I'd like to meet:
October 20 marks the six-week mark of the birth of The Bookery Nook and we're well on our way!
We're finishing up our business plan and hope to begin lease negotiations this week.
The plan is to open in March...
February 9, 2009
We decided to open the bookshop in September; it's been an interesting journey between then and now.
We thought we loved one place, but it turned out it wasn't so perfect for us. No matter, even though the bankers loved our proposal, the underwriters turned us down before they even looked at our business plan, "Not even considering start-ups right now, thanks anyway!"
We were going to settle on another place, but we aren't the "settling" kind. Same song and dance from two other banks, but the landlord was going to kick in $36,000 to sweeten the pot so we were seriously considering making a go of it without the loan. Moments before we were going to sign the lease, we realized we couldn't do it - it wasn't right. Hard to walk away from a deal like that, but we couldn't bring ourselves to take a space that wasn't congruent with our dream.
The third time was the charm: It just feels right. Everything about it is exactly what we wanted: A groovy, artsy, urban neighborhood with lots of interesting people and tons of dogs. We knew we wouldn't be able to get a loan - it's just not happening for start-ups in this economic climate. The question then became, "Can we do it with what we have?" In my mind - YES; in my husband's realistic mind - uh, NO. No matter - we met in the middle and decided to focus on the positive.
We began researching the neighborhood and community and discovered that the City of Denver offers Neighborhood Business Revitalization loans in five different zones within Denver. The spot we fell in love with just happened to be in one of those zones so Gary started making calls and sending e-mails. Coincidence? I don't think so. I really believe we're meant to be there.
We met with the Economic Development Specialist at the space about a week and a half ago and he felt fairly confident that our proposal would go through. He was going to present it to the Board last Wednesday and, as I write this, they are meeting to approve or disapprove our loan and by 3:00 we should know one way or another.
Fun fact: The first person to get such a loan from the city was from a guy who'd been laid-off and decided to pursue his dream in micro-brewing. John Hickenlooper ended up making the Wynkoop Brewing Company wildly successful before going on to become the mayor of Denver.
If the loan goes through - we'll sign the lease this week and then the fun really begins!
In the meantime - I'm just trying not think about the fact that our dream is in the hands of a bunch of folks we don't know. Yikes!It's all good and it'll work out the way it's meant to; I believe that.
4:30 PM UPDATE: We got the loan; Thank you City of Denver!!
Still on track to open by the end of March!
www.TheBookeryNook.com
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