…just how much I love my store? I love it. It’s my place, its my little carved out corner of the world. Its anything and everything that I love. No longer do I have to feel that pang of walking past some fabulous special something wondering what its eventual fate will be, wanting desperately to ‘save’ it. No longer do I have to say to myself, “You have no place to put that”, or “You wont fit into that”, or “You can’t justify spending the money for that.” (well, ok, I am still on a budget for store spending so I DO in fact, have to say that to some degree) . When I was first opening, someone told me I needed to pick what I was going to specialize in, narrow my focus. I’m so glad I didn’t listen to that advice, because my store isn’t focused–and that’s wound up being part of it’s charm. Its a lifestyle store. On any given day I might have tons of clothing, or more small furniture items, or tons of old 50′s glass. Its focus is…whatever the heck I like. And its working. I’ve already started seeing several repeat customers, my Yelp reviews are all 5 star so far ( there’s only 3, but still), and every single person who walks in the store, whether they buy anything or no, all say what a wonderful store it is, lovely, magical, with a great energy.
There are days when I have customers in when I spend a great deal of my day ‘”matchmaking” the customer to the perfect item, whether it be a dress, a set of china plates, or that perfect little trinket for that tiny corner of their bedroom. Its one of my favorite things to do, this process of choosing the exact right thing. And becasue I have such a large back area, I always have much more to choose from than what theys ee on the floor, so I spend lots of time digging through my storage area, finding stuff back there that they might like. 80% of the time I have just the thing, and they walk out with a smile and their item wrapped in beautiful printed tissue paper ( I have several kinds), and tucked safely inside a brown paper bag with the distinctive Toadstool Farm Vintage stamp on the outside.
There are days when I’m scouring Estate sales for treasures when I feel like a foster home for unwanted items of great beauty that most people would overlook. For instance, there was a gorgeous handworked round tablecloh all done in stunning crocheted butterflies. Beautiful, intricate, probably about 80 years old. It had some slight stains on it, and it was headed for the trash. I snatched it up for free under the astonished and slightly embarrassed gaze of the heir of this unwanted gem, soaked it for 2 days in Oxy, and found the exact right woman who cherished it as much as I do. Or the books…old, beautifully printed copies of classics by Jane Austin, Voltaire, or Edgar Allen Poe or whomever. Most people completely ignore the bookshelves at Estate Sales, and so, these treasured tomes, are sold for pennies…to me. Some of them are worth $100 or more. It makes me sad to see them disregarded, to see them passed over in favor of Kindles or whatever it is people are using nowdays to “read” books with. I never say never, but I dont think you’ll ever catch me with one of those. I relish the sensual feel of smooth paper pages, and soft leather covers, the smell of ink and trees …
Or the clothing…hunting down and finding the one remarkable Givenchy dress in amongst the used Gaps, Target brands, or nameless, cheap, made in Taiwan labels…I’m always shocked that someone overlooked it. Always. Never fails to blow my mind.
And then there are days when I’m very slow in the store. It’s raining perhaps, or its the first week of the month which I’ve seen tends to be very slow (I think folks are recovering from just having paid the rent/bills/etc…). I’ll spend the day mostly in the back, filling web orders, or refinishing a wrought iron plant stand, or sanding a mid century cabinet in preparation for repainting it.
Always, there is music playing, anything I feel in the mood for…mostly cool vintagey soundtracks, like “French Kiss”, “The Notebook”or “A Good Year”, but sometimes something darker and heavier, like “Gladiator”, “Lord of the Rings”, or Kingdom of Heaven”. Then there are the days I want something light, and I’ll go for, “Chocolat”, or “Benny and Joon”, or “Enchanted”. Sometimes, very rarely, something pop, like Sting, or Garth Brooks, or even John Denver.
I’ll sit at my counter, facing the street, watching the change of light as it goes from the bright midday sun to the softer gold of late afternoon, then the faded colors of twlight and finally the dark glitter of streetlamps.
I’ll lock up, turn round my sign from Open to Shut, flick off most of the lights and sit at the counter again just watching the store in the barely light of a few lamps in the windows. The beautiful items inside go to sleep for the night, the music is off and the store sounds muffle, the energy slows…its peace and rest, and its mine.
And you all helped create it.
Thank you!
