I could not have imagined the magnitude of support we have had from the North 410 Loop including Manchester and Woodland areas all the way to Pinhook not to forget the kind folks at the Woodland Methodist Church and the Leesville Baptist Church. Thank you seems inadequate. All the kind words, offers of help and business have helped get us to day 20. My husband has become a super shopper with a keen sense about what will sell and what has the right "country" feel to it for our store. When I return home he has a collection of aquired items all ready to go, packaged and waiting.
But this journey has not been without some holes in the road. Maybe we are predisastered and from this point on no harm can come to us:0)
Just call us Red Neck.
The new freezers had to be replaced because they were both delivered damaged. Sears said, use the freezers until the new ones come so we filled one of them. This was then emptied into the replacement freezer when it arrived only to find the top sliding door was damaged and after a trip to Paris to get the first freezers door this was resolved. Then we discovered something not in the ad, every air conditioner and refrigerator must have its own breaker. So with only one plugged in, we filled it with eggs, chicken breasts and numerous other cold products. As we closed the door the top shelf fell and caused a crush of food. We removed everything cleaned it up and threw away eggs. The shelf supports looked way to small to support the shelves and after numerous adjustments and several more cleanups we called Sears. This is the day before we open. So to summarize. We have only one freezer and only one refrigerator that can be plugged in and lots of food to replace but no shelves that stay in place in the one refrigerator unit. And 24 hours to solve this problem. The Sears man told us to twist tie the shelves in place. Yes if anyone in Paris was witness to a woman chasing a man around Sears with a carton of broken eggs and having a meltdown…that was me. On Sears behalf I will say they were always courteous even when I cried and threatened to take my business to Home Depot. The twist ties did hold the shelves and we can say on opening day we were truly red neck! The new heavy duty brackets for the shelves came and they are a big improvement over the screws we were trying to use and the twist ties. Michael spent about 4 hours installing and moving food. The electrician to rewire the building so both air conditioners, freezers and refrigerators could run at the same time $355, the food to replace what was mutilated $50. Note: just because you have plugs does not mean you have enough power to use them. I highly recommend Allen Stevens.
Theft is Costly.
We have been conned out of 100 dollars of merchandise and money. So now our friendly little store has a we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone sign and when you check out you will see yourself on a recording device connected to a camera. This mistake in judgement on our part cost 400 dollars in security equipment. On the upside it happened immediately and we were not victims over a long period of time.
Note: 99.9% of the families in this area are hard working decent folks, but all it takes is one to put you out of business.
That’s Not a Body in the grave out back.
To get ice cream here in a frozen state requires 80 pounds of ice carefully positioned if the outside temp is 100 plus and you have a 3 hour drive. Now ask us how we know. My sweet husband brought me a large box of ice cream for the store with a traditional amount of ice and he quietly buried it outside during the night so no one would know. Mike and I have developed a system using the huge coolers and 4 twenty pound bags of ice. We surround the box like it is an igloo. Ice is $3.99 for 20 pounds and this is not a big box of ice cream but it is all that will fit with that much ice. It is cooler today and this is my turn to go to Cedar Hill so if the weather holds we might be able to fill that box again. Maybe we can stock up during cool weather. We sold that ice cream at a loss if you consider the ice and manpower required to get it here.
The bonus protein from Sams.
We purchased a large bag of dog food from Sams and took note their prices were 5 and 6 dollars cheaper than Costco for the store brand. However Sams dog food came with it’s own colony of ants. Fortunately for us they decided to march in formation probably planning to expand. We took a loss on 50 pounds of dog food. The whole store was fumigated “just in case” one got away.
Cost about 28 dollars for bug spray and trashing dog food.
Expired not Retired.
The small tortillas and several other items went past their due dates. I need a basket where about to expire foods are greatly reduced so our customers can take advantage of them instead of the trash can.
Sausage biscuits and sandwiches. I was told by a cowboy that if I had sausage biscuits made up in the morning by 7:30 I would sell them. And I have sold a few. The remaining ones have either been eaten by me or trashed. The sausage biscuit business has been picking up. At this point I am not making anything but I am close to breaking even.
Cooking?
I am cooking in a combination of these three appliances. An electric skillet that has a hot spot and temperamental controls. A large crock pot too big for small items but nice for a big batch of pinto beans and ham. And a toaster oven that does a bang up job of baking 4 biscuits at a time.
Our Customers.
The best customers in the world shop here:
The little girl who calls this “her store”. She worried because she had to go to camp and couldn't make her daily trip to shop.- The sweet family that speaks little English, but buys microwave popcorn.-The big man with his hair in a knot on one side of his head who speaks wisely about plumbing - The gardener down the road who brings me his produce all weighed and in a basket and we split the profit.- The gentleman down the road who gives Mike road warnings and faithfully stops in to tell me his teens will be by later.- The retired fella who works for Circle C “to have something to do”, and is a dependable part of the lunch bunch.-
Our weather lady who stops for her daily M and M fix.- The retired policeman who offered his services if I need them and his talented wife who lives on blueberries. They requested and always remember to purchase skim milk. - Two new friends, bring me customers, memories and smiles. They buy lunch and my doodads a bowl here and a towel there.- And an extraordinary 90 plus lady who bought my last mop and sat sharing memories of her life as a teacher in Detroit and Woodland. She remembered my Grandparents just before my Grandfather got sick and died. - There are more and each is precious.
What Sells in Kanawha
Bill and I had a few disagreements about what kind of stock would sell in our country store. So we each chose 3 things to gamble on and see if anyone bought them. The 59 cent mood lipsticks were one of mine and sold to little girls and ladies alike. I think the price was right. The hot sauce he chose has been a good seller with 4 bottles gone.
Frozen convenience foods and canned vegetables are moving slowly.
Back packs were a good choice because we sold 3 of the 5 already.
Paper plates in large packages do not sell but smaller packages are gone.
The usual whole milk and white bread sell well.
Selling 25 packages of lunch meat and wieners were a surprise.
We sell very little cheese.
Dried Pinto beans sell almost as fast as I can put them out
but rice and noodles are not selling.
Paper towels have out sold toilet tissue and no one has purchased a box of facial tissue.
Feed Time
The deer hunters are beginning to feed the deer. I hope to feed the Deer Hunters. I moved my open time from 8 to 7:30 and if God can give me a little push I may try for 7. It takes 45 minutes to dress and open the doors…there is more to do than you might imagine in the mornings and most of it requires I be conscious and somewhat functional. I think that may have happened sometime in my past but today it is going to take some real effort to roll out of bed at 6am and be perky. To put this where you might understand. One of my favorite customers came in by himself about 10am and I ask where his wife was. He responded, “still in her nightgown”, to which I replied…”I used to understand that” …and he finished my sentence…”before you retired to run the store”.
Yep, 6 twelve hour days a week. You gotta love it here or you just won’t make it.
