March 2018 Update
Penngrove Market is a labor of love for us, and has been since we first conceived of the idea two years ago. Two years ago! It’s crazy to think it’s been so long! This idea of ours began as a seed and has continued to grow steadily, but it’s sometimes difficult to see the strides that have been made. We want to share with you some of the growth that’s occurred in the last few months as we prepare to open this spring.
As we get closer to opening the store, there's a series of things that need to be completed, and one can't be done before the other. For example- painting needed to be done before the fiberglass reinforced paneling could be installed, which needed to be done before the equipment arrived. But the floor needed to be finished before the painting could start, and then there was a leak in the roof with the last rains that needed to be plugged before anything could continue. The quartz countertops were installed last weekend in the checkout and coffee bars, which means that we're ready for our plumber to come in and connect the sinks. We also are waiting for our carpenter to come in and finish the trim on those counters, before we add the vintage tin ceiling tiles we picked up months ago and have been sanding and sealing. Our muralist is tentatively scheduled for the end of March to paint the mural on our wonderful cafe wall, and our equipment is slowly being shipped in. Our electricians are here almost daily, adding in another panel and adding track and pendant lights for our speciality areas. We needed to add another bathroom to the store, and the floor has been finished in there but once again we need the painting and the fiberglass reinforced panels before the plumbing can be completed. With such an old historic building there have been surprises along the way as well, thank goodness our landlord has been so helpful! We couldn't have done it without you Martin Sessi!
Those are a few of the things that have been, or need to be, accomplished, and in order to get them done we need to schedule each individual contractor and fit into their schedules. As anyone knows from doing a remodel- it can be very difficult to get everyone in when the work needs to be done because they're juggling so many jobs at a time. And realistically there's a lot more work to be done after the horrible fires in October, and not enough skilled labor to do it. Everyone we're working with has been really great about making us a priority and doing fantastic work- we're incredibly thankful! And please remember, all of that work we're talking about needs to be done before we can even set up shelves and order product! It's going to be a different type of work entirely when we finally get to that point!
Just to be clear- none of these are meant as excuses, and we're certainly not whining about all the work we've done and still need to do. Quite the opposite actually- we've enjoyed the process of getting the store ready to open a lot and now we just can't wait to show our wonderful community what our little seedling has grown into!