Every other week, Jennifer Mankins, owner of the Bird boutiques, tells us about the new 2,500-square-foot store on Grand Street in Williamsburg that she's getting ready to open. Up this week: Down to the wire, with only two weeks left before she goes live.
Two weeks and counting until I open the Grand Street side of the store for the holiday pop-up shop. I have ordered 7000 postcards announcing the December opening, I am set to install the holiday decorations by the artist Tamar Mogendorff after Thanksgiving and my retail computers are scheduled to be installed on December 1st. There is so much left to do, but Bill has about 4 different crews working round the clock to close up the front, so it may just happen.
The wood: Finally the reclaimed, milled pinewood planks have been delivered and are being installed on the walls. I love the sappy warm color, the grain pattern and mostly, the fresh pine smell. The whole store smells like Christmas. The planks were milled from industrial beams that were salvaged from a warehouse here in Brooklyn dating back to the turn of the century.
Exterior Grand Street: The storefront glass is installed. All of the sidewalk metal has been painted and the sidewalk glass panels sandblasted and installed as well as the tile on the bottom of the storefront. I had no idea the sandblasted glass would match the tile so well. I love it. All of the electrical wires for the door and the alarm system and cameras have been pulled. The last major thing we’re waiting for is the new door. It was delivered last night and they’re installing it tomorrow.
