New Location…New Merchandise…Same Smiling Faces

Shana Karn, Co-Owner

Which one of us thought it possible to make our move from 128 W. Main St. to 129 North St. in the period of ten days? I am pretty sure it was my Dad… By now, you know that our move has taken much longer than originally anticipated. While our new building was move-in ready for the gifts, we had a bit of work to do on the antiques section (lower level). The good news is that, even though it has taken a little longer, we are excited to have more space for merchandise and for storage. The bad news is that depending on the rest of this week, the antiques section may or may not be completely finished by Friday. I choose to remain positive. I keep telling Dad that we can do it. This is easy for me to say—as I sit here in Rochester today, waiting for my daughter to get out of surgery. Thankfully, the surgery is relatively easy – a procedure to correct a pain condition she has had for three years now. Writing this article is taking my mind off of the fact that I am in a hospital waiting room…

Yes, I believe we can, for the most part, have our antiques section ready for customers by Friday. It won’t be perfect but nothing is ever perfect. Owning a shop has frequently reminded us of this. There is always something that still needs to be done, changed, etc., much like life itself.

As I packed up the last of the boxes at 128 W. Main, and looked around our now empty little shop, I have to say I was very emotional. I was also surprised that our little building held so much! Not just merchandise, but great memories. When we started, two years ago, we worked long hours to get ready for our grand opening, we struggled with the POS System learning curve and learning about shop ownership in general. We were overwhelmed by the gift shows and wholesale shopping. We were naïve. We were anxious. We were hopeful. I don’t think either of us knew exactly what we were in for. And, I don’t think either of us could have anticipated the great people we would meet, the friendships that would be established, and the numerous changes that would take place over the course of just two short years. We’ve learned more about shop ownership. We’ve gotten a grip on our POS System and we’ve gotten our website built (not yet populated, but at least it is built). We are no longer completely overwhelmed by the gift shows or wholesale shopping. Of course, we haven’t ventured to any of the really big gift shows in NYC or Atlanta but we are making plans to do so. Our first two years, while successful, were not easy. Shop ownership is hard work. It is never-ending and, when all is said and done, the greatest reward isn’t financial.

So here we are, starting over in a sense. We are anxious. We are hopeful. We are not as naïve as we were two years ago but we know there will be new challenges, more learning and a lot of hard work ahead of us. We are okay with this because we know that what we get out of it— the people we meet, the friendships we establish—makes it all worth it.