New Location

[Evan Bertwell]

After 23 years in our current location we are moving to greener pastures. We signed the lease yesterday at our new location. We will have an actual store front, on a sidewalk, with display windows and everything. It's prime like rib.
I was 14 when I helped my parents move to this location and we will miss it. We have allot of memories here but, it's time to go.
The new place is smaller than the one we are in and is not without it's drawbacks, but the pros far out way the cons. It's a year round community that also has the benefit of being close to the beach and touristy in the summer.
We pick up the keys on Monday and will begin the task of making it into a top notch frame shop. Oh yea, I'm psyched.

 

[John Ranes II CPF GCF]

Best wishes...

Evan,

Congratulations on the move! Change is a part of life...even business life. We moved in 2009 after 31 years in the same location. I look back now and it feels like ancient history.

How big is the new location in comparison to where you are now?

How much time will you have to refurbish, etc., before departing the old location?

What will be the biggest changes in the new location Vs. the old...obviously the front windows and display will be new. BTW - do check out the sun direction, heat and light concerns. When we moved in 2009, we ended up adding $5K worth of awnings that were NOT in the original plans. It worked out great, but just a surprise as we got settled into the new place.

Best wishes and be sure to get all those other NE Chapter members to come over and help with the move!

John

 

[Evan Bertwell]

Thanks John,
The new place is 1000 sq. feet. We are in 1300 now, so it's a little smaller. We want to get in as fast as possible to avoid paying rent in 2 locations. It does need some work, but nothing too major......I think.
As far as lighting goes we are bringing in a lighting specialist and also, an interior designer to pick both of their brains for ideas. Obviously, we want it to look as pleasing as possible. The windows face east so we will get the morning sun.
And, the biggest changes will be our ability to sell something besides framing. I don't know what we will carry yet but I look forward to making some sales on non framing items. Another thing will be visualization software. We recently went to Get the Picture (the corner's own Mike Labbe and Andy Langlois) to look at software offered by lifesaver and loved it. That's gonna be cool.
I'm really looking forward to trying out new things and figuring out what works and what doesn't. It's gonna be fun, and a little tiring. All in all. I can't wait. We had decided to start looking for a better location after we got back from the WCAF earlier this year. We had a few spots fall through, one that we were sure we had, then lost, but none as centrally located on Main St. as this one. I'll be posting pictures of the progress.

 

[Kai Vanuffelen]

All the best with your new location Evan.
Will you be selling artwork as well? We are in the process of opening a framing shop within the next two weeks and initially I was not keen on selling artwork on commission or buying straight from an artist. I prefered to concentrate upon framing, thinking that artists can sell their own work.

My wife was keen on selling artwork and having contact with artists. It tends to draw customers into the shop who are browsing and making them do impulsive buying. Then an etching or poster needs framing. We buy prints wholesale, double the price, not much work is involved and sell them.

Our shop has fluorescent lighting, which tends to make artwork greener than with incandescent lighting. We can buy ultraviolet protective sleeves for the tubes, but have not done so yet. $150 for ten sleeves.

We have some difficulty sourcing oval, round etc. frames in real timber. We found some in oak and rimu, but walnut with a gold lip seem only available in mdf.
Closed corner frames we can only source from Britain and the US making the cost of freight high.

 

[Evan Bertwell]

Kai,
I'm sure we will be offering some art for sale. I'm not sure how much. Once we get in there and see exactly how everything falls into place it will be easier to determine how much variety we carry. 1000 sq. feet looks much bigger when there's nothing in the room. My basic plan is to try allot of different ideas on a small scale and go from there.

 

[Jim Miller MCPF GCF]

We just moved our shop a couple of months ago to a 1450 square-foot space not far from our previous location. It has been a smooth transition, but the actual move was a brutal task, and we are going to be reorganizing for months. I hope your move goes well.

In 24 years of operating the business, we have accumulated lots of equipment and materials we simply do not need. Like so many others, I have a packrat mindset. Several pieces of surplus equipment have been sold and I'm considering selling a few more. At the time we moved, we almost filled a 4 cubic-yard dumpster with pieces of matboard and other framing boards. On shelves and in boxes, we found things that we had not seen in years.