A whole year has gone by since I posted to the blog. It isn't because I didn't have anything to say, no just the opposite....I just did all my "saying" in person not in cyberspace.
Many exciting things have been happening around here!
All summer we looked for a building to house Club Vintage Fashions....a dream of a brick & mortar store had been in our minds for quite some time. We found a grand old beauty, built right around 1900 practically under our noses, but boy oh boy did she have some problems. But for all of her problems she had great bones, she deserved another chance to shine!
Downtown Clio, circa 1930...our building is the 4th from the left
We signed on the dotted line in mid-October and immediately the work began. The basement had been flooded with dirt....and more dirt.....and more dirt. Bucket by bucket it was carried up the fun house stairs that lean a little left of center. When it was finally done a 10 yard dumpster was so full of dirt that the trailer it was on had flat tires. Thanks to the bucket brigade of family & friends who trudged up those precarious stairs over & over again!
In the meantime, carpet was torn up, walls were washed and washed again to carry away years of grime and dirt. Then came the twenty new windows upstairs. The boarded up windows were gone and so were the birds that thought the broken, ill-fitting old windows were an open invitation to come on in and make yourselves at home, there was light! The upstairs was once home to three apartments but that was many eons ago as evidenced by the layers and layers of wallpaper clinging to the walls and ceilings. There is no electricity, heat, plumbing or running water up there but that will all be rectified in time...lots of time.
Last week new windows arrived for the windows downstairs, wow what a difference they made! We also have a new furnace, new ceiling tiles and an area all set up for taking pictures for the web shop. We have more updates planned but they will have to wait until spring & summer as Michigan weather is not conducive to outdoor work in the winter.
Now that the windows are in, the new carpet is coming tomorrow. Then the real fun begins as we fill the shop with all of the vintage clothes we have been saving for years just for this occasion. We have traveled the country buying the best vintage fashions for the ladies, the boys and the kiddos. I can't wait to set it all up!
The last big step before this becomes my daily reality is my retirement from the high school that I have worked at for the last fifteen years. Friday is my last day of work there and it will be sad to leave but exciting to take the next step in this wonderful adventure. If you ever get to Clio, Michigan come look us up at 131 W Vienna Road to browse the vintage fashions and other goodies!
