Ten Years Ago

It has been ten years since I closed the doors for the last time on my business in Chester.  Amazing!


It began in 1995 with a partner, the two of us massage therapists and scenting our own bath/body products to retail to our clients.

The partnership ended a year later and though I was scared to death I decided to carry on with the business alone.

We had this area for our clients to relax before
and after massage.  Just getting started we had
a lot of down time, the puzzle
was mostly for us.  My photos on the wall.

My first year solo I had moved to the unit next door
and was starting to expand the retail.

I had decided to build the retail while still doing massage and I was only able to do that with my youngest daughter Michelle's help.  I would get in a couple of massage appointments in the morning before opening the store at eleven a.m. and Michelle would work the store after school so I could do a couple of more appointments before closing.  She was great with the customers, even at such a young age and was more diplomatic then I could have been with some.










I moved locations twice and changed the name three times I think.

I moved from "out on the peninsula" into town.
Dealt with grease smells from the A&W and barking
from the dog grooming customers.

Finding beautiful products.

I hadn't been at the "A&W" location a year, we worked
hard to make it the way I wanted it,
before I decided to move again to the best location.

My final location was in the prime foot traffic area of town, though the building was past its prime, it was an old gas station.  The owner did the basics to make it work as a retail space and Larry and I did the rest.  We made the decision not to do anything to the exterior of the building as we didn't own it and what was inside was the most important to me.

All these final pictures are just before I went
out of business.

I started going to gift shows and with that and other sources I built up a very successful gift shop.  I finally had to quit massage, the store was taking up more of my time and had become more profitable.  Other then Michelle it was just me and me for everything.  I was open Tuesday thru Saturday's and could only slip away for a vacation in the dead of winter.  Business in Chester was very seasonal though I was busier most all year than expected.






Towards the end of '02 I was not enjoying it as much and was feeling extremely squeezed and restricted.  After a lot of introspection I decided to have a going out of business sale and move on.  

Larry and I moved this heavy counter to three
different locations in the store over the years.  I was
always rearranging things.

I learned a lot while being in business.  It isn't something I ever dreamed I would have, a retail business.  I also learned a lot while going out of business.  Midway through the process of liquidating I found that I could have scaled down, changed direction a bit and continued on with the business, but there was already someone in the wings waiting to start their dream in the space so changing my mind wasn't an option.

Looking back it was unfolding as needed, for the next chapter in our lives was waiting in the wings.  I hadn't had the business closed two months, or even settled into enjoying retirement before we came up with the bright idea to full time r.v.  Who knew?

I kept the shelving basic, simple and cheap; from
Home Depot and Walmart.  We got really
good at assembling them.