CONTINUATION OF MY STORY

I took a break for a few days and ready to continue…

 

While I was practicing shopping on the internet, Gabriel, our realtor friend was constantly looking for a place. Honestly, we already had one place on mind. It was a brand-new complex of very expensive apartments, where each apartment building first floor was commercial. They already had some store opened and running. You can follow this link to see what they have: http://promenadeatupperdublin.com/retail/.

 

We start looking for a store there and found few. Guarded by my husband and Gabe we took a trip to see them. The one that we originally wanted to see ended up being too small, but a few doors down we found another one which was a great size. Everything is very complicated in Promenade. Ah, I just realized I never told you the name. But now you know. The whole place is called PROMINADE AT UPPER DUBLIN. I know that area well, because my hairdresser works just across the street. So, as I said everything is very complicated there. You need to write a proposal first, provide all documents they required and then you can start the negotiation process.

 

The pros are that it is a brand-new place, in a respective neighborhood, and everyone in the area is always waiting to see what new is happening in Prominade. You practically do not need an advertisement there.

The cons are also in place: the Promenade belongs to ‘Toll Brothers’ and they have a million requirements for their tenants. All that time we were dealing with them, I felt myself being under the microscope. We had to provide them with so many documents I don’t even think I did so many for US Citizenship process. And the biggest issue was of course MONEY. My husband calculated that for a first year our rent payment will be around $100,000. At the final point of our negotiation, when their realtor told us that the store was probably not available anymore because some very reputable corporation want to rent it, but we still can rent the smaller place. Our ego started to play games with the brain and told us to go and look for another place. So, we did.

 

So as not to expand my story for another 20 pages, we finally found it. It was a boutique which closed when Covid first started, and the owner decided to retire. The place didn’t work for 3 years and of course needed a renovation. The best thing about this location is that it’s only six minutes’ drive from my home. It was my initial requirement to be close to home. I drove so much throughout my life that I didn’t want to do it anymore.

We reached an agreement with the owner very fast and within a week started remodeling. The good part that we didn’t have to remove any walls, but because that store was established almost 15 years ago, everything was outdated starting with carpet and ending with any furniture which was there. In addition, I want it to be my taste not someone else, and of course I decided to completely change it.

I picked my colors: navy blue and gold, I decided to order two small couches one in gold and the other one in blue and few chairs in the same colors along with a coffee table. I am planning to buy a good coffee maker in European style to be able to prepare espresso, cappuccino and some other drinks.  I think I want to always have some baking goods on the coffee table for my clients.

Of course, I will buy all new clothing racks, mannequins, and other pieces I need to complete my store. So far, I got two pictures to share of what’s going on right now.

 

 STORE AFTER DEMOLITION.

 

 PICTURE OF MY FRONT YARD.

 Now I’m working on POS system (the system that allow you to process purchase, keep track of the inventory, have a data base of my customer and so much more). I have called to few companies today and scheduled some phone appointments to get information about the system they sell. I plan to decide by the end of this week which one I will choose because I got to start entering inventory which already taking a whole room in my house.

 I think I overwhelmed you today with the tone of information and that you are probably tired of me. I will continue in few days when I’ll have more details and pictures of my endeavors.