I have been thinking that I need to shoot out an update but have justified not doing it because of being busy. Well...I think it's pretty clear that we are going to be pretty busy from now until...forever, so I'm just going to have to make time. Plus, the progress posts in a few years could be really fun to look back at.
As mentioned earlier, we have been putting in work! Getting a bicycle shop open in under six months we knew would be a challenge and boy were we right. We have been focused on two major areas. Getting the physical space ready and sourcing the right mix of products. Both have had their fair share of challenges, but I am really happy of the progress we've made.
We have made some great partnerships with some really cool bike companies. We will be representing Fairdale Bikes, Kona Bicycle Company, Brompton folding bicycles, and Tern. We're up with our parts suppliers and have gotten our shop tools in.
Christmas came early for Katharine!
The space has really transformed in the past two weeks. The upstairs apartment had been getting all of the recent attention, making Katharine and myself a little worried that we would be able to reach our deadline. They were doing the same wet-work on the upstairs apartment that they did to our space and making quite a mess. We had to wait for it to be finished before our floors, electric. plumbing, etc... could go in. Two weeks ago they finally finished the upstairs space and began major work on our space.
This shot shows the space right after the stairwell to the upstairs apartment was removed. It really opens up the front of the space.
This picture shows the original staircase to the upstairs apartment.
Here you can see the stairs have been removed. It really opens up the front of the space.
Hardwood being laid down!
More hardwood.
Staining the hardwood. We thought about leaving it natural without a stain but after it went down. We thought a light stain would bring out the grain of the wood.
Golden Oak
TCB... Taking Care of Business
It;s really starting to look like a bike shop.
We paused for some beers and took a look at the upstairs apartment. The floor isn't in up there so we could get a bird's eye view of the space.
I forgot my camera upstairs so I got a chance to go back and surprise Katharine with a photo.
So...the back wall of the shop and bathroom walls should be up by the end of the week and we are continuing to acquire product to fill the space with. The electrician Is working there now and should be finished by the end of next week. It is really starting to look like an actual store which really hit me this evening. Sometimes it's hard to see the forrest for the trees and I started to get a little lost in the details and not the finished product. Tonight was the first time I could actually see us working in the space and it felt really neat. I can't wait to get this store open.
Cheers,
Aaron