The Market on Main: A soft opening

 We ran across this saying,

if you think our hands are full, you should see our hearts.

I am not sure that there is a more fitting way to sum up this season of our lives. The Market on Main is shaping up nicely and we are really, really happy and very thankful for all of the help and encouragement.

It is also fair to say that we have a ton going on right now - Jeremy is coaching basketball, he has to take classes to recertify for teaching, custom orders are rolling in for the holidays, my work schedule is about the same as usual, and we have some health stuff for us and family members that has been keeping us on our toes.

So, our hands are full!

Despite it all, we had some great help from family to set up The Market. We had the chance to unpack our trailer and some of the other storage locations where we have been tucking away inventory for the past few months. Everything needed a really good cleaning and then we had the fun of trying to find everything we had packed. The good news - we have some awesome stuff! The bad news - we are still digging out items and trying to find some of our fall and holiday items. It's a daily exercise in discovery and often some declaration of, "where the heck did we put that!?"

 Things are coming together! We have some great things that we are excited to share and have had some fun shopping with some friends and other small business owners.

 A constant work in progress, but we are finding some great things that we have been collecting.

The grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, November 26. We had a soft opening on November 5 to just get some people into the space and to try out our set up.

The best part of what we do is getting to hang out with family and friends. Jeremy's siblings surprised him for the soft opening!

The Market on Main: Phase One Update

 This project has come a long way!

Phase one has been both a marathon and a sprint with us often wishing things would move faster so we could get set up and then wishing things could slow down so we could make decisions and get a better grasp on all the options. We often would drive up to the building when we both got home from our respective activities and then shine the headlights on whatever progress we could see.

So, we are almost there! The concrete floor is just what we hoped. It has some variation in color and it is easy to clean. Electrical is coming along and geothermal is almost installed. But, we are complete enough to open the doors and had a soft opening on November 5. Jeremy worked it solo because of my work commitments and he loved seeing so many friends and family. It was fun to be able to show off the space and we were thankful that it was warm enough that heat was not required.

 Since this photo was taken, the supports have been wrapped in cedar.

 

The front windows have been wrapped. The natural light from these windows has to be one of my favorite things about the space.

We also have installed black pipe handrails to help keep guests from stepping off of the ledges around the ramp at the back of the space. It was a simple, industrial looking solution for the safety concern we had about the drop down.

 The geothermal unit looks a bit space age! Jeremy sent photos to me and I was sure it was a situation where maybe I had the proportion wrong or was confused about the set up. But, no, these components are pretty impressive. We look forward to having everything connected and running before the cold temperatures hit.

 Part of the reason the geothermal installation has been delayed is because we have a huge water table under our property. When the crew was drilling the wells, they ran into water - a lot of water. We essentially have a mud pit in the backyard. Jeremy keeps reminding me that we now have a blank slate for landscaping this spring. Until then, we are thankful for the plastic barriers that are keeping most of the mud in our yard and not in our neighbor's yard or the alley. And for the bit that is escaping, we are thankful for some grace.  Maybe by spring, we can make something beautiful grow in this space?

And, the windows! We wanted something that gave nod to the original windows and would be energy efficient and low maintenance. We are so very happy with this solution that honored that beautiful arch of the original design.

There is much, much more that has happened. For instance, we have a bathroom! More soon!