Missing It More Than Ever

I miss my store.  It was two years ago at this time that I took a leap of faith and poured all I had into opening a kids' used clothing store.  We spent a lot of money on renovating and painting the perfect space into an acceptable store.  My favourite part was our family room, just off the till area.  We had a couch, a small table and chairs, a microwave, a coffee maker, a small fridge, Andrew's playpen and a whole bunch of toys and colouring books.  It was where we hung out while we waited for customers.  I kept the lights dimmed in there so it was warm and cozy.  Cozy enough to the point that Mike nodded off once and had to be woken up by a customer!

All the comforts of home!

Easy access to serve customers

Complete with a tinted window to be able to see the door when customers came in

Brewing up some much needed coffee

The main part of the store…clothes!!!

I love love love the tree wall decal that I bought…it added just that pop of colour!

One of the displays in store

I miss dressing up for work! And I miss my uber long hair!!

The store had more than enough space for all our needs.  It had a giant bathroom, complete with a shower (not that we ever needed that, but hey…you never knew!).  It had two massive storage rooms, one for all the consignors clothing bins and one for my regular, new stock (hats, tutus, headbands, hair clips, soothers, dapper snappers, teething necklaces etc).  There were still two huge rooms left unused although I did set up my camera and backdrops in the one area to take product photos of Miss K.

When I look back, I can't quite pinpoint one exact reason why it failed.  Bills started piling up.  I wasn't feeling well mentally and didn't want to be in the store (which was stupid because it was just the same as being at home).  I took days off and had inconsistent hours.  Sometimes I'd just say eff it and the kids and I would go to Saskatoon for the day instead.  I'd say it was mainly the piling up bills that did us in.  We were falling further and further behind, not busy enough yet.  I really wish I would have given the store a bit more time.  We could have taken out a loan to cover the costs.

There are certain songs that when they come on, I'm transported right back to my counter space, where I worked hard to steam all the clothes before they hit the racks.  Songs like Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" (which I'm listening to as I type this) just zip me right back to the good ol days when I was my own boss.  We also still have the radio commercial files that we listen to every now and again.  I miss hearing my little jingle on the radio!

I can't help but wonder about how we'd be celebrating our two year anniversary right about now…probably with some blow out sales :) Although, there were always good deals to be had in the store! Who knows…maybe I'll try again sometime in the future when I'm more balanced and ready to tackle another venture? All I can say is that I'm at least glad that I tried and that it was a blast while it lasted.

And so it goes...