Trader Vic's Warehouse sale returns! - General Tiki

MT Mai Tai Tiki Socialite Exotic Isle of Alameda Joined: Mar 21, 2004 Posts: 1438	MT Mai Tai Posted posted on Fri, Oct 16, 2009 4:34 AM On 2009-09-30 05:35, Psycho Tiki D wrote: midnite, Glad to see I have now taken the back seat for gushing on about the TV sale. You are steadfastly El Numero Uno Fan Muchacho, at least until we see Mai Tai's post! Ray is going to be hard to beat as Numero Uno Fan Muchacho, but I'll give it a shot. Duane, you can be the judge. Okay, now that birthday debauchery meltdown month is over, it's time to post my pics from the Trader Vic's Warehouse sale. Better late than never. :wink: Day 1 - Thursday, Sept 24th Bongofury was staying at my place for a few days, and we picked up Midnite on they way over to Richmond. We were slightly on the early side, but were surprised to discover that someone coughTrad'r Billcough had been braving the cold and fog in line since 6:30am!!! And dragged his sister there, too! :D After torturing us for what seemed an eternity, Kier and Michelie finally open the gates promptly at 10:00am, and the madness begins! Everyone gleefully sped up the ramp, like the drawbridge to Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland on opening day! I liked this one a lot. Same goes for the tiki. :wink: If I had unlimited funds, then I would have written a check for this piece, because I thought it was amazing! The photo doesn't do it justice. Then we decided to break for lunch. Brenda, being a local Nickel Dime native - as myself - drove a bunch of us over to Val's Burgers in Hayward for an East Bay treat of burgers and shakes. Then it was time to load up our loot. Here's the teak tiki pole that I snagged, in Bongofury's van. After his purchases from the Trader Vic's Warehouse, and combining them with his merchandise for the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale, Bongofury's van was pretty much maxed out by the end of the sale! And believe me, it was fairly empty before, as Suzanne and I had to ride in the back on the way back from Val's Burgers! Then it was time to celebrate at Happy Hour at Trader Vic's Emeryville! Then on to our next stop, Forbidden Island! Here is the tiki that I scored (my birthday present from Coco Loco - happy birthday to me!!!), and Midnite's tiki that was used as both an ashtray and a planter. Both are awaiting a good scrubbing and teak oil application. Saturday, September 26th Ray and I drag Michelle and Coco Loco to the warehouse, to see what's still available. There's still a surprisingly large amount of really good stuff. Coco Loco ended up picking out the dark carved panels with the Maori face on the far right. Some of you might have met my friend Scott, from SoCal. He was up in the Bay Area, so we dragged him to the warehouse sale as well. And he ended up purchasing this boat! Scott also bought some carved panels as well. I think they were some of the ones pictured here. I came really really close to buying this cannibal. Good thing I was broke!!! Anyone need some tapa cloth? They were selling it by the square foot. You know, everyone posted pics of all of the cool large stuff that was available. But there was quite a bit of cool smaller stuff, too! Sunday, Sept 27th We end up going back to the warehouse one last time, before the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale. We met Chad and Jenny there, and they helped us bring Scott's tiki boat back to our house in Chad's truck. Much much thanks, Chad and Jenny!!! And there was still a ton of great stuff available! I just snapped off a few pics, and here they are. I hadn't seen anyone post pics of these guys yet. I thought they were pretty cool. We were pretty much the last ones to leave the sale, at around 2pm or so. We were pretty much the last ones there, and thanked Kier and Michelie for all of their efforts. As they closed up shop, we bid them, and the warehouse, adieu. Then it was off to the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale, where more shenanigans ensued. Here's one more pic to add to the thread "When Tiki takes over your house". It's deja vu, all over again! The Aftermath Wow, what a great week that was! The Trader Vic's Warehouse sale was fantastic, just like the previous warehouse sales. Kier and Michelie put a lot of thought, planning, and effort into this sale, and it showed! No matter how busy it was (and it did get really busy at times), they never hesitated to answer the barrage of questions sent their way about the history or details of the various merchandise there. And despite a couple of negative naysayings and the postings of a troll, which can be rather discouraging, especially when you are pouring a huge amount of effort into an event that is targeted particularly at the people on this site, they still kept their chins up, and kept moving forward. You know, they read these posts here on TC, just like the rest of us, and it can be disheartening to read a couple of well designed negative posts that are meant to bring pleasure to the one person posting at the expense of others. All of the folks at Trader Vic's deserve the highest of praise for their efforts in trying to bring this sale to us - a big thank you from Coco Loco and me to Michelie and her husband, Kier and her brother Tate, Eve Bergeron, and all of the good folks at Trader Vic's in general! Your efforts were greatly appreciated, and I hope that you continue to have more warehouse sales in the future! Even though there were a couple of troll posts and some grumblings from some surprising sources, (hey, it's the internet, that stuff happens), there still was an overwhelming feeling of support from just about everyone on this thread. And the overall camaraderie felt by everyone at the sale was amazing - what a good way to spend a birthday weekend hanging out with Coco Loco, Ray and Michelle, Ron, Caroline and Rob, Suzanne, Brenda, Duane, and many many others - it was a birthday for the ages! And even though I am going to repost some pics from above in this thread, I feel they are a reflection of what this warehouse sale, and going to Trader Vic's in general should be about: escapism, and having a good time! Look at the smiles on those faces! Having a good time indeed! My biggest suggestion is that we all partake in more of these good times at Trader Vic's, whether it's their awesome happy hour, drinks, or dinner, or whatever. Go there, enjoy, and have a great time! Support your local Trader Vic's!

On 2009-09-30 05:35, Psycho Tiki D wrote:
midnite,
Glad to see I have now taken the back seat for gushing on about the TV sale. You are steadfastly El Numero Uno Fan Muchacho, at least until we see Mai Tai's post!

Ray is going to be hard to beat as Numero Uno Fan Muchacho, but I'll give it a shot. Duane, you can be the judge.

Okay, now that birthday debauchery meltdown month is over, it's time to post my pics from the Trader Vic's Warehouse sale. Better late than never. :wink:

Day 1 - Thursday, Sept 24th
Bongofury was staying at my place for a few days, and we picked up Midnite on they way over to Richmond. We were slightly on the early side, but were surprised to discover that someone coughTrad'r Billcough had been braving the cold and fog in line since 6:30am!!! And dragged his sister there, too! :D

After torturing us for what seemed an eternity, Kier and Michelie finally open the gates promptly at 10:00am, and the madness begins!

Everyone gleefully sped up the ramp, like the drawbridge to Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland on opening day!

I liked this one a lot. Same goes for the tiki. :wink:

If I had unlimited funds, then I would have written a check for this piece, because I thought it was amazing! The photo doesn't do it justice.

Then we decided to break for lunch. Brenda, being a local Nickel Dime native - as myself - drove a bunch of us over to Val's Burgers in Hayward for an East Bay treat of burgers and shakes.

Then it was time to load up our loot. Here's the teak tiki pole that I snagged, in Bongofury's van.

After his purchases from the Trader Vic's Warehouse, and combining them with his merchandise for the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale, Bongofury's van was pretty much maxed out by the end of the sale! And believe me, it was fairly empty before, as Suzanne and I had to ride in the back on the way back from Val's Burgers!

Then it was time to celebrate at Happy Hour at Trader Vic's Emeryville!

Then on to our next stop, Forbidden Island!

Here is the tiki that I scored (my birthday present from Coco Loco - happy birthday to me!!!), and Midnite's tiki that was used as both an ashtray and a planter. Both are awaiting a good scrubbing and teak oil application.

Saturday, September 26th
Ray and I drag Michelle and Coco Loco to the warehouse, to see what's still available. There's still a surprisingly large amount of really good stuff.

Coco Loco ended up picking out the dark carved panels with the Maori face on the far right.

Some of you might have met my friend Scott, from SoCal. He was up in the Bay Area, so we dragged him to the warehouse sale as well. And he ended up purchasing this boat!

Scott also bought some carved panels as well. I think they were some of the ones pictured here.

I came really really close to buying this cannibal. Good thing I was broke!!!

Anyone need some tapa cloth? They were selling it by the square foot.

You know, everyone posted pics of all of the cool large stuff that was available. But there was quite a bit of cool smaller stuff, too!

Sunday, Sept 27th
We end up going back to the warehouse one last time, before the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale. We met Chad and Jenny there, and they helped us bring Scott's tiki boat back to our house in Chad's truck. Much much thanks, Chad and Jenny!!!

And there was still a ton of great stuff available! I just snapped off a few pics, and here they are.

I hadn't seen anyone post pics of these guys yet. I thought they were pretty cool.

We were pretty much the last ones to leave the sale, at around 2pm or so. We were pretty much the last ones there, and thanked Kier and Michelie for all of their efforts. As they closed up shop, we bid them, and the warehouse, adieu.

Then it was off to the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale, where more shenanigans ensued.

Here's one more pic to add to the thread "When Tiki takes over your house". It's deja vu, all over again!

The Aftermath
Wow, what a great week that was! The Trader Vic's Warehouse sale was fantastic, just like the previous warehouse sales. Kier and Michelie put a lot of thought, planning, and effort into this sale, and it showed! No matter how busy it was (and it did get really busy at times), they never hesitated to answer the barrage of questions sent their way about the history or details of the various merchandise there. And despite a couple of negative naysayings and the postings of a troll, which can be rather discouraging, especially when you are pouring a huge amount of effort into an event that is targeted particularly at the people on this site, they still kept their chins up, and kept moving forward. You know, they read these posts here on TC, just like the rest of us, and it can be disheartening to read a couple of well designed negative posts that are meant to bring pleasure to the one person posting at the expense of others. All of the folks at Trader Vic's deserve the highest of praise for their efforts in trying to bring this sale to us - a big thank you from Coco Loco and me to Michelie and her husband, Kier and her brother Tate, Eve Bergeron, and all of the good folks at Trader Vic's in general! Your efforts were greatly appreciated, and I hope that you continue to have more warehouse sales in the future!

Even though there were a couple of troll posts and some grumblings from some surprising sources, (hey, it's the internet, that stuff happens), there still was an overwhelming feeling of support from just about everyone on this thread. And the overall camaraderie felt by everyone at the sale was amazing - what a good way to spend a birthday weekend hanging out with Coco Loco, Ray and Michelle, Ron, Caroline and Rob, Suzanne, Brenda, Duane, and many many others - it was a birthday for the ages! And even though I am going to repost some pics from above in this thread, I feel they are a reflection of what this warehouse sale, and going to Trader Vic's in general should be about: escapism, and having a good time!

Look at the smiles on those faces! Having a good time indeed! My biggest suggestion is that we all partake in more of these good times at Trader Vic's, whether it's their awesome happy hour, drinks, or dinner, or whatever. Go there, enjoy, and have a great time! Support your local Trader Vic's!

Post #488481 by Mai Tai on Fri, Oct 16, 2009 4:34 AM