Reopened for Business!
It has been almost 4 years since we moved into this building and we have now completed the first phase of my original vision of the store layout. It has taken 30 days to complete the changes and I think you all will find the new shop to be quite a change for the better. Not only are all our changes saving us in energy use but the store is also much brighter and improved air quality. Our environmental changes included a change of all lighting fixtures to high efficiency flourescents, all 0 VOC paints and stains as well as a SOY based flooring sealant and stain treatment to the original concrete surface. 3 Fans now circulate the furnace air more efficiently through the store. Changeroom/warehouse/offices and bothroom lighting has all been changed to motion/heat sensor switches to ensure these areas only use energy when in use. Our next projects will be to introduce our roof to a solar energy system and service all our water needs with a rain capture system. For now check out our new shop. We have reopened as of December 3rd and while we are still working to get everything set up perfect we welcome you to come in a see all the changes and new gear! All this new snow should get us all in the mood for a great winter outdoors.
New Arrivals!
While the renovation was being completed our store room was getting pretty cramped. Our bike service area became more footwear storage and our walkways were getting filled with new arrivals! New fall orders from The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Lole, Outdoor Research, Madshus and Salomon Nordic Skis, Atlas and Tubbs Snowshoes and our expanded selection of snowsboards and clothing. It is a good thing we're were opening soon. We were pretty busy getting all the orders ready for the opening.Oh, and since the recent windstorm took down our store sign, up went the new version. Taller and sturdier this time around!
Floors!
All the lighting, walls and paint are now complete. The last stage of the reno are the floors which is the goal of complettion by Wednesday and then on to opening for the weekend. We have removed the combination of VCT Tile and carpet in favour of the original concrete floors. The original slab has turned out to be in very good condition and offers a clean and easy to maintain surface with the right treatments. Enter Sustainable Surfaces, a new local company offering environmentaly friendly floor resurfacing. After removing the tile and carpet we used a soy based product from EcoProcote to remove the remaining glue. After this process is complete, Sustainable Surfaces got to the job of using thier floor grinding machines to flatten out the concrete to a fine and smooth surface. When this is complete they can add the ecoprocote surface coatings which creates a floor of outstanding durability with no environmental impact. These attractive floor coatings can last for decades if not centuries with little to no maintenance other than regular mopping even under hard commercial traffic. We did also want to include some other floor surface for more visual interest so we have chosen to add some cork flooring to our footwear and new lounge area. When done we will have a great spot to enjoy a cup of java and check out the areas best collection of quality footwear.
Getting Close to Completion!
It's November 15th and we are almost ready to bring the gear back out. The Paint is near finishing and the final flooring and lighting is the project for the final days. All this great weather has made this a good time to get this all done. We know you guys aren't quite desperate for the winter stuff yet, so go ahead and enjoy it. Our paint is a no VOC paint and stains from Sustain in Huntsville. The product is called Safecoat and was originally produced for use in hospitals. We just love how great it goes on and actually smells kind of like chocolate. Hope you like the new color choices. Look for our email notice as we will be reopening soon with some great specials!
Day Nine? Lights!
Loads of work getting done the last couple of days. The building crew has been quickly creating the built - ins and McCoy's Decorating has been hard at work applying the mud and taping so we can get to painting. Craig Hunter Electric finished installing our new T8 high efficiency flourescent lighting from Nedco. The store is now very bright throughout and looks great. Looking forward to seeing the new Navajo White on the walls. Going to look very crisp! Thanks to all the guys who are really pulling through for us to get us open very soon.
Day Six & Seven
Clean up and ready for paint! Spent these days clearing out the excess drywall and letting the painters get at the ceiling. Will all this great weather now we are also of course taking some last opportunities to get out on the trails or at the new park with our bikes!
Day Five
Today was a lot of cleanup. The wiring and electrical are finished and we are well on our way to custructing all the new display areas. Everything that will be removed has been and now it was time to get everything cleared out. During this process we have made every effort to minimize waste and ensure any items we are not reusing are going to a good home. Many items such as lighting, electrical cable and wiring have gone to Habitat for humanity or other reusers. We took extra time in order to reuse existing building materials such as the 2x4's from removed walls and all trim is being reused though now of course it has a nice distressed look. Well the ceiling gets it's coats of paint over the weekend are we are back at construction on Monday. Pics will wait until then.
Days Three and Four
Deconstruction almost complete! Here is the shop in it's new open form making the 3000 ft2 front showroom feel much bigger and more open. The expected result: You can find your department easier, better lighting throughout the space and easier to provide customer service as the counter now has view of almost the entire store. The back area of the store will become the new location for Remedy Bike which will have it's own service counter.
Day Three:
Day Four:
Day Two
More knocking stuff down! After a sucessful removal of the ceiling tiles we set to work with the final removal of all the drop ceiling framing and old lighting standards. Craig Hunter Electric started thier work of removal of the old electrical and LS Computers began work on removal of old network wiring. The end of the days work left us with the clean factory ceiling and only our network and security cabling remaining.
Day One
Our favourite part of renovations: knocking things down! So day one is complete. 12 hours ago we started the deconstruction starting with removal of our entire inventory of gear and clothing. Surprisingly between our warehouse and our camping area, (which is being renovated later) we managed to move everything out of the main area. The focus of day one was to safely remove all the ceiling tiles and prepare for the site of the mess of wires from previous businesses. The ceiling materials were sent off to Habitat for humanity for reuse.
