It is time for another entry in order to maintain the interest of the 60 or so people who drop by this blog weekly...

In the last installment, our hero had just moved his store into a new location. This event happened within ten days of his realizing he needed to find a new store, execute a lease, give notice and move the stuff out of the old and into the new. Done. Week one of the new month was design the new space and demolish the old store decor. Week two was procure the drywall, lumber and electrical components, frame the walls and move the electrical outlets to where they needed to be. Week three was drywall and mud all the time. Week four turned out to be the same as week three as the construction crew rebelled and demanded that the bike was being ridden daily in the warmest and most pleasant April in the history of the state. Meanwhile, guitar sales were strong and the folks who give me my paycheck needed to get their guitars as if Guitar Rodeo was there for them and not a temporary construction firm on a work slow down/early season training regimen. The photos today represent progress to date. The new showroom (lower photo) is going to be cool. The one wall has to "float" in order for the heat and cool to circulate throughout the entire store. The upper photo is from the same perspective as the interior shot in the last post and shows how different things look now. I will post another view next week, I promise.

These are the before photos of my new guitar store. My old location was a 45 minute drive from where I live, and the old landlord was of a mind to get twice the rent he was getting from the space only thirteen months earlier. I just couldn't do that so I gave notice and moved closer to home and into a better and bigger space. My drive time is about five minutes now. The outside is already cool and the location is a great spot to have a store. The inside needs a lot of work, which I would be doing now instead of blogging but I need to take a break now and then and keep the guitars moving. One of the motivating factors in making the move is that I am now the largest Taylor dealer in Minnesota. In the world of guitars, like so many other worlds, the big dog gets to choose where he lays. I was in my first spot because it satisfied the requirement that I not impose on the territory of the existing dealers. When I asked Taylor what they thought about this location they were pretty easy going about it. I hope it works out. I am going to use the hour and a half of extra time I now have every day (by not driving so far to work) to ride the Ottrott and get lean and mean again. Things are looking up. I am a lucky guy.