Saturday, February 22, 2014

Full Circle...

After we had the store for a few months, we quickly realized that we would run out of space.  We desperately needed more room for classes, events and our internet offices.  So we set out to start the Annex to supplement the square footage in the shop.  The Annex is located a few miles up the road from the shop.

We found a space that we could afford with the aims of turning it into a place where people could learn and find creativity.  We took a unit stuck in the 70's (that was being used as a junk room) and gave it a more modern facelift.  It was a ton of work.  We scraped wallpaper off, soundproofed the walls, painted the walls, painted the ceiling, cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more.  Above are some of the progress pictures.  Believe it or not, the picture to the left was taken after we had already removed a load.  The stuff was literally stacked to the ceiling.

We had the Annex for a year and half before we sat down and had a long conversation.  While we really liked the additional room, it would be better if we could consolidate our resources.  We were paying for two insurance policies, two utilities, and two rents.  Unfortunately we weren't able to take full advantage of the space and really utilize it to its maximum potential.  We still had a lot of fixing up to do and really couldn't justify pouring more money or time into renovating a rental property that sits empty part of the year.

So we're closing the Annex.  Don't worry!  We aren't closing the store.  The shop will remain open and function normally.  While this might sound like sad news, we're actually really grateful for the learning experience and blessed for the opportunity to try and make it a go.  Not only that, but we've got some very exciting news in the works!  I can't say anything now… but will soon!

We wanted to thank everyone who has contributed their efforts to making the Annex a success.  We appreciate your time, energy and efforts!  We feel really fortunate to have been able to host such incredible talent.  Thank you!

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