The Harried Hen
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us!
  • Calendar
  • Creative Projects
    • Blog
  • Online Store

Not mythical after all...

11/16/2022

0 Comments

 
Two years of not updating the blog! Phew! 

We still exist, and so does the physical store. In fact, the store has been doing so well we needed to prioritize our time and health and decided a social media presence wasn't currently needed to bring traffic to our little store. We have as much as we can handle right now!

Rachel currently has a 4 year old who is active and busy and still needs plenty of mommy time. Kate is teaching at a technical college and pursuing more graduate classes as a requirement for her job.

We've created smaller craft projects, cooked great dishes, lots of repairs and a few original garments at the store, plus a few new Renaissance outfits for ourselves and friends. Updates on all will come when we can post them.  Please be patient in the mean time!

With upcoming holidays in mind, this is also an announcement for our Holidays 2022 hours. Pardon the lack of pretty pictures, but below is a list of the Tuesdays we'll be closed. Of course, we're always open to personal appointments (even on Tuesdays) for fittings, pickups, drop-offs, or retail shopping. Contact us by email or Messenger to set up a time and day. 

CLOSED:

Tuesday, November 22nd
Tuesday, December 20th
Tuesday, December 27th
Tuesday, January 3rd
0 Comments

GRAND OPENING!!!

10/25/2020

1 Comment

 
It was finally time to do it. We had our grand opening yesterday! I don't think either of us EVER expected to have a brick and mortar store this soon after Kate moved to Beloit. Especially not one open before Christmas! 

Admittedly, not all of our stock is here, even now. But, we had been unofficially open for a month and it was time to make the next step as business owners. I could have done without the ceremony, but we did pay for a chamber of commerce membership and people were asking.
Picture
We posted in the local ad circular, the Waconda Trader. Another step in feeling legitimate...
Picture
And then the local newspaper did an article on us. I did NOT expect to get above-the-fold front page placement! You can read it online here.
Picture
All our traffic came right at opening, and it was quite busy! I would estimate over 50 people came. During a pandemic! To be honest, neither Kate or I were over-excited to hold a grand opening, but it is tradition.

​I got one good picture from the entire event, above, of my son and his delight over the snacks. Doughnuts! On a stick! I happily sent my sugared-up toddler home with daddy. 
Picture
And no grand opening is complete without a ribbon cutting, right? Like any good business owner in a small town, we immediately joined the Beloit Area Chamber of Commerce. The above is a still from the video they posted on Facebook of the ribbon cutting ceremony.

As a side note, the chamber director did say she found those scissors on Amazon. They actually work, but I'm thinking wall art in the retail space...
1 Comment

Making the place "cozy"

10/3/2020

1 Comment

 
Well, we had our unofficial opening last Tuesday. Because of the current pandemic, our wholesaler of choice wasn't fully stocked, so there are still blank spots. Some items aren't expected for a few months! We couldn't wait that long.

But, before we're fully stocked or even have a grand opening I wanted to do a quick overview of filling the place with furniture. Mostly. 

When sourcing shelving, we don't exactly have the budget or space to go commercial. That's ok. The space is small. Uh... I mean cozy. ;) 

The first piece we bought came from Facebook Marketplace: two display shelves with lights.  The finish was very dated and we needed it to not compete with the merchandise. We painted it a flat white and it fit right in with Kate's bookcase, which we decided to keep dark to go with the checkout table. The checkout table was a one-sided drop leaf cafe-height Amazon Warehouse special. Meaning someone returned a unique, very nice solid wood table that we snatched up.
Picture
Safely stowed in Rachel's garage and ready for a makeover!
Picture
A few nights of white paint and they're looking much better!
Picture
This wall of shelving is done! You can see the checkout table at the left.
The second piece we had made by our talented Dad after some Pinterest inspiration. It's a folding pegboard screen. We could have mounted pegboard directly to the wall it now sits in front of, but having portable display walls means hopefully someday we can take a pop-up shop to the local annual holiday craft fair. After the pandemic is contained, of course. 
Picture
The pegboard screen in progress.
Picture
Set up in place! It will hold zippers, bias tape, and other packaged trims.
A last-minute trip to Salina unexpectedly brought two more pieces. The local JC Penney location was closing, and their store fixtures were for sale. We considered some slatwall pieces and stand alone shelving, but as we didn't have a definite merchandise layout we kept it to these two pieces.
Picture
A circular acrylic tiered display - we took out one metal pipe section to shorten it.
Picture
A rotating acrylic pegboard displayer! And it came with a few metal peg hooks!
After several hours of research into traditional pegboard store shelving, we were convinced it would be nearly $1,000 to buy what we needed. Until Dad came though again with yet another Facebook Marketplace listing for retail metal shelving, minus the pegboard inserts. The listing didn't show up for Kate or I locally as it was in McPherson, a little more than 90 minutes away. 

When we got there we discovered it was being sold by a local specialty meats butcher who had closed a second retail location more than 10 years ago and was slowly selling off the fixtures...that had been stored in an open sided machine shed with chickens and cats a-plenty. 

We got most of the feathers and dust off the metal pieces, loaded them up, and went clanging and banging back home, having paid less than $20!
Picture
We didn't measure beforehand. It just fit in my Kia!
Picture
Dad and Mom refinished it with oil based paint, while we bought pegboard locally.
Furnishing the middle work room was a much less organized or thought out process than the retail front room. 

I purchased a standing mirror for alterations try-ons. Our lovely sister in law found a garment rack for us for alterations in progress. Mom and Dad donated a collapsible banquet table that was well-used but solid. Kate gave up her full sized ironing board with a newly purchased professional steam iron.
Picture
The west wall of the work room. We pretty quickly moved the sewing machine table there.
Picture
Our lovely cutting table! She (yes, female) was also created by our Dad. It's on wheels and there are nearly matching dressers at each end. The top has a scissor guide notch and inlaid ruler.
And now presenting (some) of the chaos of stocking our shelves! 
There is still quite a bit on backorder, but Kate and I have set a grand opening date. We unofficially opened on September 29th because, well, we didn't spend money in an initial stock order to have it sit in a closed store!

I imagine the shelving and organization will change a bit before it's all settled. But it's a giant step forward!
1 Comment
<<Previous

    Authors

    Twins each with half a brain in reality; the other half displayed here!

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    1/144th Scale
    1/24 Scale
    Alison Jr.
    Art Silk
    Assisi Needlework
    Baby Clothes
    Baby Renaissance
    Baron
    Baronness
    Blackwork
    Blouse
    Bodice
    Books
    Bootstrap Fashions
    Bum Roll
    Carpet
    Chemise
    Children's Clothing
    City Pop
    Coat Of Arms
    Coif
    Commission
    Cookies
    Cross Stitch
    D&D
    Dollhouse
    Doublet
    English Inspired
    Face Masks
    Fitting
    Food And Cooking
    Frock Coat
    Georgette
    German Inspired
    German-inspired
    Great Plains Renaissance Festival
    Harried Hen
    Hat
    Hats
    Hemd
    Hemp Twine
    Hoop Skirt
    Italian Inspired
    Janome
    Kate
    KC Ren Fest
    Linen
    Necklace
    Other Projects
    Paint
    Painting
    Pants
    Partlet
    Patterns
    Pennant
    Photos
    Pirate
    Queen's Tea
    Quilting
    Rachel
    Recipes
    Remodel
    Renaissance Dress
    Resources
    Ribbon Sleeves
    Robes
    Ruff
    Sequins
    Sewing Machine
    Sewing Room
    Shirt
    Silk
    Singer
    Skirt
    Sleeves
    Smocking
    Steuchlein
    Storefront
    Street Clothes
    Subfloor
    Tea Party
    Teddy Bear
    Tellerbrettbarett
    Tudor
    Underskirt
    Vendors
    Vest
    Viking
    Welcome
    Wulsthaube

    RSS Feed

We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!
Appointments are Encouraged.
Contact us using the information below or on social media using the links to the side.

Location

123 N. Mill,
​PO Box 35

​Beloit, KS 67420

Hours

Tuesdays
6:00 - 9:00 PM
Appointments for other times encouraged.

Phone & Email

785-534-1656
harriedhens@gmail.com
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us!
  • Calendar
  • Creative Projects
    • Blog
  • Online Store