WE'RE IN!

It's about time. Yesterday marked our one week anniversary of being in our new location, and we are so happy! Everyone has their own work station, there's so much room to move, it's almost hard to get used to. Mike documented the move through pictures, so you can see the progress we made. We still have some things to put away and organized, but we are about 85% completed. The move itself was fairly seamless with no interruptions whatsoever with shipping and receiving departments. We've had many of our regular local customers stop by and say hello. They are all in awe of how much more room this new building has to offer. I owe a special debt of grattitude to my wife, Betty, Tony Blanco, Jay Leslie, his friend Vaughn, for their untiring efforts in getting us up and running so quickly!


The old location...


Watch the incredible vanishing Hocus Pocus...


The Stage area slowly vanishes...


The boxes become fewer and fewer...


The inventory shelves are next...


Only the shipping department is left...


All the shelves are now gone...


And the inventory makes its way to its new home...


Until there is barely anything left...

The great thing about moving is finding all the great things you forgot you had. We've found many boxes of used/estate/collectible items and have a special place we've racked and dedicated to displaying them. Check out the photos below:


The new office spaces with the estate/collectible items displayed...


A view from the other side...


The new warehouse and shipping department


Almost all the inventory is in place...


The maze within the inventory


Another view...


From the inventory space to the shipping department


The shipping department within the warehouse


Paul's new office


Mike's new office


Tony's new office and workstation


Jeremy's new office


Ken's new office in shipping

I don't know where we kept it all in our other location!

Do you believe in ghosts? I asked this question because something very strange happened this week. Several months ago in the blog, I spoke about the House of Magic in San Francisco. The owner, Marvin Burger, affectionately known as Buma, had in his storefront window a neon clock. After many years, the clock stopped working and Buma stored it away in the back of his shop. About 15 years ago after his death, his son, Mark, gave me the clock as a gift. Although the neon worked perfectly, the clock's hands were stuck at 5:10. For sentimental reasons, I never had the clock repaired but displayed it in the shop with the neon glowing brightly. About three years ago, I unplugged the clock during some remodeling and never plugged it back in. So for three years, it sat lifeless. The other day I was putting my office together in this new building, I plugged the clock in for the first time, and the hands began to move and keep perfect time to our surprise! I hope it's a sign from the Buma watching over me saying that all is well...


Buma! Is that you?

Lots of magic coming up. In just a few more days in May, David Blaine's 2-hour special will air on ABC (May 8). The week after, Kieth Barry's special will be broadcast on CBS, and at the end of May it's the season 2 premiere of Criss Angel's Mindfreak! All this magic is great for your business as more people are exposed and interested in the art. Pay close attention to our web site as Blaine's special draws near; we'll have a special announcement that you won't want to miss!

On Monday, Mike and I will be busy compiling a list of the estate/collectible and used items I mentioned earlier and we'll be sending out an email to all our members. If you are not yet a member, do yourself a favor and join. There's going to be a massive list of items at great bargain prices that you won't want to miss!

Thank you for your nice letters about our move and thank you for sending your 8" X 10" photos. As I'm typing this, Tony Blanco is busy putting them all in frames to be hung around the inside of the offices. If you haven't yet sent us your photo, you still can do so. Just send it to:

Hocus Pocus
1492 N. Clark, #104
Fresno, CA. 93703

We'll have pictures of the project up and running just as soon as the task is completed.

So there you have it. It's been an eventful 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to the weekend, where we are expecting the temperatures to finally rise to the mid 80s. No more rain! It's about time...

Until next time,

Paul