Location, Location, Location

I decided that the first thing I needed to do was find a location. I was looking for roughly 1000 square feet. What I didn't know, was how much retail space costs- yowza. It is EXPENSIVE. And everyone said that now is the time to do it because of the market...and it is still ridiculously expensive. I looked everywhere- Village Pointe, Downtown, Midtown Crossing, Midtown. These were all going to put me in the hole so far that I just didn't think it would be a good idea. Then one night I am talking with my parents and my Mom says, "why don't you look at space in our plaza?" My parents own Enchanted Honeymoons travel agency- an extremely successful travel agency here in Omaha. Which let me just point out here, I could never dream of doing something like this without the support from my husband first and foremost but also from my parents. My parents have always been big believers in working for yourself and obviously it rubbed off. And my husband is just a risk taker who believes in me more than I believe in myself- which I need time and again and always reminds me why I married him.

Anyways, back to what my Mom said about looking at space in their plaza. They are located in Hilltop Plaza just South of 108th and Center right across the street to the east from RockBrook. Great location just not the greatest looking plaza you have ever seen. But after a little thought, my Mom was right. Their travel agency plus the bridal shop and the spa that is already there, how many more brides could you get in one place. There are 100s of women walking in and out of here on a daily basis. Here is the best part- the rent is also a third the cost of all the others I looked at and a fourth the cost of some of them. Plus, a contracting company owns the plaza and they were willing to do the build out for free. This was looking better and better.

The space itself is not the most ideal. Barely any store front, long and narrow and it was only about 900 square feet (this included the bathroom and storage area) so my space for inventory was only going to be about 700 square feet. But the cost and location was just too good to pass up. And maybe starting real small is not such a bad idea.

After negotiating a few more benefits, it was looking like there was no way I could back out now. I'm going to have to be open for at least 3 years :)