| Jan. 22, 2009--Deborah Smith and
Vanessa Howard ran the Everything Obama Store at 1515 U Street, N.W.
for a week-plus around the Inauguration. They started out selling
from a table in front of a Bank of America in Los Angeles about three
weeks before Election Day. That grew into a full fledged
operation, and they realized, "If we could do this there in front of
the Bank of America, think of the opportunity we would have in front of
millions." They called a couple of realtors, and a sister
scoped out the location, which is not far from such institutions as
Ben's Chili Bowl and Cake Love. Among other items they ordered
200 teddy bears, 1,000 blankets and 2,000 binoculars. Smith and
Howard shipped about a hundred boxes, flew in on Jan. 12 and opened on
Jan. 14. Smith estimated that through the 22nd about 5,000 people
from all over the world had visited the store. She said the 21st
was the busiest day and bling shirts seemed to be selling the
best. |
