Our one year anniversary celebration continues this week with the launch of our huge Sidewalk Sale and Summer Clearance!  Thank you all for the kind wishes and for joining in our events last week.  We had a lot of fun with you all, and are sure that the Plinko board will make future appearances.

But to continue our celebration in the theme of giving back to all of our customers, we’ve assembled an amazing sale for you.  The Sidewalk Sale starts Wednesday, 7/25 to take advantage of the beautiful weather, and we’ll have sale items both inside and outside.  If it rains in the coming days, we’ll just move as much as we can indoors, and keep the savings going.  But we’ve got an impressive selection of items at deep discounts – many single items and samples that you’ve never seen in Xylem before, at discounts up to 80%!  We’re also clearing out many of our store items in order to make room for the new merchandise which will be arriving in the coming months.  There will be incredible book bargains, featuring coffee table books, children’s books, cookbooks, journals and Moleskine.  We’ll have lots of bags, purses, totes, jewelry, pens, wall art, children’s toys, kites, housewares and oh so much more.

Trust us, you won’t want to miss this sale!  Please join us, and bring your friends. They’ll thank you.

We’re open weekdays from 10am to 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm.  New items added each day, so stop by anytime.

We’ve got several events lined up, and hope that you’ll stop by to celebrate with us! First up is a cookbook tasting and signing on Thursday 7/19 from 5pm to 7pm. We have the wonderful JJ Gonson, a featured chef from the Boston Homegrown Cookbook, joining us. She’ll be cooking a dish from the book for us, and we’ll have some local beer to enjoy alongside it. We’re offering 20% off the Boston Homegrown Cookbook all day on Thursday. This wonderful book profiles local chefs and local farmers, offering stories and recipes from many favorite restaurants such as Bondir, Clover Food Lab, Oleana, Rialto, Hungry Mother, Henrietta’s Table and more.  Please invite your friends and share the info with anyone who might want to join us at 287 Third Street.

And a bit more about JJ Gonson…she is a personal chef, mother of two, food activist and founder of locavore cooking and consulting company Cuisine en Locale.  Using only locally and regionally sourced ingredients to create farm-to-table meals all year round, JJ and her small army of creative cooks run a delivered cooked food service called ONCE a Week, in addition to planning lavish yet locally sourced private parties and festive pop-up dinners around town and beyond. In addition to being delicious and lots of fun, her work serves to spread the good word of wholesome, fair and thoughtful food.

And what would a party be without…PLINKO!  Yes, we’ve got Xylem Plinko for you all day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week. (Bob Barker wasn’t available, but we’ll do our best to run the show ourselves…)  Come and play, and you’re guaranteed to win a prize with any purchase.  Drop a puck for a chance at discounts, giveaways, coupons or other surprises.  This is our way of giving back to you, our loyal customers.

Our celebration, phase two, will continue next week.  We’ve got an amazing sidewalk sale in the works (weather permitting), so stay tuned for those details soon.  You won’t want to miss this one, we promise.

Now for another explosion of gratitude -  we want to send out such a heartfelt thank you to all of YOU. Without you, we would never be here. We love to hear your comments, suggestions, and what you like best (or don’t).  We also need to thank those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help get us where we are.  First and foremost, my husband, Victor…who is also Xylem’s architect.  He brought the vision to life with our vibrant store design, and has been our biggest supporter in so many ways.  My brother, Tim, is our talented webmaster who created our lovely website and continues to keep our web presence running.  And of course, Liz and Jessie, the best employees this quirky little gift store could ever hope for.

We’ll continue to be in touch via e-mail when we have news or events to share, but be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for our in-between updates and new product arrivals.  Hope to see you this week to celebrate with us on Third Street!

At Xylem, we are (of course) very excited about celebrating Pi Day, which is 3/14.  In honor of this special, circular day, we are offering a contest to our customers and friends!  And, yes, it involves Pi.

First, the prizes!  The winner of our contest will get a free Pizza Pi Cutter, AND a gift certificate for $31.41. 

To enter, you will need to guess the total circumference of all of the bubbles in our large display wall at the store.  (As a reminder, circumference equals Pi times diameter.)  Only the complete circles will be counted, and any of the partial bubbles along the edges do not count.  As a hint from us, the wall is roughly 8 feet tall and 25 feet long. 

Guesses can be submitted here in the comments, at the store, or via e-mail to info@shopxylem.com.  The closest answer submitted before midnight on 3/14 will be our winner!

8 1/4 x 9 inches; 160 pages
35 color photographs

So much to catch up on….how did it get to be February already?  First of all,  Happy Groundhog Day to everyone! We thought we’d celebrate with a giveaway. Just leave a comment below to win a $20 gift certificate to Xylem.  We’d like to know what your favorite gift to give or receive from Xylem has been so far.  The contest will run only through Saturday, Feb. 4th, so be sure to comment before then.

Also, we will be changing our hours slightly for the rest of the winter.  We’ll be closed on Sundays, but extending our Saturday hours a  bit.  Our complete weekly hours will be:
Mon – Fri: 10am – 7pm
Sat: 11am – 5pm
Sun: closed

There are always many new items to see at the store!  We’ve just returned from a couple of gift shows, and new merchandise is arriving  each and every week.  Stop by whenever you’re in the neighborhood to check it out.  And we know that Xylem may not be your first thought for Superbowl merchandise, but we’ve still got lots to help you celebrate!  We have some new  swirled glass chip & dip sets that would brighten up any festivities.  And if you’re more into the Puppy Bowl than the Super Bowl, check out our doggie chew toys, collars and leashes.  And no kick-off would be complete without our newly restocked supply of knee socks and crew socks!  Toast, rainbow, robots, video games, hearts and gnomes for all of your toes.

We’ve got lots of wonderful Valentine’s Day cards, so stop by early for the best selection. Love is in the air! Or, well, at least we love all of our customers, and will be in touch again soon with more updates.  In the meantime, don’t forget to like us on Facebook (here) or follow us on Twitter (here) for the latest news in between our e-mail newsletter.  Thanks, as always, for your support, and hope to see you soon!

Xylem would like to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends!  Thank you for your support during our first four months in business, and we look forward to a wonderful Holiday season ahead.  Please note that store will be closed from Wednesday 11/23 through Friday 11/25 for Thanksgiving.  We’ll be open extended hours on Saturday 11/26 from 11am to 6pm, and then back to our regular hours after that.

We are thrilled to be participating in the Think Local, Thank Local campaign this year, and a percentage of our sales from Saturday 11/26 through Friday 12/2 will go to the Cambridge Housing Assistance Fund.  Please support all of the businesses on this list during this week for a very worthy cause!

A reminder that Saturday, 11/26 is Small Business Saturday.  We encourage you to support your local and independent stores every day of the year, but we love this alternative to Black Friday and all of the enthusiasm for small businesses in Cambridge.  American Express is also offering a $25 credit to customers who register their cards (just click HERE), and then spend $25 at a small business such as Xylem.  We’ll have some special promos at the store on Saturday, and stay tuned for lots of upcoming Holiday highlights.

Be sure to like our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter for all of the mini-updates between our e-mail newsletters.  Thank you!

6 x 8 inches; 144 pages
24 color photographs