Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
In the beginning...
My orders from the Amana Society were: Do it right. You're in charge. Make us proud. It sounded simple enough. Noe Haus Antiques is a wonderful, established business in a 150 year old brick home located on the main street of historic Amana, Iowa. This building is actually the joining of two early Amana houses. There was a brick house on the east lot and a brick house on the west lot and then they were connected by a brick addition in the middle. Something as simple as where to have the customer entrance took a lot of thought. Picture a 6,000 square foot building with a door on each end. The final decision was to go with the door with a ramp instead of steps.
I'm a listmaker, a planner and a goal setter. I got out my yellow legal pad and started to prioritize. Decisions need to be made on everything from writing a lease, meeting the current dealers needs, picking out paint colors, advertising, finances, sales desk placement, traffic flow, daily work assignments, payroll, software, structural concerns, current markets and trends, scam control, taxes, bringing in new dealers and keeping Jimmy in candy bars.
The best way to be successful is to surround yourself with good people. I was already surrounded by good people, so that was easy. There are many people behind the scenes and each and every one is outstanding at what they do. If I ask Dennis and Jimmy to remove a brick wall, they just smile like somebody asks them to do that everyday. If the brick wall turns out to be a major mess, the CEO just smiles and says "No more structural changes." Thanks to Mike, the technology is ready. Thanks to Kathy, the spreadsheet and paperwork is ready. Molly and Patti have gone through more gallons of paint and scrub water than they care to think about. The yard is raked and the tulips and daffodils will be blooming in time for MaiFest the first weekend of May. It's been a team effort all the way!
My favorite renovation has been removing all of the old carpet and replacing the flooring with salvaged wood shelving from the West Amana General Store. There is just something about 150 year old wood that looks and feels right in this historic home. If you look carefully, you can see the carvings in the wood. Once again it was Jimmy and Dennis to the rescue.
Check back next week for pictures of the updates to Noe Haus Antiques.
Store hours are 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. daily or by appointment.
Just in today is a wonderful pine corner cupboard with paned doors on top and blind doors on the bottom. Beautiful!
This weekend is the Midwest Antiques Show at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids http://www.midwestantiqueshow.com/. Check out this great show and then stop and shop at Noe Haus Antiques.
I'm a listmaker, a planner and a goal setter. I got out my yellow legal pad and started to prioritize. Decisions need to be made on everything from writing a lease, meeting the current dealers needs, picking out paint colors, advertising, finances, sales desk placement, traffic flow, daily work assignments, payroll, software, structural concerns, current markets and trends, scam control, taxes, bringing in new dealers and keeping Jimmy in candy bars.
The best way to be successful is to surround yourself with good people. I was already surrounded by good people, so that was easy. There are many people behind the scenes and each and every one is outstanding at what they do. If I ask Dennis and Jimmy to remove a brick wall, they just smile like somebody asks them to do that everyday. If the brick wall turns out to be a major mess, the CEO just smiles and says "No more structural changes." Thanks to Mike, the technology is ready. Thanks to Kathy, the spreadsheet and paperwork is ready. Molly and Patti have gone through more gallons of paint and scrub water than they care to think about. The yard is raked and the tulips and daffodils will be blooming in time for MaiFest the first weekend of May. It's been a team effort all the way!
My favorite renovation has been removing all of the old carpet and replacing the flooring with salvaged wood shelving from the West Amana General Store. There is just something about 150 year old wood that looks and feels right in this historic home. If you look carefully, you can see the carvings in the wood. Once again it was Jimmy and Dennis to the rescue.
Check back next week for pictures of the updates to Noe Haus Antiques.
Store hours are 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. daily or by appointment.
Just in today is a wonderful pine corner cupboard with paned doors on top and blind doors on the bottom. Beautiful!
This weekend is the Midwest Antiques Show at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids http://www.midwestantiqueshow.com/. Check out this great show and then stop and shop at Noe Haus Antiques.
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