Many months is no problem. Plus that took the pressure off of trying to be open before Christmas, since the major gift shows weren’t until after the holidays. In February I spent 5 days shopping at a show in Pennsylvania, ordering thousands and thousands of dollars of merchandise. Since Plan A wasn’t ready I had everything shipped to my house. Before I even got home from the show I got wind that the landlord was getting cold feet, I suspect because he had many people interested in his spot, and he was running way behind his original schedule to have it done in February.
So when I got home I realized maybe I better have Plan B. There was a lovely little spot down on the water in Bristol, key word being LITTLE! The price was reasonable, but the spot was so tiny that I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to squeeze all the stuff I had ordered into that little spot, no matter what a wonderful location it was. Plus Plan B’s landlord was getting lots of other people wanting to sign on the dotted line when they heard I was going to take it. So, as my home is continuing to fill with all the merchandise that was arriving, I knew I needed to do something. Giving up was not an option unless I had one really, really big garage sale to get rid of all the stuff that was quickly filling my house!
So in the middle of the night I was on Craig’s List looking for anything that might be out there. I think it was about 3:30 a.m. when I came across a spot in Warren that just might work. The next day I drove by, and called the owners to set up an appointment to see the property. It was a big old barn that was being divided into 2 first floor spaces, and a loft space. Across the street was the new Market at Cutler Mills that was going to open in May, and behind the Market was the future location for the Basically British Tea Room. Add to that mix a gym, a fencing academy, an art gallery, and numerous other nearby businesses I thought this might just be where I am supposed to be. It isn’t downtown, but there is a lot to draw people and it is far easier to park than on Main Street. I signed a lease in the middle of March and was told it would be ready to occupy by May 1.
Well little did I know the fun had just begun, so to speak.. When I went down to town hall to get a business license I was told that that property wasn’t zoned retail. Being hit by a falling meteorite might be a way to describe how I felt at that exact moment. The town officials informed me all was not lost but it would involve getting the property rezoned which would require special meetings, and since the property was considered a change of use it would also require numerous other changes the landlord didn’t know he was going to have to do before he could rent the space.
The waiting game began, March, April, and May turned into June, July, and August. Remember I said the merchandise was all being sent to my home? I attended several more gift shows during those months. It’s now been 6 months of the UPS and FedEx guys visiting my house on a regular basis. The neighbors that didn’t know I was opening a shop must have thought I had a huge shopping addiction!! It is very fortunate that I have a rather large home because as the months wore on merchandise and furniture for the shop occupied not only my living and dining rooms, but also my family room, kitchen, foyer, laundry room, first floor bedroom, and 2 car garage. Not only did I have spring and summer merchandise but also fall and Christmas. Everything needed to supply a shop for an entire year was on the first floor of my house.
It got so crowded that at night I would make sure there was at least a single width passageway down the steps and out the front door in case of fire. The cats loved it, they had so many places to hide and things to jump on. My poor dogs it was a little more difficult on. They never knew which way to go, getting to the back yard was like navigating the corn mazes at Halloween! It was a good excuse not to vacuum or dust because you couldn’t see the floor and all the furniture was covered in product.
Finally in very late August I was told I could start moving stuff over, but I couldn’t open because there were still items the building inspector needed done before I could let customers in, the fire alarms being highest priority. In mid October he gave me his approval to open with a temporary occupancy, a parking lot still needs to be installed in the back.
(For now there is plenty of on street parking, ignore the yellow markings on the sidewalk in front of the building. They are left over from the days when this building stored antique cars and maybe a dump truck or two and the owner needed to make sure he could get them out of the building.)
