We have been working hard on our store this week! New flooring in the office area/ rear entry; and bathroom. Painting; wallpapering and cleaning;destruction too. Jimmy loved cutting up some old ginormous displays for the previous paint co. with the chainsaw!
The eeeewwww part was taking out the toilet to put subflooring under the toilet! Note to self, wear gloves all the time when involved in this kind of job!!!!
The roof was leaking once again on Sunday; but there is a lifetime warranty on it so I gotta call the landlord and let him know about that and no hot water either! Try wallpapering with no warm water; COLDDDD! We have a wee sink that is hard to use to fill buckets and the like so paint cleanup is a nightmare:P But we are troupers and worked it through anyways!
The hard part is a lot of this is extremely physical work; I admit it, I am SOFT!!! But I am getting better. Jimmy is a driven man; he works really hard and gets the job done. I am slower, but I AM a finisher. I 'm just SLOWERRRR! LOL!
I have taken pictures of the space in transition but I will have to load them in from my new computer as this desktop doesn't have a card reader!
Other things; we are looking at sewing machine lines as we hope to offer sewing machines as well as fabrics. I am learning how much things really cost at wholesale; and why things are so high sometimes. I have been buying retail forever and now I can see both sides of the equation.
One of the neat things is talking to other shop owners in our area; they have been very supportive of our store and I am really happy that they welcome us! This is my and Jimmy's first big deal like this. We are learning as we go; we have attended things offered by the State of Michigan to help small business owners get started. We are writing a business plan as we go along to secure future financing; that is a big process.
I am working on the branding of our store. I want it to be a warm, welcoming country atmosphere where people feel good in our space. I want our customers to be comfortable and I am emphasizing superior customer service. It is a place of learning and encouragement; a stress-less place for sewers and quilters to come together and make their dream come true. From the smallest project to the largest, they are all welcomed and supported in this creative environment. No creativity police here! You dream it, we'll help you achieve it!
Now for another question I get asked a LOT; What is CattyWampus???
Well,,, CattyWampus is the nickname of one of our beloved bulldogs; His real name is Murphy; but forever I have called him CW (CattyWampus) It refers to the fact the he thinks he is a cat; and often will just wamp himself right up on top of you; He thinks he is a lap cat as well! In quilting there is a term "cattywampus" which seems to mean out of sorts or out of line; my store is out of line with the ordinary; we want to be the best; we want to make sure that all who enter leave all the better for having stopped in; whether they make a huge purchase or none at all. We want to be thought of as not your ordinary fabric store. I wanted also to honor my sweet Murphy by naming the store after him. He has brought so much love into my heart and our home. He also has, despite deep health issues from birth, triumphed over those issues and has lived a really great life; remaining happy and positive throughout pain and sadness. He has given us love and hope, and modeled a wonderful attitude that we all should adopt. Our store will have those qualities and heart. His brother Niles, who is in Heaven is also represented through this store as I intend to have a charity aspect of the store; helping other doggies in need through the Niles and Murphy, Zoey and Sydney fund.
So there you have the beginnings of our store. We are excited about all the possibilities the future holds.
