Dominion: Alchemy Update

From one of our distributors:  Dominion Alchemy is DELAYED - There was an unexpected delay on the German end.  As of last Tuesday, it had not even arrived in the Rio Grande warehouse yet.  It might arrive next week, but might be later.  We'll announce it's arrival on our Facebook page.

Recent Arrivals

Big Re-Stock of Jigsaw Puzzles

A large variety of puzzles from Piatnik and Clementoni arrived.  Here's a small sample of the images we have in stock.  They range from 1000-6000 pieces, and include lots of fine art and some nice panoramas.

Non-Game-Related Customer Question of the Day
Does Shopping Locally Really Make a Difference? 

On the counter in our store we have a small poster that lists some of benefits of shopping at locally-owned independent businesses.  For example, did you know that for every $100 you spend at a locally-owned store, about 70% will stay in the community?  When you shop at a national chain, it's only about 40%.  A customer asked us the other day if this was really true, and our response was "Yes!" 

The 70/40 figure is based on a few studies, most notably one conducted right here in Chicago.  Here are some tangible examples of just how that works:

When you spend money at Cat & Mouse, we make a concerted effort to turn around and buy things for our store from other locally-owned businesses.  The money literally and quickly goes back into the community.  We get our neon signs from The Neon Shop on Western and instead of heading to Home Depot, we buy all our paint from Thybony Paint and our hardware supplies from a local Ace Hardware.  Whenever we need a new spinner rack or peg hooks for displaying products, we go to Double R Display, and for the flowers that will appear outside the shop soon, we'll head over to Adams and Son in Humboldt Park.   Instead of going into the pockets of a corporation based in Arkansas (for example) as much of our money as possible goes into the pockets of other people who live and work in the city that we call home, and we think that's a good thing.   (Side Note - If such a creature as a locally-owned office supply store still exists, someone, PLEASE tell us about it!)

What else does shopping locally mean?  Well, it also means that a portion of what you spend at Cat & Mouse goes directly to local charities, schools, and events.  Every business makes donations, but you can bet that a small business will make it a priority to lend support to their neighbors.  When you purchased that game from us, you didn't just get a great game and have some fun.  No sir, you also supported things as diverse as Science Night at Pritzker School, Adventure Stage Chicago, the Bucktown Apple Pie Festival, small gaming events like the Gaming Hoopla in Lake Geneva, gaming events at libraries and outdoor festivals, and a whole lot more.  All that, and you probably didn't even realize that you were helping out so many great local organizations!  

So you see, it really does make a difference to many people in our community when you choose to spend your money with a locally-owned business rather than with a national chain or online.  On behalf of ourselves and other local businesses and organizations, thank you for your support!