Chris'

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The saga continues: Week 3

The interior of the store is a hideous blue/green. We rip out yards of pegboard and the cleats that held shelves in the old stores.

The building is about 70 years old. Over the years it has been

• a men's clothing store
• a parrot store (real parrots, not the Jimmy Buffet kind)
• children's clothing

and probably a half-dozen other enterprises. Each has left its mark. As I rip some of the shelf cleats off the wall I find birdseed packed behind them. That's probably from the parrot store. At least I hope so.

While it would be nice to rip out everything and start from scratch, the store is broken up into 5-foot selling sections on each side. When you have nicely divided sections, it's easier to merchandise one section each day. That way you can work your way through the entire store every few weeks. Besides, the section walls are holding up the soffits, so it would be a major job.

However, each section wall is faced with thin white plywood, about 1/2 inch thick. Some prior store must have had a dog or cat, because the bottom part of several of those stiles is chewed up.

We will add molding to the fronts to conceal the damage and build up thickness. Molding is a lot like gravy - it can cover up a multitude of sins. The combination of three pieces is about the right width. No two faces are exactly the same, but this shape will tie it all together.

We also build platforms in each cubical, with a 3/4" plywood floor on 2"x6" frame. The carpet installers will "waterfall" right over it. That's to keep any product from sitting on the floor. The interior of all the cubicals will be painted white, and slat wall will go on the back. Next week the paint and the carpet go in - but something happens to change all our plans.

Go back to the beginning of this project