I don’t even know where to start with this. There’s so much to get through.
What is 826 Valencia? They’re a non-profit organization that helps to encourage expository and creative writing skills in children from age 6-18. They run seminars, showcases, provide drop in tutoring, and publish student work. These are all noble pursuits.
It’s also a store. For pirates.
All the products were designed by SF based Office, and they’ve done an amazing job developing beautiful packaging. Each of the products is unique, yet immediately identifiable as part of the Pirate brand. Among the products available for purchase (yes, for real) are beard extensions, gold teeth, lock picking kits, glass-eye-drops, peg leg oil, and medical leeches of several varieties. My only regret is that other companies would ignore this classic, ornate style of branding. Studies show that consumers are 36% more likely to buy a product if it comes in a corked bottle or wax-sealed envelope, and 88% more likely if that person is a pirate, mariner, buccaneer, swabbie, old salt, corsair, or privateer.
But what really pushes the experience over the top are the little touches. For example, these signs pepper the walls of the store, many of which decrying Captain Rick, proprietor of the Booty Cove (a rival pirate supply store) and captain of questionable repute. I certainly have a thing for fake, official looking documents, and these signs are no exception.
Even their website oozes wit. A description for mermaid bait (or repellant) reads:
“Sprinkle a small amount of this substance into the sea. Sometimes they come closer, sometimes they swim away. It’s complicated.”
It’s safe to say that I wholeheartedly endorse these types of people shaping our children’s minds.
But you say swashbuckling on the high seas isn’t your thing? Personally, I’d have yer yellow belly tied to the mainstay and lashed. But the 826 people are a little less abrasive. They’d just ask if you were interested in super heroes, time travel, robots, cryptozoology, outer space, or spies.
Seriously. Check this stuff out.
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