Company Girl Coffee - Store Update

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." Jim Elliot

This is a favorite quote of my friend Melodi.  It's very appropriate in this season of my life, as I am going through transition.  It is sometimes hard to be all here when our new life is being built in another town.  It is strange to think that in less than a few months this home, and this city will be our past.  Still, for now, I need to be ALL HERE. So that is what I intend to do until God closes this chapter of our lives. 

With that being said, here is a little "sneak peak" at what God is writing into the pages of the next chapter of our lives.

We named the store "Dollar Plus."  There will be an entire section of the store off to the side that will sell larger items at a discounted price.  Think overstock.  Throughout the rest of the store items will be sold for $1.00, $1.25, or $1.50.  It's our own unique design.  There is a lot of buzz and excitement going on around town about it.  Our sign is up and under it is a sign that says "Coming Soon."

My husband attended a conference in Las Vegas at the beginning of this month that was so big it had to be held in two separate locations.  He walked for miles and miles as he searched for the right vendors to fill our store with the perfect product.  I hear that my Father in Law was quite impressed at his ability to barter down a price tag!

After four days of doing that, he came home to us for a spell and put my daughter to work reading numbers to him so he could enter them into the computer. In preparation to make a toy order, he handed all the kids catalogs and highlighters and told them to mark toys that they would like to see in the store.  They really loved that!

Before very long, it was time for him to head to Walla Walla again, to work on the building and begin interviews to hire a staff.  Floors were shined up and fresh paint applied. The next step was to install the point of sale desk.  I can tell you from experience that the hand-crafted, U-shaped station is very heavy!  They got it in place though, with cash registers and computers ready to be networked. 

He ended up hiring a small crew with plenty of experience, two of which worked for the former Dollar Store in town.  Once the shelves arrived, he and the crew proceeded to complete the task of setting up, cleaning up, and arranging the shelves for the next few days.  This proved to be more difficult than first imagined, so he hired two extras in town to get it done more quickly.

During this time the first shipment of product arrived so he put a couple of the girls to work setting up our first official display - jewelry.  At week's end, he told everyone to come back on Tuesday (when more product was scheduled to arrive) and he came home to us.

The kids and I soak up every minute we get with him these days.  It's hard on all of us to be away from him, even for short periods of time.  He loves us so much and over the years I have appreciated his drive to work hard so that I can stay home with the kids.  We are excited to go out over Spring Break and see the store coming to life.

This week the network guy came in and got the computers all talking to each other and my husband began the process of entering product into the computer, one item at a time.  It took an entire day to scan in just kitchen items, but after a lot of hard work and some fiddling with the program, he succeeded!  We can officially scan and sell any kitchen item in our store! :)

There is much more ahead of us.  Some of it will be routine set-up, and then there will also be the unexpected bumps along the way.  I'm sure glad my husband is a strategist.  He is not the kind to give up in the face of adversity.  I know that he will continue to press on until the doors are ready to open.

And what a grand opening it will be!

I'm looking forward to it.  But until then, I am here.  This is home sweet home, where I will continue to "live to the hilt," as Jim Elliot so wonderfully puts it.  I'm holding back nothing, making the most of every day.

Have a great weekend all!
~Melissa