Hello Matsu Valley Rebuild supporters!
Sorry for the wait…I think my last update was in May! I told you I wouldn’t be sending a bunch of emails.
When last we spoke the store was closed because of COVID-19, we managed to reopen in June with masks and hand sanitizer required for shoppers. There was some rearranging of the space to make traffic flow better and to protect the operator. It was okay but it certainly made the space feel even smaller…especially when you try to stay six feet from everyone.
Summer was pretty good; lots of new customers and a bunch of really cool things came through the doors. It was tricky keeping new items isolated before they were made available…actually it was always a struggle to clean, inspect and price items before they were preyed upon but COVID exacerbated that issue. We shifted to accepted donations only on Saturdays and stashed them out back until closing. Then everything got moved in and sat untouched until we reopened on Thursday. It made Thursdays and Fridays a little easier with only sales happening but Saturdays were crazy.
One thing was clear though; we were out of room and in early August I found a small warehouse that was over twice the square footage of our space so we took it! We had a big sale (I know, I should have told you-sorry) then closed to move. Yes, it was a big move. It took three weeks, a lot of trips, some pizza, lots of coffee and maybe a beer or two.
The new space is great, not just much bigger but more open and accommodating to our kind of stuff. There is a fenced-in paved yard out back that we will expand out to in the Spring. Also, it comes with a forklift; pretty sweet.
We reopened in the new space on September 16 and things have been slowing picking up as the word spreads. There are so many more people within a ten mile radius of the store now there is real potential for growth.
We will be closing for a couple of weeks from December 16-29. January will bring a renewed advertising push and in February we will be holding Divided Art 2021. Our bi-fold door transformations to room dividers and large installation pieces done by local artists and craftspeople will be on display and available for purchase through a silent auction at MVR over a 2-week period. More to come on that.
If you have not redirected your amazon page to smile.amazon.com please do…it’s the same as regular amazon but you can designate Matsu Valley Rebuid as your charity and Big Jeff will donate some money to MVR when you shop! No cost to you.
Same for Fred Meyer Community Rewards.; go to fredmeyer.com and create/sign in your account. Enroll Matsu Valley Rebuild as your charity and Kroger/Fred Meyer will donate a little bit when you shop. It doesn’t touch your rewards $ or your gas credits. They donate!
Volunteers! I need some help at the store. It is a lot for one person. If you would like to help out for a few hours a week, one day a month or any other regular timeframe that works for you please let me know. You do not have to have construction experience, just a good attitude, some patience and a sense of humor. There is cleaning, organizing, carrying and tinkering. Questions? Let me know.
Thanks for your support, please tell your friends and neighbors about MVR. Your coworkers, your barista, your handyman, your contractor, your postal carrier…tell them all!
Be safe, take care of yourselves and please be considerate of others.
