The Mercantile Register - The Shopkeeper's Blog
Business Ownership - Lesson 2
I had a lot of behind the scenes help getting this shop up and running. My son designed the cash register counter and display unit to be reminiscent of something you would see at an old fashioned general store. What took him a short time on the computer to design (he is just shy of finishing his architecture degree) took my husband weeks and weeks to build. Fortunately the landlord let us build it on site, we sure didn’t have room at home to build it! We couldn’t have got one more thing in or out of that garage.

My husband Andy is frequently at the shop on weekends attending to his “honey do” list, whether it be hanging pictures with the exact precision one would expect from a registered professional engineer, or hauling out the large amount of cardboard boxes that quickly overtake the back room. He is fondly referred to as the “VP of fixing and toting”.  My son Jonathan devoted way to many hours to the cause, from designing the counter, teaching me how to use the computer, and designing this website. 

Teaching me the computer has been a monumental, ongoing task which he should be awarded a medal for.  He has turned most aspects of keeping the website current over to me, but somehow I think he will still be involved.  His phone number is on speed dial that is for sure.  While my daughter Theresa didn’t play as much of a daily role in getting the shop open, she did keep her father and I fed last summer.  She also did a lot of dishes and laundry for me so that I could receive product, enter data, paint the massive counter and display unit, and a thousand other things.  She lives in Boston full time now, so we are on our own as far as feeding ourselves is concerned.  If you went through our recycling bin you would see lots of those black frozen dinner trays, and way to much Coke Zero.

Posted by Terry on April 15, 2007. Shopkeeper's Story