a new journey begins

Today was it - the very last day. We went over to the store this evening and I ran the vacuum for the last time, put the brass cover on the floor outlet and said goodbye with a tear in my eye. The rooms are empty, the sconces and pendants have been taken down and the phone and alarm have been disconnected. You'd never know how great it looked unless you had a picture like this:

Having the business has been a wonderful, exciting adventure for me. And as I keep telling myself, I haven't closed the business, I've just closed the store. The adventure will continue, just in a different setting. You'll find a new store, an online store, on our website in the spring. Come along with us on that new journey...and remember the good times on Main Street.

terra cotta warriors

It's been a busy week since we closed the shop's doors last Saturday.


On Sunday, several different groups of local merchants came in to pick up their chosen items: bookcases, tables, chairs, lamps, custom shadow box cases. The room looked pretty naked after they left, but there was still jewelry on the wall shelves and locked in the floor cases. Then it was time to organize the joolz.


All the consignment jewelry had to been inventoried and taken out of QuickBooks for return to its owners. All the wholesale jewelry had to be inventoried and put back in the safe. Believe it or not, the work on the consignment items took several days of computer input and relabeling, finished off with mailing to out of town artists and personal delivery to Rochester area artists. The last box goes out today.


Then I was able to see all the display busts and other black velvet pieces more clearly. In order to count each type, for posting on Craigslist, I organized them by size and lined them up. Doesn't this shot of the big busts remind you of pictures of the Chinese terra cotta warriors?


Yesterday, in clear weather with no snow on the ground, the safe was moved without incident. Remember last time? One day like that was enough. One of the moving company workers injured himself while moving the safe and had to be transported to the hospital. No ED visits this time, thank goodness.




Now all that remains is some more clean out and a final sweep through with the vacuum cleaner. Will the warriors be watching from the top of the case, or will I have stuffed them all into a big plastic bag for the ride home?

before and after

Here we go - before and after pix. Thanks to the guys at Cutri Construction for another excellent job!

Had to build a wall for an office in the back

Moving the safe was a story in itself...

AND HERE IS THE FINAL RESULT OF EVERYONE'S HARD WORK:

Amen!

ready...set...GO!

April 6th is finally here! (and it's raining in Canandaigua). The last week has been one long blur of meeting with several local artists, receiving new inventory, entering it all into the computer, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...and then 12 hours yesterday of setting everything up on the wall displays and in the cases. Despite my exhaustion, I do think it looks pretty fabulous, and comments from sneak-peek visitors seem to confirm that. Come see for yourself! As of 10am this morning, JOOLZ is open for business at 112 South Main Street.

PS I'll post before/after pix after I've had a little nap.

last chance

Last chance to get in on the JOOLZ 15% off storewide sale - Saturday is our last day at the old location and then it's time to pack it up and move up the street.

While it's not even a tenth of a mile away, it feels like we're moving to California. Finish the reno, move the phone lines, move the alarm system, pack it all up and then unpack it all again. I'm pooped just thinking about it.

We reopen at the new location on Tuesday, April 6. Updates forthcoming...

the home stretch

It's been a whirlwind month of decision-making and it's certainly paying off. The new space is looking absolutely gorgeous - clean, graphic black and white paint on the walls and trim, a gigundo mirror on the long wall with two new sparkling pendants hanging in front (to be centered over a new showcase that hasn't arrived yet), electric connections waiting for the shadowbox cases on the new back wall and new track lighting to shine on the bookcases and (new) wall shelves. The finishing touch goes in today - yards and yards of new grey carpeting to pull it all together.

We had our best January yet. Does that mean we're finally seeing an economic upswing? Or does it mean that everyone likes a bargain? Our storewide sale continues through Saturday, February 13, when we will close the doors at 237 South Main for the last time. We're definitely on the home stretch!

moving update

I'm down to about 4 hours of sleep a night. There's just so much to think about, decisions to be made and coordination of everything involved with moving the store from here to there. The countdown has definitely begun...

The contractor's already at work and making good progress: the new demising wall is up, electrical is roughed in, trim is almost all up, work has begun on the display window, the new doors and black ceiling tiles have been ordered. Carpeting estimates are coming in, the new alarm system has been ordered and the moving guys have been lined up. Little snafus like the wrong mirror being delivered and an ugly rug having to be returned are just blips on the radar. Even my appearance before the City Planning Commission for the new sign's approval went smoothly last night.

It's all good and the talk on the street about our impending move is good, too. And we just learned yesterday that a great framing shop/art gallery is also moving down the street to a more visible location. Seems we've started a moving "movement." Come April, Main Street is going to look a little different...in a good way!

big news...big sale

Tonight it's goodbye 2009...hello 2010.

Behind the scenes, we've been hard at work preparing for some big changes in 2010:

JOOLZ will be moving up South Main Street to #112 in the spring. (For those of you familiar with downtown Canandaigua, that's the old Garlock's Business Supply location, right between Expressions in Needleart and Liberty Cottage).

The opportunity came along to move to a more centrally-located spot in the downtown retail mix and after several months of negotiations, we were able to make that happen. While we're sad to be leaving our current landlord, who has been wonderful to work with, we're looking forward to being right in the middle of all the downtown action. Construction work is already underway - the store design will be very similar to the current store - just a little bigger and more display space.

But we need to lighten the load for the move, so we're happy to announce the first (and probably only)

JOOLZ MOVING SALE

15% OFF EVERYTHING!

JANUARY 5, 2010 - FEBRUARY 13, 2010

(may not be combined with other discounts)

Happy New Year, everyone!