Sunday and Monday: Store Remodel

We normally close the store at three on Sunday, and we did this week too, but we didn't open again until Tuesday morning. This Sunday and Monday we did a thirty hour remodel. We took advantage of the Memorial Day holiday to be closed and change around parts of the store that we couldn't do while we were open. The first thing we did on Sunday night was tear out some cabinets, scrape away all the old carpet and linoleum glue, and then stain the concrete. It turned out great!

Then the next day, Monday, we met Becky at the store, along with Mike, and installed all new cabinets. Here's a series of us all working, along with a few of the finished product. Many thanks to Chuck and Caroline for not only taking our kids for most of the day, but also fixing us a beautiful meal in the evening. Jack and Caroline helped me clean the walls where the stain had splashed up on it. Will helping out. Mike changed out the green hanging lights for red ones, so we don't look like Christmas with both colors. Andrew and Trace putting cabinets and countertops together. Note the green lamp overhead, which disappears in later pictures. The finished product. The espresso machine (which got a new look too, with a spray painted black finish, since the current burgundy didn't go with the red cabinet Trace built) now sits on top of a refrigerator, as it should, so that all milk and cold products are close at hand. To the right is the new blending station, and further right, which somehow I didn't get a picture of, is the new walkway and the new red wall. It matches the front of the espresso cabinet in the third picture down. The pump pot station next to our new grab and go case. The walkway is gone here, which should help traffic flow. Now we don't have to push past customers to get to the office! From the front you can see the self-serve pump pots and the grab and go case. The view as you walk in the sliding door: the black espresso machine and the red cabinets. Oh and do note the red lights in this picture.

So that's the story of the store remodel. It is still a work in progress, so I'm sure there will be more pictures to come, but we're excited about what we've done so far. It's looking good!

The Store

Okay, my mom has been asking for pictures of the improvements we're making at the store, so here goes. It is certainly a work in progress, and probably a month away from being finished. The first picture is of Caroline, and a customer, sitting in our newly reupholstered chairs. They're two colors, chocolate brown and tan, since you really can't see them very well in the picture.

In the next picture you can see our new grab-and-go case. We're going to start serving food soon, probably in about a month when Andrew finishes high school. He'll be our chef. These are two of our many new cabinets. Most of the rest are still in our garage, to be put together. The hallway heading back to the offices and the kitchen. Please note the newly painted wall behind the fridge and metro rack. That was last weekend's project.

The kitchen, also newly painted and rearranged.

This picture is strictly for my mother, because this room is very messy. But we've turned the copy room into the kids office, so they have their own place to play, with their own dry erase board, books, toys, and crayons. And even better, their mess is no longer in my office! It's been a great transition, mostly thanks to Aunt Becky's brilliant idea and hard work. Thanks Becky! Okay, these last two pictures are at home, putting together another cabinet in our garage. This is the man who's done the hard work, designing, moving, and multiple dump runs (twenty-seven years of accumulated stuff that needed to be sorted and pulled out from dark hidden corners of the store). Thanks babe, it's looking great! Jack and Caroline have actually been a big help too. Helping mom and dad may well be their favorite thing to do. And playing in cabinet boxes is pretty fun too!

Hmmm, I seem to have lost the picture I thought I uploaded of our new freezer. So that's there too, but I'm sure there will be more pictures of our great spring clean (seems like its lasted long enough to be a fall clean by now, but the tulips blooming tell me otherwise), so I'll save that for a future post.