Tag Archives: small business

It pays to shop around.

March 29, 2024 Rivergirl 16 Comments

My husband couldn’t understand why I wanted to visit sooo many different furniture stores. We’d picked out the style of couches….

And the matching chair and ottoman.

I’d even decided on the fabrics.

But the price quotes were all over the place.

That’s a considerable difference, and surprising because the highest quote came from the large chain store that constantly crows about its low prices.

And just when my (very patient) husband was crying uncle and telling me to “buy something already!”….

I found an even lower price for the exact same thing.

From $7,775 to $5,798.

A savings of $1,977.

Yay me.

Less money and the satisfaction of supporting a small business that’s been in the same family for over 100 years.

That’s what I call a win win.

Free delivery in 6-8 weeks.

😊

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Is it wrong that I’m enjoying his discomfort this much?

February 11, 2024 Rivergirl 28 Comments

He didn’t believe me when I told him how hard it’s been to find fabric for the furniture he chose so I’m continuing to show him firsthand.

Seeing is believing after all.

In my search I’ve discovered that even though different stores sell the same brand, they’ll often have different fabric available and I’ve made it my mission to check them all.

Hence our trip to Waterville to a small but 5th generation family run store.

Their showroom is a two story barn from the 1800’s.

And while they didn’t have the particular style set we wanted, they can order it…. at what turns out to be $600 less than their larger competitors. Free delivery included. I’m all about supporting small local businesses so this is where we’ll purchase it.

If we can ever decide on a fabric.

Green is still nonexistent. And even the blues that I didn’t really want are muted. But I pulled and pulled hopeful something would catch my eye.

This photo perfectly portrays how thrilled my husband was to be on the journey.

🤣

I’d tentatively narrowed it down to these two with the husband bored out of his mind behind me.

Until…

He discovered a huge computer loaded with the company’s app.

With it you pick your style…

And punch in the fabric number for a peek at what it will look upholstered. He had fun with this for quite a while, laughing at how horrible some of the patterns were. But when I gave him the number for the fabric I was considering?

I stopped laughing because he said the cushion had two eyes staring at him.

Jesus wept.

Will nothing please this troublesome spouse!

🥴

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Our local.

June 19, 2021 Rivergirl 25 Comments

This is the interior of our local pub.

Small, rustic and not at all fancy. But the food is fresh and tasty, the drinks are strong and cheap. What more could you want?

We’re regulars and feel good supporting a local business. Our town has never had a pub before so the owners had to fight long and hard for licensing as well as acceptance. Some of the older residents of our little hamlet thought a bar would attract a bad element, but this small establishment is just as likely to be serving lunch to a troop of Girl Scouts as they are the functioning alcoholics. Lawyers and fisherman. Bankers and construction workers. Hippies and veterans. You never who will sit on the neighboring stool.

We’ve met more locals here in the past 2 years than we have living in this town for 19. And it should come as no surprise that when we introduce ourselves and explain where we live? Everyone always says… oh, the big red barn with the nice porch. Sure!

And if you’re wondering just how rural my town can be? Take a look at who pulled up the other day…

🤣

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I love my town.

May 11, 2021 Rivergirl 24 Comments

I live in the country, in a small Maine town. This is never more apparent than when you read their local Facebook page.

I don’t golf, never have. But if I could hire a personal goat caddy? I might have to start.

And speaking of goats….

Rent a goat. Now there’s a small business worth supporting.

And if you think we’re all about goats, never fear.

We have worms right next to the milk and butter in our grocery store’s dairy case.

And finally… are we really doing this now?

Puppy play dates. What happened to the good old days when neighborhood dogs just met on the corner and sniffed each other butts?

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Word of the day – adaptation.

January 22, 2021 Rivergirl 13 Comments

Adapt or die, you’ve all heard the phrase. And never has it been more crucial for small businesses to do just that.

Bars and restaurants have been especially hard hit by the pandemic and though take out food helps them stay afloat, it’s in the bar that establishments realize their largest profit.

Enter The Great Lost Bear.

A veritable institution of alcohol and beer consumption in Portland, Maine for the past 40 years. With 80 rotating taps…

And a large creative menu, it’s worth the hassle of trying to finding a parking spot on the always crowded Forest Avenue.

(If you’re a fan of John Connelly’s books? This is the bar Charlie Parker uses as a makeshift office.)

Sadly, we haven’t visited this paragon of drunkenness for quite some time but I was pleased to see they’re adapting.

With outdoor drinking during good weather…

And cocktails to go when Mother Nature says no.

Brilliant!

Some of them sound quite tasty.

And now that we have our own bar, I might have to mix a few.

Pie in a glass?

Who doesn’t love that?

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I should have known this was coming.

December 9, 2020 Rivergirl 39 Comments

The Barn Mahal is the gift that keeps on giving. It grows. It changes. It morphs into something I no longer recognize as a barn.

Why do I say this?

Because last week my husband took me shopping for the next addition to his man cave extraordinaire.

Yes.

He wants a refrigerator.

And because he’s a man who demands instant gratification, he wanted to go home with it that day… which we quickly discovered was impossible. Thank you Covid 19…. yet another reason you suck.

All the refrigerators pictured on this blog, every last one of the small barn appropriate models that were on the display floor?

Unavailable.

It was enough to send us to our local pub for a drink… or two, and lunch.

Which for me was a massive fried haddock sandwich with homemade onion rings. For the husband?

A tool box and the light filtering blind we bought for the window we always sit in front of. The sun shines through it something fierce and we were tired of our bartender talking to us with his hand over his eyes.