Candace's Trip to Canada

In the beginning of October, I got the opportunity to go to Canada for a new store opening. It was so much fun! Designers (I was the only design trainee!) from our different stores around the US and Canada arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, a week prior to the new store opening to set up all the displays and to make the store look beautiful. It was a lot of work, but I loved it! Being a trainee, it was a great experience because I got to work with and learn from the cream of the crop, store designers and area designers who have a lot of talent. It was awesome!

I worked in our glass & tabletop section for the week, here are some displays I did: the area manager and designer liked this table setting so much, they moved it into a busier section in the middle of the store!

So this was my second table setting...

Since the opening was in October, some designers decided to start the trick-or-treating early and play tricks on us. Here was a hilarious example:

Fake teeth in the barware! Very cute :)

Here's what the store entrance looked like on the morning of the day prior to opening day. There was still a lot of work left to do, but we managed to pull it off!

The evening prior to the store opening, the staff gets to celebrate all of our hard work with a party. Here's me and my roommate Val, a designer from the San Francisco area.

Here's some of the design team I worked with. It's kind of like camp: you live and work with these people for a week, making friends and having fun!

The opening party was a great way to relax and congratulate ourselves on all of our hard work!

There was a line of people waiting outside to get in the morning of the opening, how exciting!

I had an awesome experience, I can't wait for the next store opening I get to attend!