Talbert Pipes- Small site update

[Trever Talbert]

Greetings to everyone on our mailing list!  I've just posted three new 
Talbert Briar sandblasts to the catalog, for those poor folks like 
myself who aren't able to attend the Chicago show this year but who 
still want to see new pipes.  One of the new pipes is a bamboo-shanked 
churchwarden, and of course one is green...
See them all here, at the top of the list:
http://www.talbertpipes.pair.com/briarcatalogblasts.shtml
I was going to point out that we still had a few mortas left over from 
our massive update last time, but this morning we sold two of them, 
leaving only one Classic and one large Signature grade available. 
Interested folks can take a look at the remaining pipes here:
http://www.talbertpipes.pair.com/mortacatalogsmooth.shtml
http://www.talbertpipes.pair.com/mortacatalogblasts.shtml

In other news, we will be closing our retail shop shortly.  It never 
came close to generating enough profit to cover its annoyance factor, 
and I haven't been looking forward to another summer filled with bored 
tourists ringing the bell to see this quaint little old-time business, 
but never actually buying anything, of course.  I'll be selling off the 
remaining stock in the shop and at the Paris show in September - there 
isn't a lot of stuff outside of a few IMP meers, some Ropps and other 
"wall" pipes, and a whole bunch of basket pipes (lots of filters and 
butane too, but I'll probably keep those for myself).  We plan to use 
the shop space for more working area.  My intention is to take down all 
the signs and advertising, and set up a comfortable corner of the shop 
with some nice chairs (thanks Larry!), a tobacco bar, and a small and 
elegant display case for whatever pipes we have in stock at any given 
time.  Since it will cease to be retail space and become part of our 
home, we can serve drinks if we like, and thus we'll have a nice little 
relaxation spot for those serious pipe people who actually visit looking 
for pipes, and not tourist trinkets.  Visitors can relax and chat and 
examine the available pipes in comfort, without the doorbell ringing 
every five minutes.  We won't have opening hours, obviously, so please 
telephone if you'd like to drop by.

This is going to have a few very good long-term effects-
*  A less-annoyed pipemaker, especially in tourist season
*  A LOT more working time freed up for us, which will mean more pipes 
to select from.
*  More pipes to share with P&P in the US

I haven't decided yet exactly when we'll close it up - I suppose I'll 
wait a bit and see if I can sell off the last of the wall pipes in the 
shop first, or maybe post some group discount packages on the site, 
we'll see.
I hope everyone has a great time at Chicago, and thanks very much for 
your time!

-- 
Happy Smoking,
Trever Talbert
http://www.talbertpipes.com