Books, candles, jewellry and much much more..

Well it has certainly been a busy few weeks here again at Chix N Cranny. The building is buzzing with excitement. We have some new bookshelves that Leo built on the weekend.....and believe me when I say they are amazing!! I am so fortunate to have such a great Hubby to come and spend his days off helping us out... the same goes for Kevin. The two guys have been super supportive and have been spending alot of their free time here, helping to make our dream a reality.Thanks hubbies!!xo I will give ya a little sneak peek on the FABULOUS shelves and books....

So we have shelves and books going on shelves, we have some furniture that Dale has acquired from her house and moved to our nook..we have boxes of candles waiting to be put out, jewellry coming this week, knitting and crocheted goods, and even maple syrup and a local author's books. Everyday we are spreading the word about our vision for the store, and the looking for new vendors. Word of mouth has been the biggest asset in getting the vendors... they are actually coming to us ! It does seem that everything is falling into place and we are right on track to where we want to be.

April and Gary are all set up in the front section now,and they have used their back drops as the partition for our two businesses. We are both excited at the possibitilies that lay ahead and how great these opportunites are for the town and their Main Street.

There is still alot of cleaning, painting and finishing touches to be done, although I think we will always be working on something even after it is open....We are aiming for opening the first weekend of August, this giving us lots of time to acquire vendors and making sure we have a full newly painted and clean store to present.

Life in a small town is always interesting, and we have our share of funny stories already but it is nice to see people checking us out and asking us what we are going to be doing.. the interest is a positive sign for Dale and I and we look forward to the feedback everyone will have when they come and see us.

Finally I would just like to add alittle personal note here...although its been only a short while since Dale and I agreed to make this venture...we have had our share of "situations" that have arisen recently. Most people I know who would have found themselves in Dale's position might have changed their mind...they may have decided that with the unknowns looming overhead they would rather wait and see....but Dale has never faultered from her spot or our choice. Even though things have shifted 180' she is still stead fast to our original plan and business deal without a moments hesitation. I cannot express to her or you in words just how much that means and what a sense of relief and comfort it brings me. I know that things are never certain in life, and that sometimes you really do have to just go day by day.. but I truly appreciate Dale being willing to make those day by day choices and still come out on the other side as excited as before. Thanks Chick #1 !! xo

Its Official... we know what we are doing now...sort of!

Hello everyone, so its been a terrific few weeks here in the Chix N Cranny world, and Vicki and I have been trying to keep up and at it. So although we knew we would be offering the used books here at the store, we were not 100% sure what else we would offer. Books are great and there are lots of readers out there...can you make a living at it? Probably not...Can you support your business on it....again probably not, so we set our mission this week as trying to figure out what other thing we were going to offer the people of Deseronto. It came kind of as a surprise to both of us, although Vicki had the original idea from being a resident of Deseronto and knowing the difficulties of getting a gift for someone locally. There are a number of beautiful antique stores here in town, and they are busy year round which is great for the economy of our town, the new O'Connor House Tearoom also attracts a fair number of visitors but what about the local people and the things they need. We both believe in shopping locally and supporting your local residents in their businesses and shops, but if there is no where to shop and your only choice is to go to Napanee or Belleville... then what is a person to do. Well we think we may just have the solution!

Vicki and her family camp in Madoc, and spend a great deal of time in the village. Vicki has grown fond of the dollarstore there and can be found wandering the aisles any given Saturday morning...but for the past few Saturdays she has wandered to a different spot. In the market square in downtown Madoc they offer a handful of vendors, live music and great hotdogs and sausages for the passerbys. It was here Vicki came up with the idea, after speaking with the vendors and looking through the crafts and items they have to offer, she approached me about us offering a consignment craft store. I was thrilled, with some previous experience working in the Kingston Market, and being crafty myself, I knew the call for homemade items was still strong and that the communities around us offered so many talented people. We instantly jumped on the craft vendors train and are overwhelmed with the people we have met thus far. It is going to be so much fun seeing what everyone has to offer and what talents they have. So with that said, I am off...Vicki and I are heading out to meet with some vendors and friends in Madoc in hopes of getting some candles and jewelry. SO fingers crossed we find lots of beautiful things to bring back and offer to you......! By the way if you know anyone who is crafty...send them our way!! We will update you on how we make out today and what exciting products we come home with!