I’d like to share two bits of sizable news from the world of Volume One.

1.  We just upgraded The Local Store, big time.

I’ll be honest that this is overdue from when we had originally planned to do it a couple of years ago (hey, we’re kinda busy over here) – but we just went all-in on doubling the shopable space of The Local Store with a totally new area filled with beer, cheese, wine, sausage, pottery, blown glass, succulents, and seriously much more from local makers – all where our lobby used to be. But even more, we expanded outside into our historic courtyard space, too, and now offer seasonal outdoor and garden items like locally-made planters, birdhouses, fire stuff, and all kinds of handy outdoor goods such as wind chimes, rain chains, plants, and more. We’re pretty excited about it all, and if you haven’t visited in a while now is definitely the time. In fact, we’ll be having a big “grand re-opening” of sorts June 6-9 with a big sale, lots of samples, and many of our new makers hanging out for the fun. And if you think this is all great, just wait until you see what we have in store this next holiday season!

2. We’re throwing the most amazing kids event this town has ever seen.

Volume One’s sister publication, Chippewa Valley Family, along with nearly 30 local family organizations, are staging an entire takeover of 10 major spaces of the Pablo Center in downtown Eau Claire to create the best kids event we could possibly dream up. Saturday, June 1. Hands-on music, technology, science, art, theater, dance, performances, and tons more for curious, creative, and cool kids of all kinds. This is the kind of thing where I tell you it’s fun for the whole family and you roll your eyes and think, “Yeah right, I’m going to be bored to tears while my kids teeter on the edge of a meltdown for a few hours,” but I’m telling you there will be actual fun for the whole family and you won’t regret it for a second. Even if the kid does meltdown. We’ve been wanting to put on an event like this for years, and the time has finally come. Join us, tickets are on sale now. Learn more at volumeone.org/hullabaloo.