Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Long time coming

It's been a long time since we announced in August that we'll be moving.
A very long time.

This process has been an enlightening experience for me. I've learned that things take a lot longer than you expect to get done. I've learned that when someone tells you it will be ready on Monday, you should expect Friday. I've learned that there's a lot of decisions that need to be made, things to line up, and schedules to follow.

The good thing is, we've started work in the new space, and will be opening in January.
Initially, we had planned on opening in December. That date became less and less likely as we moved into September. We were still finalizing our layout, which we needed to get our engineering drawings done, so we could submit for our permit. By the time all of that was finished, we were pushing into November, and the space wasn't getting done in a month.

The other thing that impacted our opening date is the city's construction on Wellington St. That is a 100 year type of construction project. They were replacing all of the sewers, burying power lines, telecommunication lines, ect. The project was delayed in starting this year because of the cold winter and spring, leaving the ground frozen longer than expected. They expected it to be done November 30th, but that's with everything going smoothly. Last week I heard a date of December 8th for the road to open again. I expect things to open up that week, so the plaza should be ready to go.

That being said, I don't want to shut down for a few days before Christmas to move. As much as I want to be in the new space, we had always planned on being December 1st, or after the holidays.

For now, we wait. Construction has started on the new space. They've got a lot of work done so far. Ideal scenario, the construction is done before Christmas, we get city inspectors to sign off on the space, and we can move in for the start of the new year. If not, we should be able to line things up and get moved in not long after that.

Either way, it's a relief to see progress in the new store, and to see the plaza almost done. I'll feel a lot better when we have the keys, and everything moved in!

Here's a picture of the construction on Saturday. The back room, change rooms, bathroom, and office are all framed out, duct work mostly run, and a fair amount of the electrical run. Still a lot of work to do, but it's exciting to see things getting done!


Here's the layout for the new store. To the left is Gordon St, and to the right is the parking lot. This will give you an idea of what the space will look like when we're all done!


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