Sept and Oct are an extremely busy time of year for us, as we are getting ready to receive stock for the busy Christmas season. It is also a time of change for us, as we are consolidating our two shops into one shop at 5 Westbourne arcade.
The reason for the consolidation is because of the rent increase at one of our shops, No 7 Westbourne arcade. The 1.5 years of rent negotiation started from an initial 75 percent rent increase demand from the landlord. After we sent countless emails and made countless phone calls over a period of almost 1 year and a half, the landlord eventually dropped it to 40 percent, but it was still too much for us. We handed back the keys to the landlord of No 7 Westbourne arcade on 22nd of Oct, 11 years after we had been there. It felt a bit strange but also relieving.
Also pleased that we sold out most of the excess floor stock and thanks to our visual merchandiser Emma’s hard work, our one shop looks ”very ‘intriguing”, according to a few loyal customers. We have still maintained our tropical oasis look of the shop and everything has blended in rather well, better than we expected. Besides, scaling back from two shops to one shop also means we can focus more on our website and I can also have a bit more quality time with my daughter.
I would like to share a few of my favourites quotes with you all during this transitional time , I hope they will inspire you or touch you in the same way as they did for me, when I was feelling low and also absolutely exhausted.
1 Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
2. Be afraid and do it anyway.
3. Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.
4. At every end there is a new beginning.
5. Trails and tribulations tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essense what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for.
Love Scape xxx