FAQ - Flying Smiles is Moving!

So - it's finally public. We're moving!!

Cassie and her boyfriend Dave are buying the business from Cath and Eliot and Flying Smiles Kites moving to Wilmington NC! Both Cassie and Dave have extensive backgrounds in kites as well as a combined 60ish years of experience in small businesses. To say that they're combining their passions with Cath and Eliots is an understatement. All four of us have been working together on the plan for a few years now. 

Here's some of the most common questions we've gotten as we've been telling people. 

1. Why are you leaving Corolla?

   We love Corolla, but the reality is that we need to be in a location with more foot traffic. Plus, the beaches surrounding Wilmington don't have a brick and mortar kite shop! We're looking forward being in an area with lots of locals and "regular life" as well as beach towns just a few minutes away for kite flying. We will miss Corolla, but we're looking foward to another 20 years in a new location serving a beautiful combination of customers from our past, present and future. 
   
   

2. So. Wait. Why don't Cath and Eliot run the shop in Corolla when Cassie opens the new shop? Why don't you just open a second location??

   Friends, we'll say this with all of the love in our hearts. The location in Corolla is closing. It's time for Cath and Eliot to retire and enjoy all of the perks that come with not "getting up and going to the office" daily! If you vacation in Corolla and still want to shop with us, we'd love to send you a package here to Corolla! But, the shop won't be here anymore. 
   
   

3. What's going into the location where the shop is now in Corolla? 

   We don't know. We've been leasing the space for almost 20 years, so when our lease expires in March, the landlords will fill the space as they see fit. We hope the new business has success in our happy little corner of the beach in Corolla. We also hope they're prepared to answer countless questions about horse tours. 
   
   

4. How much longer can we shop in Corolla and online?

   We'll be here through 12/31/26. After 12/31/26, we'll be closed and officially in "moving" status and no more sales will happen until the move is at least partially complete. 
   
   For the rest of 2026 - We'll be open every week, mostly, through the end of the year. The week of 12/6 is the only week we plan on being closed in December. Otherwise we'll keep posting our hours as they fluctuate for the rest of the year. We plan on being in the shop Weds-Sat most weeks. As usual, we'll be open more in the holiday weeks. 
   
   

5. Why can't I shop online while you're moving?

   Friends, you've moved at least once in your life, right? There will be a period of time that we're literally moving from one location to another and everything will be packed in boxes. That means that most of the inventory won't be shoppable because it won't be organized in a way that we can find items easily to ship. BUT! We do have plans for OPK releases during the move, so you'll have those to look forward to while we're moving. Once we've started unpacking the inventory into the new shop, we should be able to get web sales up fairly quickly. 
   
   

6. Are Cath and Eliot going to move to Wilmington?

   Story time!! In the late 90s, when they decided to move to the Outer Banks, Eliot actually designed the house they live in now with the guidance of their architect here on the Outer Banks. They love their home, and will enjoy walking to the beach to fly as often as their hearts desire! So, long story short. No. Cath and Eliot aren't moving. They're retiring in the place they "retired" to 26 years ago. It's a good home and they love it. 
   
   

7. Wait. Hold on. Cath and Eliot are retiring? So that means they're done with kite building??? 

   Friends - they're retiring from retail but NOT from kite building. It turns out, they have both been building kites out of their home for 4ish years now. They have a studio that makes everyone drool, and never ending ideas. Our theory is that without having to think about the day to day operations of the shop, they can actually build MORE kites! That said, Cath is currently rediscovering her love of clay, so you will probably need to custom order her Hatas if you want them. We are all looking forward to seeing what they create when they really have the time and ability to day dream instead of worrying about paying rent. 
   
   

8. So, who do we talk to about custom kites? 

   You'll keep talking to the shop about them. For years, Cassie has been doing most of the communications about custom kites and we've agreed that we prefer to keep it that way. Truthfully, Cath and Eliot will make their kites for probably another 20 years, but for the most part they're asking Cassie and Dave to keep up the business side of the business. This will enable Cath and Eliot to focus on the creativity and not on the bookkeeping side of things. Trust us - this is a great thing for them!!
   
   

9. What's the new address?

   We don't know yet. We're currently narrowing it from a handful of great locations. We'll be in Wilmington NC, on the northeast side of town. Don't worry, y'all will know the new address before too much longer! Cassie and Dave have a house near Hampstead that they're setting up now, and they're planning on commuting into Wilmington, but not across the whole city. 
   
   

10. What's going on with the Fun Fly in 2027?

    Once we pick a location, we're gonna work on throwing together a Fun Fly for 2027. But, until we have more specifics determined on our end, we can't make any official announcements with dates attached. The current plan is to schedule the Fun Fly around the soft open for the shop so that y'all can check it out before the official opening date! Ideally, sometime in the late Feb to early April is our planned timeline. We'd really love to open on the early side of that timeline, but the actual timing is TBD. We promise to give you as much notice as possible. 
    
    

11. Are you going to do a big "going out of business" sale at the end of the year?

    No. At some point we'll put things on sale that say Corolla, but we don't have that many of those items left. The truth is that we're moving the business, NOT going out of business. Yes, there will technically be an ownership change from Cath and Eliot to Cassie and Dave, but Cassie and Dave are buying the inventory that remains and will take the business south. We already sent everything to clearance during the summer that we don't want to move forward, so we're really happy with what's moving with us. We're also merging with Dave's business, so y'all will be delighted about the categories we're expanding and adding. If you want to shop his business now, or snoop his inventory for some holiday shopping, go to Corner Pockets! He's got the nerdiest side of Flying Smiles Kites on lock and y'all will LOVE the expansion that he's bringing with him. 
    
    

12. Will you keep us updated on the move?

    YESSSSS! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and maybe we'll even get some videos on TikTok (@flyingsmileskites for all platforms). We're gonna have so much fun showing y'all the whole move so you'll almost feel like you've carried some of the boxes. 
    
    

13. Speaking of carrying boxes. Do you need help with the move?

    If you're in the vicinity of either location (Corolla or Wilmington) and want to help, we'd LOVE to accept your help when it's moving days. We just don't know when those will be yet. Email Cassie (cassie at fskites dot com) and she'll put together a list.