We just got a call from Kara over at Not A Number who, you may remember, told us just last week that they were likely going to have to move out of Wallingford for good. At the eleventh hour, a reprieve has come! Here is the message we got from Kara on our voicemail:
Exactly a week to the day after we announced at the Chamber lunch that we would be closing or moving probably outside the entire area of Wallingford, we have just now completed an interesting discussion with our current landlord. After last night we were pretty set on moving to, get this, to South Lake Union, very opposite side of the lake, but it would have been sharing space with our good friends at Goods for the Planet, but we did just find out from our landlord here that he had a person interested in both spaces, but he decided that he had second thoughts, and he wanted to offer it to us, so this would be downsizing into the smaller section that we had originally talked about, but he decided that it would be better for the community and a good thing to do, and he knows us and supports us, and perhaps a nice supportive e-mail from Cheryl at Harold’s Lamps helped, so it looks like we’ll be open through the day after tomorrow, Saturday, and we’ll close for a week or so, and we’ll be moving next door, so our new address will be not 1905 but 1907.5, and it will be a different configuration, but that’s OK.
Our neighbors are so happy, Fainting Goat was just full of hugs and Sock Monster was just so delighted. We would love to find our nice landlord find a new tenant that would fit in with the community to come into our larger section and perhaps if we all get along, we can leave those doorways open. We would love to do that. So, anyway, that’s my story.
Now, I know, a real reporter would have parsed all that out into “said Ms. Ceriello” and “according to our sources” and such, but if we did that, you’d miss hearing it right as we did.
But, yes, those of you who have grown up on Powerpoint may have gotten lost, so here it is ready for your slidedeck:
- Not A Number
- Staying in Wallingford
- Closed Next Week
- New space = room between main store and Sock Monster
- New tenant still sought for main space
- Ideal tenant -> doors remain open
Congratulations Jon and Kara! Add our hugs to Fainting Goat’s.
This is great news! Not a Number has become a landmark business in Wallingford and it would have been a tragedy to have lost them. Kudos to their landlord for working this out for them.
Can you please add some pie charts and bar graphs to your Power Point presentation. Thxeversomuch!
Three cheers for Not a Number! Huzzah!
I wan t cake with the pie!
So, does that mean the tequila moving party you ivited me to is cancelled?
I think it will be a Tequila opening party, so yes there are still plans for the party of some sort, stay tuned for details. I just want to say many thanks to all the kind things that people have written and said in the last week! It has been a joy to be in the Wallingford neighborhood.
I want to state a couple of things for the record, as some of you have asked. First, our struggles are NOT due to Archie Mcphee’s moving into the neighborhood. If anything, they have been good for our business, as we normally refer customers back and forth all the time. Second, this is NOT a case of a greedy landlord. Our landlord has been GREAT to work with. He is not overcharging (unless you call renting at market rates overcharging, which would be a good topic for further discussion elsewhere). He is charging a us a fair market rate for a good retail location. If anything he has gone against his own best interest in letting us downsize, as he had another tenant ready who wanted both our storefronts. So now he has an empty space rather than the income he would have had. Like a majority of small retailers, we have had declining sales that have resulted in us struggling to meet our bills. I think it is the economy coupled with people re-examining how they spend their time/money. We hope that with less overhead we will be able to weather the bad economy.
Now a little song paraphrasing the Beatles that comes from ALL small local merchants everywhere
Your loving gives us a thrill
Your loving doesn’t pay our bills
We need sales, that’s what we need
Give us sales
If you like a business (I left out the word small, as even large businesses need customer’s support), patronize them! Without your patronage, they go away no matter how much you might have liked them.
THANK YOU WALLINGFORD! We look forward to continuing to serve you from our downsized location.
PS Support your local Wallingford Merchant while saving yourself some money using the WallingfordSaves.com neighborhood discount program (which I started and administer). Save money at over 35 participating Wallingford businesses. The local economy starts with YOU!
I’m sure Not A Number’s bottom line has not been helped by the departure of George W. Bush.
Please see our comment rules, DOUG. Talking about people’s bottoms is not appropriate.
I am so glad this is working for Jon and Katy! The store “fits” in Wallingford, we love it. I’ll buy more stuff! I appreciated Jon’s comments. I can easily see how Not A Number and Archie’s complement each other. Also the discussion about the landlord, and the general comments about patronizing our local merchants is valuable.
can we talk about the bottom of peoples feet?
Yippie kiyo Hooray! I’m ecstatic that NaN is staying, as are so many others! Yes, Jon is so right — to keep the high going, we must all purchase all that we (sanely) can to keep NaN open, and open right where it belongs.
Not a Number’s bottom line will surely improve the moment Sarah Palin announces her candidacy. Though I could give care less about her bottom.
Also, apologies for being a music nerd, but “Money” was not written by The Beatles, it’s a cover song. One of the few both The Moptops and Stones recorded (“I Wanna Be Your Man”‘s another). Sorry, I’ll sign off and go listen to my Paula Cole and Enya records now… 🙂
To clarify further, “Money” was written by neither the Beatles nor Stones, but “I Wanna Be Your Man” is Lennon/McCartney. Hey, didja know Brian Jones played on “Baby You’re a Rich Man” and John and Paul sing on the Stones’ acid-laced 45 “We Love You”? Okay, I’ll shut up, I promise…….
Speaking of bottoms, we do have Sarah Palin TP in stock. Expensive, but using it priceless. Everything in the store is 30% off. Mention Wallyhood for an extra 20% off – we need to get rid of some stuff for the downsizing. We will be open tomorrow, and then close for 7-10 days with a target grand reopening party on March 13th.
Great news, Jon and Kara (both the staying in the neighborhood and Sarah Palin’s bottom).