Feather Your Nest ....
The summer of 2011 I had been working on a decorating job for a local business and while scouring my favorite antique stores for décor, I renewed old friendships from booth renting days at the Bull Market Antique Mall in the 1990’s. It rekindled my love of treasure hunting and a good friend graciously offered to rent me a space in the mezzanine of her amazing antique store
, Homestead Treasures. It was such fun that I began to flirt with the idea of opening a little shop of my own. With the blessing and help of my sweet husband and the encouragement and enthusiasm of my Pop, We opened our first shop in a great little space at 423 Central Ave. It was a cozy 800 square feet and just the right size…. For 20 shopping days .We opened on Black Friday of November 2011 and closed on Christmas eve. We still had our little paper sign on the door, homemade business cards and some wonderful new customers…. and we knew we needed more space. The invitation came to move three blocks up Central Ave to the first floor of the old Liberty Theatre in the Davidson Building .It boasted 1800 square feet and wonderful walls of display windows on two sides .One week before we were set to open, a pipe in the ceiling burst and the ensuing flood delayed our opening for another three months, two thirds of our recently displayed merchandise went into the dumpster after being inventoried for insurance and we began repainting and repairing to reopen in April of 2012.At that time my only employee was Nancy McLeod ,and after four moves in one year I know I would have been very tempted to rethink my plans had it not been for Nancy showing up every day with a big smile and a we can do it attitude! We loved every minute of our time there and by the conclusion of the Christmas season in 2013 we had more wonderful customers and knew we needed more space…. The historic Beckmans building next door became available for purchase, we signed the papers on January 16th and started painting…and painting …..and painting! new wood floors ,a new roof and a long list of future improvements we hope to make will keep us busy for some time. When we finish we will have around 7000 feet of treasures galore .Five moves in four locations(counting the flood)in four years…..phew! So much gratitude to all whom have helped along the way, We are home.
