Some Surprise Expenses

Posted: May 22, 2024

Hi All! As I mentioned in my last post, we’ve had a couple of surprise expenses pop up in the first half of this year. The most prominent is that the remodel that turned our cafe in to a bookstore and cafe ended up over time and over budget by a fairly substantial amount, but that was just the start of what looks to be a string of bad luck. This post details some of those things, and lists some of the ways you can help us get through it.

One of the A/C units at our makerspace failed, and it’s going to cost upwards of $8k to replace. It was old (like, 55+ years old) but we were hoping it would last another season or two, and after the additional expenses of the renovations and time closed, we’re not really in a position to deal with it right now, so we’re all a little warm.

Then a series of bad thunderstorms (one of which produeced 4 tornadoes!) rocked our town, damaging lots of people’s homes. We ended up with some substantial water damage which took out a portion of an interior wall and ceiling at the book store. We’re grateful it wasn’t worse, but it is more unexpected and unplanned expenses. A knock on effect of the storms is that traffic in town is lower than usual, so sales are lower than usual, so it’s going to take us longer than usual to cover these unexpected expenses.

Couple that with the fact that I’m not working a dayjob anymore and … well, it means Hard Times.

(that was a pro-wrestling joke, but it’s also a true statement.)

We’ll make it out the other side, but it’s going to be uncomfortable for a while. How uncomfortable it will be and how long “a while” is depend on what sales look like online and in store over the next few weeks.

If you’d like to help us afford to repair our walls and ceiling or replace our A/C unit you can:

Or come visit us in person at Hemlock Bazaar (131 N Main St, Ellijay GA 30540) or Mountain Town Antiques (12 N Side Square, Ellijay GA 30540) or the Ellijay Makerspace (54 Kiker St, Ellijay GA 30540).

As I said, we’ll make it through to the other side. We have a plan that should work, but it’ll be a lot easier and smoother with a little extra help.

Thanks!

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