From the Bas Bleu Mailbag: 25th Anniversary

From August 2019

We’re celebrating 25 years of Bas Bleu (our catalog was “born” in 1994), and our editors and other staff have been touched by the anniversary messages we’ve received from our readers over the past few months. Snail mail, emails, comments on our Facebook page and on this blog… No matter the format, each and every message means so much to our team. This week, as we prepare to debut our Autumn 2019 edition—including a first glimpse at this year’s Christmas offerings!—we wanted to share a few of the “happy anniversary!” notes that landed in our mailbox. Are we bragging? No. (Well…maybe a little bit, because any company with such amazing customers should brag about them!) Mostly we’re sharing these to let you know that we do, in fact, read and value every bit of customer correspondence that comes our way. Your words always impact us and remind us time and again just how special Bas Bleu’s readers are.

“Dear ladies,
HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY
• long time customer….but feel like a sister
• love when your catalogue arrives…. means a fresh pot of coffee and a nice parlor sit for me
• your books and gifts selection always hit a ‘chord’….page by page
• start by looking for the new offerings, but re-visit my favorite standards everytime and evaluate how they might fit in my current activities [i.e. I pace my purchases to feed my soul/needs!]
• never disappointed in my selection, whether a milestone gift, a surprise treat for someone to let them know they were in my thoughts, or a mere self-indulgence!
• found your 25th Anniversary issue an especially enjoyable read! The mini-profiles were sooo interesting (refer to comment #1 again!)
Wishing you all another prosperous and happy twenty-five.”

“I honestly didn’t realize it’s been 25 years! And I think I’ve been an appreciative customer since the beginning. You’ve got a tiger by the tail, and I hope you ride it for another 25.”

“Bas Bleu…has been my favorite bookseller of all time. I recommend it to others all the time! Every year, my birthday present to myself is to go through the current catalogue issued in my birthday month and buy myself anything and everything I want in that catalogue. Long live Bas Bleu!”

“Congratulations on your 25th anniversary. Wonderful photographs you shared.
Hopefully, you will celebrate with an anniversary dinner with your full staff with more happy pictures. Continue to march into the future with your wonderful company of special treasures for us in the Bas Bleu world.”

“Such fun memories but obviously not without struggles along the way. And you’ve certainly come a LONG way! I joined your fan base somewhere along in the 90’s and have been a staunch advocate of your wonderful catalogs and merchandise not to mention great books and reviews. Congrats on, not only surviving, but showing that you don’t have to be an Amazon to bring the best to your customers!”

“I was so delighted to get your recent catalog, celebrating your 25th anniversary! Hardly seems possible that we were all 25 years younger then, and I fancy myself if not your first, then certainly among your very earliest fans. I was so charmed by the concept of BB, and wished you so very well—WHICH HAS COME TRUE! I remember so well Eleanor telling me about sitting around the fax machine, eagerly waiting for things to happen; I’m so delighted they did. I just could not be happier for your continued success, you are loved by so many, and I’m delighted to see that there are more of our persuasion than I had guessed! I send my very special love and congratulations to you, Eleanor. I know it was your vision that brought BB to life. Long LONG may you wave, and enclosed herein are more hugs and good wishes than you can possible imagine.” [Ed. note: This longtime Bas Bleu customer was the first to place an order way back in 1994…and her order arrived via fax!]