I have to make this trip in order to eventually expand my offering of specialty parts for prototyping and DIY. So, I am holding off opening my Stock List until the last week of January. Please seek alternative sources in the interim; I WILL be back, and I will be better equipped to handle heavy order volume.

Regards

SD

[mrsage]

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Updates.htm

[ethrbunny]

I don't know if you have the "Mervyn's" department stores in your area(s) but they run a commercial that seems apropos here. Its a woman pacing back and forth in front of the closed doors.. occasionally peering in.. pacing ... peering.. finally tapping her head against the locked doors while repeating to herself "open open open".

Not a great ad but thats what Im doing everytime I hit smallbear these days.

[Mark Hammer]

It is our collective great fortune that Steve is currently overwhelmed.  Steve and I have spoken several times over the past two years, and he has been the unwitting "victim" of overwhelming success.  This brief hiatus is a sign of the impending increased availability of components at prices that will most assuredly make you feel like you've received a "bear hug".  Although Steve's business is not exclusively DIY-ers, the business stability and purchase power afforded him by his commercial clients helps him to do what he started out to do, and that is to make life easier and more exciting for DIY-ers.  The idea of being able to shop Small Bear with the kind of inventory that DIY-ers need, BUT with the convenience afforded Mouser and Digikey customers, is the sort of thing to make you need a change of underwear.

To put it bluntly, this is the silence before the glorious rainbow, not the calm before the storm.  Gardez vos sous!

[Rodgre]

I too am waiting for Steve to reopen, and not so much because I can't order parts from any other dealer, but because I want to support Small Bear.

I just hope he's not completely inundated when he does reopen! Steve, I know you're out there. You better get that shopping cart greased up and ready to go!

Roger

[jmusser]

Well, I think it's great that Steve is having that type of "trouble".  I'm glad that things are going that well for him. He's a good guy. He called me up personally a couple months ago to do an order clarification, and I was able to hear his thick New York accent for the first time. I need about 20 pots, but I'm going to try to wait until he's back at it again, since I'm only building for me and not customers.

[jimbob]

Steve- OPEN PLEASE.. "For Gods sake Man!"

[Alpha579]

yeh, come on steve, we need you    

[forbin80]

It's funny - his store closed like the DAY after I found out you could build your own guitar effects.  It was up just long enough for me to follow some links from geofex and here and briefly look at his wares.  The next day, it was down.  I can't wait for it to come back just to see what all the hype's about!