happy halloween.

due to time restraints [as always] we had to hire drywallers to come and install the drywall for us within our built-ins cabinets instead of us doing it ourselves. even though we hired out to speed up the process-- it still pushed us back a few days and won't be completed until wednesday. so this weekend will be busy finishing the painting and fixtures for the back and front......

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

shoes with soul

photo by Tim Robison

If you've rounded the curve from Pisgah Church onto North Elm lately you may have noticed something a little out of the ordinary....dozens and dozens of red shoes marching toward the new store. These shoes, dipped in red paint and labeled with information about The Salvation Army, are one of several installations created by the Revisioning Retail studio to drive donations and generate attention for the new store. The shoes, all either missing mates or beyond repair, were given new 'souls'...just like the rest of the used items that are kindly donated to The Salvation Army each and every day.  No longer destined for the landfill, these shoes will continue to live through future displays in The Salvation Army Select.

and we're up and running...

runway ready

...okay- not quite ready but we are getting close! carpet has been installed in both the entryway and office/break room thanks to right touch interiors. it is really unbelievable to start seeing our vision coming into reality and also relieving at the same time to know one thing is complete-- the FLOOR!

since both the concrete is refinished and carpet is installed-- we are now going to be covering up the carpet so we can begin framing the built-in cabinets. we are still waiting on the electrician to come and adjust the track lights because some are going to be shinning directly on top of the cabinets??! we have decided to have him come back to move the lights once fixtures are in place so he can accurately adjust them.

nice shiny new floor

the concrete floor has been sanded and is now dry with a clear sealant.......and is very SHINY! even though the checkered pattern + remnants of the previous brown stain haven't been completely erased- it gives the space a sense of where its been and where it is now. the floor is now prepped and ready for carpet install tomorrow.....red carpet- here we come!

meanwhile back at uncg

Third and fourth-year interior architecture students studying retail design are contributing to the effort through unique and resourceful store displays using broken, worn-out and otherwise unusable goods.  In addition, the energetic group is unleashing innovative guerrilla marketing ideas to drive donations and generate attention for the store. Much of their effort thus far has been, well, dipped in paint. More details on this to come...

In the meantime, feast your eyes on these images, all through the lens of student Tim Robison.

at last...some color!

the painting in the front of the store is now finished! we kept our brushes busy in order to coat the walls in paint before we had our concrete re-finished. concrete surface alternatives will be re-finishing our concrete tomorrow-- by sanding down the existing concrete then applying two coats of clear sealant on monday. bye bye mixed matched concrete...hello new pretty shiny concrete......

bringing it to the back...

the mural is now complete-- THANK YOU and well done sage! as sage finished up the mural- matt and i FINALLY finished up the brown coats of paint in the front and back! i don't think either one of us wants to see brown paint for a very long time....

we have also received our carts from global industries- these will be used to sort the donations once they arrive at the store into things that will stay and things that will be trucked over to the family store. we also received some nice donated desks and filing cabinets from a law firm that was moving-- we now have the office stocked! now how about that lounge....

...and keeps going....

day after day as sage continues painting the mural-- we continue taping and painting the walls brown. along side preparing the store- matt has also been busy in the woodshop at the gatewood studio arts building- working with the product design studio that is building the in-store fixtures and fixtures for the back donation center [pictures to follow soon...]

the painting continues...

sage has now started the mural with a nice capture of greensboro's skyline and will continue expressing the salvation army's mission in pictorial form as the painting continues.

and we're off......

...with the first coat of brown to prep for the mural painted by artist- sage hanna. the mural will be placed under the drop-down ceiling behind the cash wrap to act as a backdrop and focal point within the store.