Saturday, March 28, 2009

The Inspection

Those of you who've been in (to Rowe Studios) lately already know that we've gotten the lofts emptied. We've even managed to keep things organized enough to have access to the glass bins. Now the work tables are a different story - but we're working on them too. Hopefully, we'll have things cleared enough to start classes next week. Space is tight, but we'll just have to keep things friendly!
The fire marshal came in yesterday for our inspection (only 1 month late), and cleared the violations from last year, closed the case, then promptly wrote 4 new violations and gave us a month to correct them. Would you believe that one of them is that we're blocking aisles and exit doors with the things we had to bring down from the loft! Ah, the joys of government and red tape. I can hardly wait for the building department's inspection. I'm getting to old for all this hoopla, especially since we've been operating without incident in this location, in these conditions, for over 30 years!
We're still trying to sell a lot of items at closeout prices. We have kits for kaleidoscopes & clocks, books & patterns, lampshade molds & patterns, and a lot of odds & ends that have been in storage - dress and upholstry fabrics, yarns, cords, a cash register, glass display cases, a small room heater ... the list goes on and on. We also have a sandblasting cabinet with pressure pot, hoses, and parts, as well as an industrial diamond band saw. If you're interested, please come by and talk to me. Or give me a call on 305-666-5164.
Don't forget, the last week of April is the Miami Bead Show at the Merchandise Mart. The South Florida Jewelry Arts Guild will have a booth, so stop by and say hello, I'll be there Sunday afternoon. This is a group of amazing artists who work in all kinds of media. The monthly meetings are always interesting, and there are more and more classes being offered. The guild is bringing artists in to teach a number of different techniques.
Thanks for following our saga - keep watching for more news.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Sidewalk Sale

Since I promised to write when I set up the schedule for the Sidewalk Sales, I herewith proclaim the 15th to be the first date. (If it rains, we'll cancel.) There should be another sale on the 29th. I'm not an early riser, so I expect we'll kick off around 9 or 10 am - that gives all of you Sunday morning garage sale shoppers a chance to hit some of the other sales early.
We'll have some glass display cases, some small antique tables, dress fabrics, craft items, stained glass kits, patterns, & books, and all sorts of other miscellany.
Metro-Dade County has decided not to allow any more extensions for demolition - so we're trying really hard to comply so that they don't close down the business. If the contractor follows through with his promise to get the demo permit changed to just floor & stairs removal, we should be okay. There are other hurdles popping up (it seems like there's a new one every week!), so I have no guarantees as to our future. So, stay tuned - I'll post any & all news as I get it.
We have tried to leave enough room for shopping - all of the machine-rolled and hand-rolled glass, the books, tools, foil, solder, lead came, etc. are easily accessible. So please don't let the reconstruction stop you from coming in.
As soon as more of the table space becomes available, I'll post class schedules on the calendar.
Hope to see you in here soon - I'm doing my best to keep this business open and I need your help and support!
Lynne

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Never the last word

Well, as I wrote last time, I thought I had heard the final word about our situation with the County on the loft. As you must have guessed by reading even this far, I was wrong.
The building contractor & electrician were both in today, telling me that there never was an inspection scheduled for Monday, and that there was much worse coming. Now that Miami Dade County is involved, there are going to be more inspections for everything - and that included electric, air conditioning, the loft, etc. etc. etc.
We have just about everything cleared away (brought downstairs) - but we did leave some of the stained glass panels upstairs thinking they would be safer there and could be brought down as soon as the contractor comes in to remove the stairs. Now he's saying that the entire loft structure is scheduled for demolition. It's as if the building manager never heard me the many times I told him that we need to keep the framework in place for lighting and display! The contractor promised to see if he could get the permit changed to allow for the "trellis" - so please keep positive thoughts!
If you want to be notified if we're forced to move, please send me an email or subscribe to the newsletter. I'm still hoping to stay.
We're also planning to make some Sunday sidewalk sales here this month and next. We have some furniture, a lot of dress & upholstry fabrics, antique lighting fixtures and pieces, craft items, kits and patterns for stained glass, display cases, books, and frames for sale. Check back to see the actual dates. Tentatively planned so far are the 15th & 29th of March.