Since having a business in 1995, I have moved my store a total of six times and that includes a HUGE move from Winnipeg to Edmonton! That's a lot of packing, unpacking, renovations and stress, I tell you.This most recent move has been, by far, the longest, most stressful, difficult and challenging one yet. Partly due to my age, because, let's face it.....moving when you are young is much easier than when you are not so young. Another thing is this time 'round, there was no male partner/husband OR staff to help with the packing, heavy lifting, renovations, carrying boxes and fixtures, etc.
Back in February of this year, when I finally committed to moving my shop, I signed a lease (in St. Albert) for what I felt was the perfect space for my store. It felt right and I loved the location...an unexpected little spot in Riel Business Park in St. Albert. The icing on the cake was that I would be less than 10 minutes (driving) from home, as compared to 30 minutes plus. I was so relieved to not have to look at potential store spaces with my very patient, sweet leasing agent....that was tedious in of itself. The looking, not the agent.
BUT 4 days before I was to get the keys and take possession of the new space, the owner of the building called to tell me her building had been sold and she had to cancel my lease because the buyers wanted to occupy the whole first level of the building! Talk about having the carpet pulled out from under you...I was devastated! Could I have insisted/fought to have her honour my lease? Probably, but I knew that this was her chance to sell the building and finally retire. Who was I to take that away from this very sweet lady?
So, I called my leasing agent and we started looking....again. The problem was, none of the spaces for lease compared to the one I had signed for...not in "feel", location or anything else. I am sure that my leasing agent was growing weary of my rejections of potential locations for my shop.
During all of this, I continued to operate my store as usual, but growing more and more disillusioned and disappointed that I would never find the right spot for my new location. I did not want to stay where my shop had been for the past 12 years...for many reasons, it was time to move on.
Then one Sunday (April 16) I received a text from the new owners, asking if I was possibly still interested in the same space for which my lease had been cancelled. WHAT!?!? Of course I said that I was....and the rest is history. I couldn't believe that I had that space for my shop! Upon signing the lease, a full five months before my old lease would expire, I began planning.
Serious renovations did not start until June/July. First order of business was having a company remove the carpeting/glue so that I could have a concrete floor, like my other location. Over the course of the months that followed, my store in Edmonton kept me rather busy and I even found time to design some new clothing for the shop. I began to arrange for various things to be done at the new location while I slowly began to pack up the more obscure things. I couldn't pack too much because my store was still open for business. It wasn't until August, when the chandeliers and consequently much of my lighting source were removed, that serious packing began.
Offers to help were made by many of my longtime customers who had become my friends. However, my desire to "do everything myself" overshadowed all but the little bit of help that I accepted from a few of my friends. I am eternally grateful for their help and for the offers of help but truly, I also wanted to keep the element of surprise for when they did finally visit the new store.
Any other work that was done, carpentry, electrical, the big move, had to be paid for. I tried my best and even pushed myself to do do as much as I could myself....and that included painting the walls in the new place. It would have been so much easier to leave the walls white and for a while, I was going to. BUT the voices in the back of my brain kept whispering to me "you can't just leave the walls unpainted...you will never be happy with that". So, in the late stages of the transition, I gave in and decided to paint after all. But that meant I had to do the painting myself because no one I could hire would be able to paint the vision I saw in my head.
I also moved a ton of unpacked items to the new location in my Jeep to save from having to pack them and to perhaps save a bit of money on the big move by the movers....at least 20 loads! That meant a whole lot of loading and unloading, which made me work muscles I had forgotten were there. I hate taking pills but there were more than a few times that Tylenol was my friend. My big move was planned for August 21st....and then bam!
I was informed that my new store space had to have the ceiling redone for safety reasons. So I had to change the date of the big move to September 5th. I thought I had very carefully planned the dates for the move to coincide with the quiet time of the late summer but that was pushed ahead by a few weeks. It wasn't what I wanted, but it did give me a chance to get some special things done to make the new store look even more special, that I wouldn't otherwise have had time for. Plus, the space is now even safer and it looks even better! So it is all good.
Oh yeah...there was also a phot shoot recently with a beautiful young lady. You can see some of the images/vidoes on our Instagram page:
Tattered Rose on Instagram
So, here we are, 4 days before the re-opening of the shop in St. Albert. It has been a very long move...five months in the making. Exhaustion has been my constant companion in the last few weeks, as I have been working every day to set up the new space.....every single day!
As I left yesterday, with my new sign having been installed, I experienced such a feeling of accomplishment and excitement, I was giddy with joy. This is going to be my new shop, less than a ten minute drive from home, and it is my favourite incarnation of Tattered Rose yet.
I cannot wait to see my customers and friends and make new customers and friends. Thank you to all who helped me get here....even if it was just moral support...it is so very much appreciated.
Four more sleeps.......♥
