The holiday season has come and gone. I finally managed to take the decorations and lights off the exterior "Light Up Castine" tree yesterday. There was a week or two when the tree itself wasn't visible under the snow.... it read more like a massive snow bank amid other actual snow banks. While the winds howled outside and temperatures plummeted, the interior garlands came down and were put away for another year.
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| Main Street at the height of the storm |
We were quite fortun- ate this holiday season compared to some of the retail accounts I've heard. The weather Gods were not on the side of the retailer....be they big box, boutique, or Mom and Pop. There was a storm every weekend and then the ill-fated ice storm. The Sunday before Christmas was dismal due to snow. Monday things got worse when the power went out during the storm. By Tuesday, Christmas Eve, the shop was cold, dark, and silent..... and not in the
Silent Night kind of way. The one bright spot was the fact we actually did business on Christmas Eve. I thank the brave souls who came by and, not only made purchases, but were understanding in that we couldn't take credit cards.
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| Happy Christmas Eve |
The storm is now water under the bridge....literally! We're now dealing with flooding as the snows have melted with the welcome rise in temperature. Sunday morning we awoke to sun, blue skies, and green grass. For a minute I felt a little like Rip Van Winkle and hoped I had slept through the winter and found myself with a calendar header that read "May". Not quite, but we'll take this little reprieve as long as it lasts.
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| Icicles begin to form on the sign |
Tomorrow marks the middle of January and I've spent the first half of the month dealing with numbers and new product research in anticipation of our upcoming buying trip to the NY Now show. While the shop looks dormant from the outside, it's a flurry of activity inside. We've mentioned our plan to expand to many people over the past few months, but now comes the time to make it happen. Dan's studio was moved upstairs in October and, come May, we will open a door at what is currently the back of the shop and increase LUCKY HILL. Also on the agenda is an e-commerce site to make purchasing easier for our loyal customers who are out of the area. It's an exciting time for us. We'll keep you posted on new developments and give you an occasional peek of the expansion.
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| Icicles on the house |
Thank you to our customers (who we now consider dear friends) who have been so supportive and loyal. You made our second season very bright! Here's to a winter of minor snows, temperatures above the freezing point, uninterrupted power, and exciting new things on the horizon for LUCKY HILL!
P.S.- Thank you again to all the line workers who sacrificed the holiday with their families to get the power and heat back on for everyone who was without. It was appreciated more than you'll ever know!
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| Our Heroes! |
