A Little History and a Grand Opening

     Alex ( the husband) and I have always wanted to own our own business. We are level headed for the most part and to be perfectly honest we love the idea of being self sustaining on all levels. OK, so I don't want to sheer my own goats, I have my friends over at Paperella Farms for that stuff.

We both have great jobs and don't plan on giving those up, but it's nice to have a little extra income. I work from home for a fantastic law office and have the exceptional luck and blessings of being able to work from anywhere. Thus a thrift store is the perfect place where I can do my other work. It's like a double stuffed  entrepreneur Oreo.

     Alex works in restaurants and has always wanted to run his own. However, a restaurant is one of the most expensive endeavors one can pursue, but a thrift store, oh that is different.   Our hope is that one day we can take from Hartman 5 (<---our official company name) and create other business opportunities for ourselves.

     We've done the low income thing and it just ain't working for us. Call me a capitalist, call me opportunistic but most importantly call me a patriot. I am not saying that this endeavor will be successful  but it has a much greater chance at success than not trying anything and I'm happy to live in a place (not the only place, I know), in which I am allowed to more up from one rung of the social ladder to another.

     So here we are kids, and I'd like to take you through the process of setting up the store. It took us six weeks, six sheets and two pints of paint. Lost of traveling, hauling, sweating, crying and children with muck all over them and ring pops stuck in their hair. I fed my 8 month old son bacon and cheddar crackers so I could set him down long enough to work....Oh yes, I did.

So here we go. This is the story of how this:

Turned into this

And then this

It's about how two people worked really hard to take something that seemed bottom rung

Das husband-Cute!

 Packed it full of crap

Stuffed in some more crap

And somehow made this

     When we look at things, we often tend to only see the negative. We are too swift to declare things ruined or unusable. My motto, even as a small child, was "everything is fixable"....and I mean everything. This can be a great lesson about people too. Sometimes the young couple who got married at 21-- a month before their first son was born--will be the ones with the marriage to last (Eleven years this February and two more kids as well).

     Sometimes the people who didn't do what they were supposed to after high school ( I was a 30-year-old college graduate, and the hubs never needed to go. The man is a self taught encyclopedia), can be the ones who have the best attitudes and ideas. We can take just about anything that is old and messy...

...throw a few sheets on it...

Add some blankets and safety pins...

And really pull things together.


So have faith in yourself, kids, and remember that almost nothing is ruined beyond repair. Ones man's trash is another man's treasure. Things don't have to be perfect. Sometimes a card board box will get the job done.

I had many many fantastic customers today. The community came out supported me and made us feel welcome. I hope I am still writing this blog about our little thrift store for years to come. And even if it does not work out, we know we tried and we know we were brave and you can't fault a body for that.