Good news! Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage has a new home (which is why we now feel bona fide) in Little Falls, MN.
It’s been a long time coming. We lost the shop space we were renting last November. Erik searched for other rental possibilities but couldn’t find anything appropriate. As winter turned to spring, he started looking for buildings to purchase. This particular one was not yet for sale, but Erik contacted the owners and they said they had been intending to list it. We agreed on a purchase price and had a closing date set in May.
Alas! The May date was fouled up by some title issues that took time to work through. We officially closed on the building last Monday. Woohoo!
Appropriately enough, our “new” shop is a mid-century building, having been constructed in the 1960s. Note the lovely turquoise siding. Like most of the furniture we pick to restore, this building needs a lot of TLC, which we will give it as we can afford to make improvements. (For those interested in the history of the building, it originally served to house garbage trucks and was most recently used for vehicle storage.)
We’ve started on renovations, with Erik and our son Sebastian building shelves to store furniture and spending the entire past week moving accumulated inventory into the space.
Purchasing this shop would not have been possible without the help of Erik’s parents, who provided some capital toward the project, and our credit union, which had faith in our vision. The previous owners, Lynn and Keith, allowed us to use the shop through the summer and paint a room for our photo studio. Thanks to everyone who has assisted us in growing our business.