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The shop is a dream of mine, small, inviting, a place to sit, relax, visit, have coffee, breakfast, pie, bring a book, bring a craft project, have a small gathering for a church meeting, girl scout meeting, just to get together meeting, whatever. Depending on the size space I find I may toss in a few comfortable chairs so the crafters can craft and chat while the rest sit and visit having coffee at the tables, still unknown at the moment. You never know maybe I can actually find someone who can teach me the proper way to quilt and crochet and sew, time will tell.
Not so much a shop, as an old-fashioned parlour, where folks can go visitin' and 'set a spell'. This doesn't even need to be in a shop per se -- you might want to have it in a large front room in your own home, and consider it a variant on the Bed & Breakfast, except it's the All Day Long, or the Afternoon Set-a-Spell. I've seen this done as a tea house and it was very successful.
Instead of being in competition with the local cafe (which was a lot of the problem with the folks from Miami) it seems to me that the Set-a-Spell Parlour could be in partnership with them -- have the cafe provide stuff like pies and light meals, while you just keep hot coffee in the urn and hot water for tea, and ice tea in the summer. This would simplify your kitchen needs drastically, and would probably increase business for the cafe rather than hurting them when they're likely already on the edge of going under.
This sort of thing would lend itself to get-togethers for sewing or crotchet lessons or any of that sort of handicraft skill that is being lost, too. People get tired of having to spiff up their house to play host to such a group. Wouldn't it be great if we met at the Parlour instead?
And personally, I think small-town North Dakota is an ideal environment for this. You've got an older generation that miss the old days when they could get together and visit, and a younger generation who hasn't learned the value of that yet; both could benefit.
I don't know how you'd run the financial aspect but it sounds like this is something you can afford to do, rather than that you'll need to make a living at, and that can make it feasible in a small town.
Anyway, don't let the wicked comments chase you off. I would recommend visiting the town first, but I think you may find it's where you want to be.
BTW I was hatched in Devils Lake ND, and also lived in Bismarck
They didn't strike me as folks who deserved discouragin' And I think this sort of small community-based business (or quasi-business) is a good idea, wherever it may be. It's very similar to what gave rise to the concept of "Southern Hospitality" -- folks who could afford a nice house used to keep a parlour just for community visitin' (and those who couldn't afford that nice house did it on their porch), and it was a regular thing in most towns, up until the mid-1800s or so.
Not so much a shop, as an old-fashioned parlour, where folks can go visitin' and 'set a spell'. This doesn't even need to be in a shop per se -- you might want to have it in a large front room in your own home, and consider it a variant on the Bed & Breakfast, except it's the All Day Long, or the Afternoon Set-a-Spell. I've seen this done as a tea house and it was very successful.
Instead of being in competition with the local cafe (which was a lot of the problem with the folks from Miami) it seems to me that the Set-a-Spell Parlour could be in partnership with them -- have the cafe provide stuff like pies and light meals, while you just keep hot coffee in the urn and hot water for tea, and ice tea in the summer. This would simplify your kitchen needs drastically, and would probably increase business for the cafe rather than hurting them when they're likely already on the edge of going under.
This sort of thing would lend itself to get-togethers for sewing or crotchet lessons or any of that sort of handicraft skill that is being lost, too. People get tired of having to spiff up their house to play host to such a group. Wouldn't it be great if we met at the Parlour instead?
And personally, I think small-town North Dakota is an ideal environment for this. You've got an older generation that miss the old days when they could get together and visit, and a younger generation who hasn't learned the value of that yet; both could benefit.
I don't know how you'd run the financial aspect but it sounds like this is something you can afford to do, rather than that you'll need to make a living at, and that can make it feasible in a small town.
Anyway, don't let the wicked comments chase you off. I would recommend visiting the town first, but I think you may find it's where you want to be.
BTW I was hatched in Devils Lake ND, and also lived in Bismarck
This is exactly what I had in mind a bit like the old Walgreen's lunch counter. Limited menu, fresh coffee, a few tables to sit at except add a few chairs, couch, coffee tables, end tables etc for crafts and chatting and just plain visiting. Maybe bring the checker board and barrel inside when its hot, something like that. Thank you for such a beautiful post I'm glad I came back to read it.
This is exactly what I had in mind a bit like the old Walgreen's lunch counter. Limited menu, fresh coffee, a few tables to sit at except add a few chairs, couch, coffee tables, end tables etc for crafts and chatting and just plain visiting. Maybe bring the checker board and barrel inside when its hot, something like that. Thank you for such a beautiful post I'm glad I came back to read it.
The kind of place where if all you do is mooch one cup of coffee as you hang around all day, no one will mind, because the place is more about keeping company than it is about buying food. Seems to me that if there's nowhere else in town like that, it could also serve as an outlet for folks to show off their quilts and fancy doilies, and maybe sell a few to the odd tourist. And maybe where folks can bring cookies to share around if they wish.
It reminded me a lot of the get-togethers my great-aunt had in her home in Sarles ND (population 8) and how much fun everyone had. The advantage of doing it in a public parlour is that next week old Gertie won't be gossiping about the dust on top of your doorframes.
At any rate, I think it's a good old-fashioned concept that could stand to be revived, and I'll be interested to hear how it comes out. Do come back and let us know. Meanwhile, feel free to come over and set a spell on The Porch, possibly the longest-running visitin' session hereabouts.
"Wicked" or "negative" comments? Yikes! Stop getting your undies in a bunch! It amazes me when someone posts something perceived as "negative", people on the this thread go off when it comes to small town living. I guess one must be "North Dakotan correct" to post only of sunshine & rainbows in this forum.
Negative? Check the population growth (%) of every small town in ND with 500 or less people in it. It will be negative growth for nearly every small town. (Possible exceptions: Oil Country & out-lying towns of Bismarck, Fargo, & Grand Forks). Older people are dying off and not enough people are moving into those towns to even keep the population steady. It will at some point in time effect whatever business you are trying to run. Less people + less business = less moolah. Sorry if the facts are "negative" or "wicked".
Older people are dying off and not enough people are moving into those towns to even keep the population steady. It will at some point in time effect whatever business you are trying to run. Less people + less business = less moolah. Sorry if the facts are "negative" or "wicked".
A perk of modern technology is that it is possible these days to work in the "mess" without actually living in the mess if you hunt around a bit for online type employment in a field that can be easily done that way.
When I started looking for places to move, one thing other than the climate that was on top of my list was a zero growth or even negative growth small town. Understandably, that's not for everyone, but for some it is actually a good thing. I really think it will get easier to move to places like that with our progress in communications technology. It would be very nice if we reached a point that it doesn't matter where you live to do your job. It's getting there with some fields. That would certainly open it up for people who actually prefer living in these "horribly boring" little towns out in the middle of nowhere. I don't think it will change the demographics or cause a mass exodus in our modern age of 24-hour-a-day entertainment "requirements," but it does open things up a bit for those who don't need or want what large cities have to offer.
"Wicked" or "negative" comments? Yikes! Stop getting your undies in a bunch! It amazes me when someone posts something perceived as "negative", people on the this thread go off when it comes to small town living. I guess one must be "North Dakotan correct" to post only of sunshine & rainbows in this forum.
Negative? Check the population growth (%) of every small town in ND with 500 or less people in it. It will be negative growth for nearly every small town. (Possible exceptions: Oil Country & out-lying towns of Bismarck, Fargo, & Grand Forks). Older people are dying off and not enough people are moving into those towns to even keep the population steady. It will at some point in time effect whatever business you are trying to run. Less people + less business = less moolah. Sorry if the facts are "negative" or "wicked".
It always goes back to money. NOT everyone is MONEY ORIENTED and I am not sure what part of those two words are so hard to understand.
North Dakota is not even being considered any longer, too much negativity and way too money oriented for our liking. Appears to be way too hoity toity for being such a 'small town' as well, negativity and money not included; that takes it a few steps upward (in my opinion).
I'll take small town, quiet, tranquil and doing what I love to do and earning enough to keep it going and expand eventually if I choose to but it will NOT be in North Dakota.
North Dakota would be I think the least money oriented state there is.... You go out into the small towns and what you drive...how much money you have is about the farthest from most folks minds.
I wouldnt let posts from someone whom you dont know deter you from whatever dream you have.
Only money oriented folks I have run into are those who sons are on the Grand Forks travel youth hockey teams
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And I think this sort of small community-based business (or quasi-business) is a good idea, wherever it may be. It's very similar to what gave rise to the concept of "Southern Hospitality" -- folks who could afford a nice house used to keep a parlour just for community visitin' (and those who couldn't afford that nice house did it on their porch), and it was a regular thing in most towns, up until the mid-1800s or so.
