Catskills Weekend

looking down the driveway

My weekend was mostly work--cleaning out the store.

 Many things to the thrift store, others to sell on Etsy, to keep, to give as gifts. 

 But there were autumn leaves, everywhere.

Morning coffee by the waterfall.

A visit to a customer to see the soapstone counters in her kitchen. 

This magnificent barn is on her property.

Her charming yellow farmhouse in the distance.

Her pond, thick with water lilies,

 where she holds skating parties in the winter.

Why the sudden interest in soapstone? I'm saying goodbye to the world's ugliest kitchen. Every surface covered with laminate the color of Silly Putty. Tiles the color of Silly Putty, walls and molding the color of Silly Putty. After ten years of this (granted, only on weekends) we are treating ourselves to a new kitchen.

Soon the hammock will come down, and winter will be in sight. 

                                          Autumn

     The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,

     as if orchards were dying high in space.

     Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no".

     And tonight the heavy earth is falling,

     away from all the other stars in the loneliness.

     We're all falling. This hand here is falling.

     And look at the other one ... It's in them all.

     And yet there is Someone, whose hands

     infinitely calm, hold up all this falling.

                               -Rainier Marie Rilke (translated by Robert Bly)

please come upstairs!

I'm back from South Carolina and itching to get up to the Catskills. Not going until Friday morning but I'm already packing the car. I have some gorgeous vintage quilts.

Jigsaw puzzles for children and adults, stuffed birds (from Audubon that make genuine appropriate bird calls when you squeeze them), seed bombs, vintage odds and ends.

Somehow, I have to get more people to come upstairs to the store. (If you're new here, the store is in a big old mercantile, divided into smaller stores. I share the second floor with an art gallery and a home furnishings/accessories store.) I have put up more signs, but we still don't get nearly as much foot traffic as downstairs. There is a space downstairs coming up for rent, but the rent is so much higher I don't think I should do it. I will advertise more, put up more signs and just try to make it the best store I can. And hope that people find it. What would it take to get you upstairs? Chocolate chip cookies?

is it periwinkle, violet or lavender?

Apparently I had a bee in my bonnet when I got to the store Friday. It was the start of a holiday weekend and a week when many schools are closed for winter break a/k/a Ski Week, and thus a time when people would come to the Catskills to ski and shop. No store owner in their right mind would close their store at such a time. And then there's me. I know I wore you out with paint colors and store inspiration and crises of confidence and this and that, and my plan was to freshen up the store in the dead of March or the mud of April, not Ski Week. But I walked in the store Friday and thought, "I hate this place" and moved everything somewhere else and hung newsprint over the windows and went to the hardware store. What happened then?

I'm pretty sure the words periwinkle, lavender and violet were not mentioned when we discussed what color(s) I should paint the store. But that's what happened to one wall plus that little window wall.

I'll save details for another post,

but I am happy with the results.

And don't the girls look nice together?

keeping it simple (in the store)

The Cash Register

Calculator, drawer with metal box for bills, quarters, dimes and nickels; half of an earring box for pennies. One dollar bills get a designated envelope.

The Credit Card Machine

I call them in. The old fashioned way. It would be really old fashioned if I didn't accept credit cards. (Or have a phone or calculator. I guess there are degrees of old-fashionedness.)

The Sales Desk (my view)

If I had a computerized cash register and bar codes and such this would be the POS a/k/a Point of Sale.

The Sales Desk (your view)

Vintage bird, bear from the artisans guild downstairs, pinecone from the forest, plate for business cards, teacup for fake tattoos. There's a chair you can sit in too, if you want to talk to me, or even if you don't.

Accounting and Inventory

File folders and composition books.

 So now you know all my business secrets. 

Remember the sign I was hounding you about? Here's the final design:

It will be cream with dark green lettering, and an orange trim line. Nick, the sign guy, says it should be ready by Christmas. Of course I'll take a picture for you then.

motivation and amusement

So last week when I was obsessing about vignettes, I had a secret motivation...trying to inspire myself to try something new in the Etsy store. Calling them instant vignettes.

And for the store store, I am amusing myself by working on little stories (if a couple of sentences can be a story) to go with furniture I am trying to sell. This was inspired by a comment Mise made. Perhaps her name should be Muse. More on this (little stories, not Mise/Muse) another day. Tomorrow I'm getting up early and going to the Catskills. I want to have the store open Fridays on a regular basis. Most of my customers are weekenders, but when I'm there on Fridays I sometimes have people come in who work nearby, which is really nice.

quick sign update

'Cause I know that's all you've been thinking about. Met Nick the sign guy today about a sign for the front of the building and showed him all of the ideas we (that's you and me friends) came up with. I said I was worried people wouldn't know what kind of store it is, and that we all agree that antique sounds too fuddy duddy/granny/expensive. And he looked around and said how about vintage. And I explained that for some reason when I say I sell vintage people think of vintage clothes. And Nick said how about vintage decor? Well, now isn't that genius? I mean the store has antique and vintage and new, but if I only had two words to describe the vibe those would be them. Why didn't I think of that?

So we're thinking cream background, orange trim line, dark green letters and a pine branch with a pine cone. And these words:

Country Weekend

vintage decor

rustic ~ whimsical ~ lovely

What do you think?

Thanks for all the brainstorming you did with me. (See last post's comments if you missed it.) I have some ideas for flyers and posters and ads that I'm going to incorporate some of your ideas in. You guys are the best. Have a great weekend.


edited Wed. to add: Now I'm thinking about:
               
  Country Weekend

        Vintage

   decor & more

(Not that font or size proportion. Remember, this will be on the 2nd floor, exterior of the building for people who drive and walk by. I hope using the colors and design will also signal "fun" and "nature". I'll keep you updated.) 

Jen

store notes, and I need your help

Those racy potholders were a huge hit. I sold 38 last weekend! (One person bought 10). The Farm Anatomy books have done very well too--one woman told me that she loves it so much she only allows herself to read one page a day! Last weekend was my best ever--and it was a record weekend for most of the stores in town. People really turned out to support local businesses. And let me tell you it was a badly needed boost. We also had a lot going on to get people to town, especially since the supermarket is still closed--caroling, Santa, tree lighting, crafts for children, etc. We Main Street merchants have formed an ad hoc group to make the town more appealing since much of it is still closed down from flood damage.

But i need to get more people in the building where my store is, and upstairs. I'm getting more signs made and need your opinion. 3/4 of what I sell is antique or vintage, but I also carry new nature-related items. Anyway, I'm getting a big sign made to put outside on the front of the building.

The sign will be on the upper level. Some combination of cream, brown and green.

Should it say Country Weekend Antiques or Country Weekend Antiques, etc. or Country Weekend, Antiques & more ? I am going to have something painted on it that will signal nature. Maybe my logo if the sign maker can do it.

Or a pine tree or pinecone or vine.

*(editing to add, in response to the first 3 comments)
I will have to ask the sign maker how many words can go on and still be legible from the street. The building is at a T intersection, at the top of the stem of the T, so there are 3 directions that walkers and drivers will see it from. I agree that the word antiques conjures up a stuffier kind of store than mine. I am trying to come up with a few descriptive words. On my business cards and in ads I have tried these combinations:
rustic ~ whimsical ~ lovely
rustic ~ whimsical ~ useful
nature & history
antique, vintage, and nature-related goods
Inspired by our setting in the Catskills.


In the same building is a store called Home Goods and one called MGerard Country Home, so I am reluctant to use the word home. I've thought about using the words and phrases cottage, cabin, farmhouse. Somewhere I put for you and your cabin, cottage, or farmhouse (real or imaginary).

I guess I'm looking for 2 things. What to put on the outside sign and a short slogan to use on advertisements. The sign is the harder one, since it's permanent. What would make you go in the building and upstairs?

in Italy, thinking about the store

                                                           in the village of Rocca Grimalda

I have been thinking about my store and particularly the name Country Weekend. When planning, I devoted a lot of time to the name, leaning toward something to do with nature, especially a bird name--perhaps Bluebird, the New York State bird, or Mockingbird because it was the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. However there are an abundance of stores with bird and bird-related names and I wanted to do something different. 

                             view from Yuri and Vera's house, Rocca Grimalda

My husband and I always refer to going to our house in the Catskills as going to the country. Saying that gives me a particular sense of anticipation--a blend of the smell of woodsmoke, the sound of the brook, bright stars, crisp air... I wanted to find a way to convey that in my name for the store--I knew that most of my customers would be weekenders. I don't think I was particularly successful. It's too long (I figured that out when having signs made), and it doesn't signal what kind of business it is. Is it a travel agency perhaps?

above: closeup of tiles from the roof below, on a building at the dairy farm in Rossiglione.

I've thought about changing the name. I'm probably going to close for a while this winter, freshen things up, so I could do it them. Maybe call it Fern & Moss or Forest. Or something clever. But I have my logo, my business cards, my signs, and it could be confusing to my present customers. So I will stay with it and make the best of it.

Outdoor wood-burning oven at Yuri and Vera's. 

Tonight for dinner we had pizza, lasagna and chicken all baked in this oven, and yes the lasagna noodles were hand-made and practically melted in my mouth. I am finding the country weekend state of mind in abundance here in Italy and hope that I will find new ways of thinking about my store, and my life, while I am here. 

wanted: summer shack

I like the way the topmost impatien appears to be looking out of my kitchen window. I'm starting to say goodbye to summer, as the word frost came up in yesterday's weather forecast.

Word's getting around that I'm closing the store at the end of the year, and I had quite a few visits this weekend from people who were sad about it. Some customers, but a surprising amount of other store owners. Lots of commiserating and brainstorming. I've figured out a few things.

1. Close the store when the waterfall turns to icicles.

Bearing in mind that it is a labor of love (meaning I'm not doing it to make money, but can't lose money) and that my weekday life is 240 miles away, if I reopen, I want it to be seasonal--May or June to November or December. 

2. Consider focusing almost exclusively on vintage art--my favorite thing to find, buy, and sell. 

3. I need to be enthusiastic and inspired. I'm not going to force this. Close the store at the end of the year. Go to auctions and pick up fun, inexpensive art and other things that make my heart flutter. Maybe reopen next summer if I can find a cheap summer shack with plenty of wall space. 

What do you think of this picture? It's a photograph of what looks to be a porcelain doll. Her expression is so poignant and lovely. She looks like a ballerina. I'm not a doll person, but find this picture moving. It's large--the frame is 23" x 30", which gives it power. She's semi-neglected, leaning against a wall in my foyer, auction sticker still on. Moved to the chair for me to take the picture, then back to the floor. Haven't taken her to the store because she doesn't quite fit. Or maybe I don't want to give her up?

last weekend, in the store

I thought you might be interested in what I sold.

2 antique cane seat chairs (not a matching pair).

1 vintage blue wooden chair

(I sell a lot of single chairs.)

1 field bag. (The dark pink/light red one with the black bird on it.) 

Field bags sell well--they are the perfect size for sketchbooks, laptops and field guides.

4 small vases. Handmade, and popular at $5 each.

4 balsam pillows. When I open the door to the store it smells like a pine forest (or a Christmas tree).

4 tea towels. 

2 Mincing Mockingbird books.

1 blackbird flag

1 small wooden bird

1 vintage game-- "Pit"

2 chalkware birds signed and dated 1959.

1 vintage landscape painting

4 vintage little Golden field guides.

1 antique barbed wire collection

1 large antique clay jug

1 postcard

On hold until next weekend: 1 pillow cover and an antique oak mission style library table.

It was (by my modest expectations) a good weekend.

the store, stepping back (and a giveaway)

I opened the Country Weekend store 6 months ago, in October. It was a very impulsive thing to do. And I have not been there for the past 4 weeks! I was worn down by the long drive, the constant snow and ice, moving stuff from my car to the second floor, and slooow sales (now I know why so many stores there close in winter). Fortunately Harriet watches the store when I can't be there, so I visited family in Vermont and New Jersey, got the Etsy store going, and did a little reflecting on how this started.

•  In June, I started thinking about taking a space in an antiques cooperative.
• In July I looked at the store I'm now in, which my friends were vacating as they moved to a bigger store in the same building. It was 535 square feet for $400 a month, heat included--a bargain, so close to New York City. In a small town in the Catskills where we have a weekend house, but 240 miles from my primary residence. Inside an old mercantile, divided into several shops.
• In August I said why not? I signed a lease that would become effective in September, and started going to auctions and filling up the garage.

I thought up a name, got liability insurance, found someone to make signs (more on her later), called the electric and phone company, worked on a logo, and oh so much more. I opened Columbus Day Weekend.

I went up almost every weekend from September to January and spent a full week there in October. There is not a more beautiful place to spend autumn. Not exactly a hardship post. This is what I look at when I have my morning coffee.

Sales were great through Christmas. People loved it and I had a lot of fun. Then winter hit hard. It started snowing and it seems like it didn't stop until about two weeks ago. But now it's spring, even in New England and upstate New York, and I am looking forward to going back this weekend.

I have made new friends in the store and because of the store. One of them is Lisa, who made my signs.

I bought a couple of her signs for myself before I even thought about the store. You can see the Cottage one at the back of the above display. I loved her work, so when I was planning the store I contacted her and she made all the signs for me.

Outside the store.

And on the front and back staircases.

Lisa is super-talented, creative and energetic.  In addition to signs, she paints and upcycles furniture and decorative items. She sells some of them in her Etsy store, Serendipity Chic Decor.  She has a wonderful blog, Serendipity Chic Design where she offers tutorials on the things she makes. She's very generous with sharing her expertise and has built a huge following in a short time. She also has a great sense of humor and a lovely family whose adventures she shares occasionally. If you hop over to her post you will see she is featuring my stores and blog and hosting a giveaway from me this week. She has been very supportive of my various endeavors and I really appreciate it.

Jen