Plain and Practical

Laying Foundations All Over The Place

So, we decided, after talking with other shop owners who are experiencing a dive in their traffic and sales, that we needed to encourage new customers to come and find us.  However, $140-$250 for a one-shot ad in a local newspaper just isn't in our budgets!  I came up with the idea of making one of those local-stores placemats that the restaurants could put in front of customers, give the two restaurants free space in exchange for using them, and free placemats, and it breaks down to less than $15.00 for each of the stores to have their business contact information on 1000 placemats (think:  1000 potential customers).  So we're going to do a thousand and see if there's an uptick in traffic, then make more as needed:

 
All the spots were spoken for in less than an hour, now it's just filling in each preferred space, and one more restaurant to ask.  A good, smart plan, and well within our means.

I spent an hour this morning cutting out a couple more aprons and stacking some suitable fabrics for a few more, all fall colors and Christmas themes.  It is time to be hustling to get those stocks built up for the holidays.

Decided to resurrect an idea I had a few years ago, and make wood-and-netting holiday trees for the store's displays, safe, easy, cheap, and the ornaments show off nicely against the white netting backgrounds. 

We have a coffee grinder repaired by husband, and the coffee and the special sacks have arrived (both locally roasted, and coffees from Mexico through a Texas company) so just need a sturdy table to set it all up on.  Another move forward for the PNP store!

The store is on Facebook at Plain Andpractical, if you ever want to check in on us there, as well as our little community of Marysville.  The October PNP newspaper has been sent to press and to husband for inclusion on the web site, so there's information all around!

Monday is the last day of my re-up on the food handler's license, just a 2-hour test and that will be another big task finished and behind me.  Looking forward to having 2-day weekends again! 

Have found three local Quaker meetings, will be trying the first one in 2 weeks.  Peace.

Pig In A Poke

It's Tuesday, so that means it's Bread Baking day at the shop--only 21 loaves today, less than usual, but the weather's not so great so I anticipate having fewer customers today--

 
That's a cinnamon-raisin with cracked wheat, nestled in the bottom of a big white bakery sack.  I like to bag the breads while still warm, to keep them tender and fresh, and pretty much have to sell it by word of mouth because when you look into my bread case, all you see are clean white sacks! 

 

But it's moving well.  Stasia also came over and we made hundreds of fresh yummy Molasses Gingersnaps, just the thing for a fall day.  After I get the store opened up in a few minutes, there's some emails to send and a full tall rack of bagged items to get tagged and stocked out on the shelves and spices for the bins.  Let the week begin!

Moving, Helping Others, Starting New Things

Well, been good and busy and burning the candle on both ends lately.  We packed the household and moved to Marysville, and you can see the house from the back door of the store.  Not only do I walk to work now, but can also walk to a Goodwill, the library, my work at the store, and much more.  On the way to Bellefountaine (nearby town) I saw a Friends church to investigate about, and I made a nice friend who comes to work and we bake and make candy together for her store and mine.

And as far as helping, here's the remains of one of my favorite thrift stores, the Mennonite help store over in Plain City, Ohio:

 

it was a total loss.  In the rubble you could see a scattered sodden children's book, a pair of ruined shoes, crushed shopping carts, a spoon.  But out of the ashes are arising the true proof of God's Grace and Strength given for merely the asking--they will be open in another week or so at a new location that had already been purchased.  Everything is being procured at a record pace--electrical work and inspections, carpeting, display racks, handbuilt shelving materials and volunteers, hangers by the thousands.  What would have been a tragedy is being turned into a triumph--between the lightning strike that took their former building and what remained of the merchandise, to the new opening--less than three weeks.  An example we can all live by!  Move forward, with the Lord!