| New
Store Update, May
By Kenna S. Eaton
One month later and so much progress on our
new store has been made, unfortunately you can’t see any of it yet. During
the past month we have re-designed the store floor plan several
times as we try to make room for everything and everyone. It’s
been a long and arduous task and probably is not over yet.
Allen
Seidner, a deli consultant, visited us in early April to help
design both the production and the service areas of
the
kitchen, as well as to help design our new food programs.
We have discussed a lot of different food options for the kitchen
but we still haven’t finalized exactly which ones will
be implemented right away and which will be saved for later.
Much of the decision centers not only on the costs for equipment
but the increased costs of staff and production to support those
pieces of equipment. It’s far more complex than the last
time we moved and tends to boggle my brain quite a bit. I already
know more than I did a month ago, but I’m still learning
and there’s still many more decisions to make!
We’ve spent a lot of time working on generating a list
of refrigeration equipment (both new and existing) for the
whole store and its specific placement in the building. Most
of our
refrigeration will be plumbed directly up towards the ceiling
with compressors located on the roof. Our goal is to provide
our landlord with a roof plan before the building gets re-roofed
(tentatively scheduled for May).
We’ve visited with the City to see what will be required
of us in terms of number of parking spots versus the amount
of green space. Moscow has a Downtown Plan that asks businesses
to consider adding green space when upgrading or remodeling
their
environments and, of course, we want to be as compliant as
possible!
The
Sustainability Committee met with Avista to look at places
we could improve energy use. Avista does have some “pay
back” programs that might be able to help offset costs
of replacing outdated energy consumption in the store. The committee
is working hard to provide our design team with a wide variety
of “green” options and related costs as well as
alternative forms of funding (see article elsewhere in the
newsletter).
The
Finance committee will now be meeting weekly to review the
income and expenses for the project and to give the green
light
to both the budget and any changes we will want to make as
the months go by.
A
month ago we received the keys to the building and this month
we actually took possession—a subtle but important distinction:
now the work could really begin! As you may have seen or read
in the local paper we did decide to close off the parking lot
as a courtesy to our subcontractors who need free and clear access
to the store on short notice. Since we need to know where we
stand before we begin construction, we’ve had plumbers
evaluate the pipes & drains and electricians evaluate the
electrical systems and we’re still gathering information
about the general building. The asbestos abatement company
from Spokane finished removing both the tile and the mastic
from the
store floor and we passed the asbestos testing phase in the
store in mid-April. Shortly thereafter we received our demolition
permit
from the City of Moscow, so now are embarking on a new phase
and some more new stuff for Kenna to learn! |
