Set up & opening of my store from the beginning.

So, I'm a goldsmith. I had an opportunity to open my own jewellery store with a full goldsmithing studio for repairs & custom builds. I took the plunge & decied to launch a store. Here's the journey from getting the key to opening day.
Remember this picture? I got alot of Flack for posting my key... Not to worry, I have had the lock changed!

I found this location, it's inside a giant grocery store, in a strip of shops just past the checkouts.
In my market research, I discovered that many of my potential customers had items in need of repair but they were not sure where to take them. I figured that if I put a repair shop in a grocery store people could find me.

Space before I took possession.

Good size space, 650sqf with a wide opening in the shape of a triangle & a long rectangle in the back for my studio.

Picked a purple for the wall that my cash counter fits on & a blue/green for the rest of the space.

Layed out the space to see how much room I had for my cases & studio.

Eventually I opted to have a small seating area around the the pole instead of more cases.

Have to lock everything up! This beast weighs about 3000lb

Amazing what you can move with a lever! Got a small understand if how ancient people moved around giant blocks after witnessing my safe installed in the store.

Small but crazy secure safe. This one is almost as heavy!

Electrician running new lines for my equipment.

Logo time! My amazing husband designed my logo & branding.

I purchased cases & equipment from a closed jewellery business. It needed alot of work, I was panicking when they first arrived but everything turned out great.

Hubby & I put two of my work benches together & built a wall to divide the retail space from my studio.

Good thing my carpenter works for payment of MacDonalds :) ... He's hoping to be a kept man with a goldsmith for a wife.

Cash counter needed a re-face. On top are all the lights for the cases.

Found stone at a discount home supply store.

Like a glove! Hubby showing off his carpenter skills.

Making the dividing wall match the cash counter.

I've got a buddy who owns a metal sheet business, he used his water jet cutter to make me a sign for the wall behind the cash counter. Putting the puzzle together took a while!

So satisfying to peel of the stickers...

Logo!

Cases set up

Wall done, now to hang pendant lights... Ikea!

Beech set up, tiled behind. This will keep gemstones, tools & tiny pieces of gold from falling down between my bench & the wall. Plus I loved the hand painted tiles.

My polishing machine, hooks up to an industrial Air exchange in the back room. It filters out any dust that may have gold in it. Someday I will smelt the dust & it will be a nice bonus when I retire.

Check out this 3 phase plug... Had to call back my electrician for this baby!

Took a solid day to clean the glass on the cases. So many streaks!

Opening day (this past Tuesday)

Most of the items in the cases are consignment from Estates, auction houses, fine jewellery dealers & such. This let me open a jewellery stocked with gold, silver, platinum & diamonds without having to purchase them as inventory. It lets my consigners get retail exposure & top prices for their items. Win win :)

So proud of my store, it turned out better then I could have possibly dreamed! I also had a great first week, got absolutely slammed with business. Covered all my monthly expenses in the first week of sales.
So glad I didn't let anxiety stop me from persueing my dream!
Could never have done this without my awesome husbands support!

I'll post more details about my tools & studio soon!

This is the space done, looking from my studio or onto the space.

First repair, replacing a broken off claw on this antique diamond ring.