Well, I know you have all been waiting patiently (well, some of you have...not naming any names though, Kathie) to hear the big news! We are expanding!!
For those of you who have been on this journey with us, you know that we started Burlap and Lace amidst a pandemic at a time when there were no large events happening. In fact, gatherings of over 10 people were frowned upon. Crazy, right!?
Well, we had a plan...and that plan is starting to come together.
Burlap and Lace is a family-run business. We wanted to start out small and be intentional in our growth. We all have full-time jobs outside of running B&L, so we didn't want to overwhelm ourselves by growing too fast.
Plus, in 2020 who knew what the 'new normal' post pandemic would look like? Would people continue to gather for large events or were we silly thinking event rentals was a good business to get into?
The new normal following the pandemic has shown us that people are craving interactions with other people. Events that were postponed in 2020 and even in early 2021 are starting to be rescheduled and boy has the event industry taken off!!
We started out with our showroom in the basement, which worked out great. We loved the flexibility it gave us. But we are literally bursting at the seams and we knew we needed to execute that next phase for our business. Check out this Facebook live I did of my showroom about a year ago. Look how much stuff we've added since our original photos. Wow!
We've slowly been able to add products to our inventory - products that our clients wanted and were asking for. I 'kid you not' when I say that every square inch of our spare bedrooms is filled with this extra inventory. (Our daughter) Madison's old room was turned into my linen storage room. I have totes and totes full of tablecloths, runners, chair covers and more! (Our son) Ryne's old room was turned into my linen ironing station. I have two ironing boards set up to iron linens. Not to mention both of their rooms hold the furniture we rent out as well.
So, part B of our plan is to expand beyond our basement showroom. We are so excited to announce that we are partnering with Blunier Builders Inc on the construction of a pole barn that will be the new home to Burlap and Lace Event Rentals. We are building it right here on our property, so the flexibility we have with being able to literally 'walk across the yard' to our business will not go away.
It is a 30 x 48 x 12 ft structure. It has a front door with a covered porch (great for when it's raining) that will lead you right into our showroom. We will have so much more room to display the items we have available for rent, including all of our arbors and furniture. Behind the showroom will be a large workroom with large tables to allow us to pack up orders outside of the showroom space.
And that large overhead door on the left will be a place to store and load/unload the trailer. It will also house our inventory of table and chairs. Yes, we now rent tables and chairs! They are stacked up in our garage right now. Here's a picture of them in the trailer after we brought them home.
Where will this pole barn be built, you ask? Right at the edge of our driveway. The head of logistics, aka Mick, wanted to be able to back the trailer into the driveway and back right into the pole barn. No more making the curve around the driveway. Good thinking...I see why he is in charge of logistics! So, at this time next year, you will see a pretty, new pole barn in the spot that now holds our ugly burn pile.
Stay tuned for behind the scenes photos and stories of the progress of the building. Plans are for the work to start this winter and complete in time for the busy 2024 wedding season. Stay tuned for more exciting behind the scenes action! And, who knows, we may even have a phase 3 brewing in our heads...