The "hottest" bead store in AZ - literally!

I saw a review of the store somewhere and thought I'd use this forum to answer the comments. One comment was that it was too warm in the store to stay and shop. I completely understand - when it's that warm in the store, I don't want to stay, either! To top off the heat issue, I have hot flashes which make it even more unbearable at times.

The reason the temp in the store has been so warm is complex. The first problem was that tweekers/drug addicts stole the copper out of the a/c units. The units have essentially been gutted and would have to be completely replaced. This is an expense that neither the property owner nor Mike and I were prepared for, so we agreed to limp through the summer with the evaporative (swamp) coolers. That was another problem - the coolers had been neglected and were in such bad shape, they literally had to be rebuilt from the pump out. We finally got the coolers running well and when the humidity is low it is actually comfortable to cool in the store. When the humidity is up, the coolers add more moisture to the air and it literally rains inside! YECH!

We had a handle on the cooler situation and were optimistic that we'd make it through the rest of the 100+ degree heat of the season. But, we got another surprise. Tweekers again decided to target the store and tried to steal the copper water line on one of the FINALLY working coolers! They broke the pliers they were using, but also broke the water line. We had a miniature fountain on the roof until we could get our maintenance guy up there to fix it. Yesterday, we had to shut that cooler down again because of a smell of smoke from it. I'm thinking the tweekers came back to finish their job. GRRR!

If everything goes well this winter, we plan to have new a/c units up and running by next summer so that everyone will be comfortable.

I mentioned in the first blog post that we had challenges with the building. Well, those challenges have turned out to be more problem than we thought. Roof, electrical and other stuff - things that had fixes "for now" and that "for now" has turned into MUST repair soon! The good news is that the property owner has been getting bids and will get a reliable and thorough company to do what needs to be done instead of "making do" with patches. We'll be in good shape by the time winter gets here!

Another comment I read was about the lighting. It doesn't have anything to do with saving on the electric bill, though it is tempting. I cannot stand having my work area poorly lit and I know how important it is to have the store well lit so customers can match colors or decide between shades. I've been known to go through the store and turn on lights that Mike just had turned off!

Believe it or not, the reason the lights aren't completely lit in the store goes back to the humidity in the air from the swamp coolers. Fluorescent lighting doesn't like moisture and the bulbs won't light if they or the conections are wet. We replaced something like 60 light bulbs in the store - the 5' long ones (ain't cheap) and still wound up with 20 or 30 that didn't light. When we checked the ballast and and the bulbs, they were literally dripping wet! When the bulbs and the enclosure and ballast were dried out, they lit up like daylight!

New Store Location - moving means lots of SURPRISES!

... and not all of them good! I give kudos to the City of Apache Junction Economic Development Department for making their part of our move as smooth as possible. I wish I could have done the same for the phone and security companies. Today - we are finally getting the final component of the security system installed! We're still working out bugs in the cooling and electrical system - we've got 4 outlets along the counter in the kitchen and NONE of them work. AND, if we run the coffee pot and the microwave at the same time, it blows a circuit that not only shuts the kitchen down, it also kills juice to the computer, cash register, and credit card machine. That is NOT a good thing! We've gotten a TON of help and we're gradually getting things straightened out.

We moved into our new store on June 1 and spent most of the first 2 weeks getting unpacked and organized. We were sort of open for business, though my standard "line" to customers was, "If you can find it, I'll sell it to you!" It worked out well - they found enough to pay the electric bill! It's almost culture shock to look around the store and realize that with a few exceptions, everything that we have on sale in the new store was packed in the old store. The new store is really open, light and airy. We have everything at eye level (well, I'm still working on getting the seed beads there). I have to laugh when an old friend comes in and says, "This is new" - nope, they just couldn't see it in the old store because it was too high or too low. Walking around in the new store, I'm realizing how crammed full the old store was!

We just got signs painted on the windows - now people driving past on N. Apache Trail and those cutting across the parking lot to and from the Good Apple don't have an excuse to say, "I didn't know you were here!" Another good thing is that we'll be moving the sign from the old store to the new one. It will be on the south side of the building, facing the Phelps Drive/W. Apache Trail intersection. YAY! Yes, I know that the building needs some major cosmetic work, but that will come this winter/spring when the weather is cooler. We've got a 5 year lease on the place - all things will come with time.

Come on by and say "hi" - we've always got the coffee pot on! We've got lots of fun things planned for this fall and winter.