I always look forward to the shop redo every new season. In the case of the space that we are working with it is quite tricky to do sections of the store without the whole thing not being a total disaster. With the influx of new people all the time because of the great world of social media, I always want the store as much as possible to put its best foot forward.
Generally speaking I close the shop an extra day or two so that myself and either Jill or Trevor and sometimes both can work in peace and get everything reworked.
It also doesn't help that the way I see vignettes come together is starting with a blank slate which means I NEED to clear off tables and sections completely and start over so a lot of stuff ends up on the floor before it goes back in place. I am also a bit of a neat freak so the store needs a complete cleaning, every shelf and light fixture every season, no compromise. I hate seeing spiderwebs hanging from untouched spaces and dust crawling all over shelves. I figure if I can see it, so can my customers.
A little glimpse into the nuts that is me.
You're welcome.
This season worked a bit different however as I needed to start redo-ing the store a week earlier than planned. Christmas was odd this year. Anyone else find that?
People seemed to be in a different state of mind. I don't know if the weird weather is playing a role, our neighbours to the south dismal political situation which inevitably and regrettably reaches here, or just money woes. Either way this year saw a change in attitudes towards the holidays that I will keep in mind for next year and again as a shopkeeper always keep things changing and different. The weeks following Christmas with sale season beginning turned into a hammer of shopping and by New Year's the store looked bare and HORRIBLE. I had decided to close the shop a few extra days to give us a break and especially Jill who had been working non-stop to cover my half ass shifts being in store after having Emma. In those "break" days I decided to redo the store in bits by myself and oddly enough I think it came together better than I imagined.
It was different and fun being there myself [not that I want to do it again, those stairs are a beast by yourself carrying product and talking to yourself gets a little hairy after a few days]
So I guess enough mindless chatter from me this morning and welcome to the shop in its mostly finished winter state. I took these photos a couple weeks ago so lots of stuff has arrived since and a lot again has sold but you get the general idea. Lots of plants, terrariums, a bit more tribal eclectic and tons of vintage feeling.
The greatest thing about still operating this blog as blog, is it has mainly become a journal for me of my home and my shop to look back on and I'm just glad you guys all still enjoy it as well.
Have a great day,
Meg
