Ride the wave! Opening Friday, July 3rd!
Hello!
This is a continuation of the blog post from May 25, "Building a Base in Our 12th Year."
You guessed it.
That's right, it's opening tomorrow (July 3)!
This morning I woke up from a dream where I was climbing a cliff. I was climbing a seemingly vertical cliff, wondering what would be at the top. Was it a prophetic dream?!
I lay down in the rest area behind the store and looked up at the sky. The breeze was refreshing!
At the end of May, after moving, AMONG's base construction started at a furious pace.
Again, the location is on the first floor of the "Shin-Yokohama Food Center", about a 5-minute walk from Shin-Yokohama Station.
The space where AMONG is located connects the store space and the common area seamlessly.
Truly AMONG! (AMONG is an English preposition meaning "in the middle of" or "surrounded by.")
First, the interior construction began with erecting pillars.
At this time, my gloves were still sparkling! Now they're tattered.
We had decided from the beginning to build the space ourselves through DIY, but once we started, we became full-fledged carpenters.
AMONG Construction started.
Sho-pee (my husband), who did most of the design and construction himself, lost his "love handles" in the last two weeks.
The large opening leading to the second floor is one of the charms of this place. We really wanted to make the most of it, so we decided to create a glass door and an acrylic partition.
The glass door uses glass windows from my husband Sho-pee's grandfather's old house.
My father-in-law also joined in, and we spent three days processing the door.
It was big and difficult to carry. We made it during the moving process so it could be included with the moving company's luggage!
The floor inside the shop is concrete, with a gentle slope towards the exit (barely noticeable). So, even for erecting a single pillar, we had to measure and decide the length on the spot.
We consulted back and forth on site, changing and adjusting the size of the stock and shelf positions.
Me: "Hey, shouldn't the fitting room be white?"
It's easy to say, but there are a lot of things to do.
But I want to do it.
So, I decided to try plastering (actually, yesterday and the day before yesterday).
My arms got muscular in two days (lol).
I couldn't plaster as beautifully as a professional, but I kept applying it, hoping that many "happy" and "fun" moments would accumulate in this place.
Amidst all this, it was difficult to decide on an opening date.
"When will it ever be finished...?"
Around that time, Yoshie-san, who runs a pension in Shimoda, came to Yokohama and stopped by the shop.
Thank you, Yoshie-san, Sana-chan, and Nico-chan!
"When are you opening?"
"Wouldn't it be good to open on a lucky day (Taian)?"
From that casual conversation, we looked up the lucky days in July, and the first one was July 3rd.
"Then, let's go with the flow and open on July 3rd!"
The opening date was decided right there.
It's okay to gradually shape it as we open,
No need for it to be perfect from the start.
Having said that, there's still a mountain of things to do.
Although I announced it earlier on AMONG's official LINE, I didn't have the courage to announce it on Instagram or our website.
Will I really make it in time~~~.
And I wanted to write more about the process of making it, but I was exhausted every day, so it's come to today.
The shelves are still half-finished. They'll be done later today (probably). The counter will have to wait!
I made a sign out of brass! But the base hasn't arrived yet, so I can't install it yet.
So we'll start without a sign.
After this, I'll do a big clean-up and display the products.
Oh~ I'm honestly exhausted~!
It's still a work in progress, but that's okay.
Instead of waiting for it to be perfect, let's cultivate this place as we go.
Rather than not being able to start because I'm waiting for it to be "finished,"
It's okay if it's incomplete.
It's okay if it's a little strange.
Let's just start.
That feeling gently pushes me to try what I want to do.
I hope this place can also gently encourage others.
We're riding the wave and starting on Friday, July 3rd, at 1 PM.
First, on Saturday, July 4th, and Sunday, July 5th, we'll be OPEN from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
After that, we'll create a calendar. Please wait a little longer.
First, I'm going to set up!
See you! (Kurisawa)
