We’ve Expanded!!
We have FINALLY finished our big expansion at the store, and I’m ready to tell you all about it!! The good, the bad, the insanity, the thrill! Lol. While we’ve still got a few finishing touches to knock out, we’ve officially got our desks set up, new products out, and are able to fully experience how big of a difference it is making already! Take a peek below to learn all about the process we had to go through, and why we chose to take on this adventure!
The Reasoning
We wanted to expand the store so that we could handle more clients! We needed a dedicated meeting space that offered more privacy than our old, in-front-of-God-and-everybody set up. If we wanted to hire any junior designers, they’d have nowhere to sit. If we wanted more samples to show materials, we would’ve busted at the seams! We also really loved the idea of having more natural light in our workspace. Finally, we love retail and the retail experience and wanted to be able to show potential clients examples of what we can do!
The Timeline
The timeline for expanding the store was, in a word, glacial. We met with our landlord and agreed to an expansion deal in August of 2020. Yes, you read that right! We wrote verses on the walls with our family and employees to kick off construction in April of 2021 because our plans were finally submitted to the city of Southlake! Woohoo! Then we hit a brick wall—to water fountain or not to water fountain! That was the question! Haha! We finally got approved plans the first week of January 2022. Then construction could begin! We moved our things over into the newly opened space by the end of February 2022! We had no idea when we put up our “coming soon” sign how UN-SOON it would actually be. But we made it! Hallelujah!
The Floorplan
For our set up, we had a plan and then had to be flexible once the space was real. For example—I planned on my desk staying in the same place and moving Laura and Emily across to the new space. However, the minute Katie experienced the sunlight, she called an audible and moved us over instead! We started getting set up and running power cords and such. Then, Katie called another audible and said, “I want to be able to see the front door!” so we moved her again. Now we’re trying out the new space and assessing function—is this storage working for us? Would _____ be better? Let’s see!
How It’s Working
WE. ARE. LOVING. IT. Not only is it the answer to a 3-year prayer, but it’s been such a blessing in meetings already. Our new conference room is AMAZING, and the screen-mirroring technology is A GAME CHANGER! I am thrilled to the depths of my soul by how blessed I am to get to work here! I’ve said it a million times, and hope to say it a million more by then end of this run, but I’m the dreamer—Katie’s the accomplish-er. I know that’s not a real word, but it’s true. I say, “I think we should expand. Let’s pray about it.” and she calls the landlord, waits at the lobby of the city offices hounding someone for our approval, hounds our landlord about the timeline, and moves stuff over before we’re approved to move stuff over because COME ON ALREADY. Haha! I pray that this expansion continues to inspire us, encourage us, and give us a great opportunity to share our passion for authenticity with more and more and more people.
