skyline
A Vermont Furniture Showroom and Cafe: Co-located at Skyline?
Part of our feasibility study to see if the Skyline property on Vermont's Hogback Mountain would work for Vermont Woods Studios is anaylzing the possibility of co-locating a cafe or wine bar with the furniture showroom. It's not a real natural combination, is it (furniture and food)?
But two factors keep pointing to the pairing of these functions at Skyline:
- The Skyline location, on top of Hogback Mountain, with it's 100 mile view of the Green Mountain Forest offers what I've been looking for to raise awareness about where your wood furniture comes from. After all, you can buy imported wood furniture anywhere but it's probably going to be made from illegally harvested trees, clear-cut from the world's rapidly disappearing tropical rainforests. Our customers are interested in acquiring heirloom quality, Vermont-made furniture that's crafted from natural, solid, wood that's been sustainably harvested from beautiful, well-managed American forests (more about green, environmental concerns here).
- The other factor is that: How could you operate ANYTHING at Skyline without inviting people to come up and enjoy the view? It would be kinda like that commercial for Ally bank where the guy asks 2 little girls if they'd like a pony. He shows a real pony to one of the girls but only gives her a little figurine instead. The announcer says something like: "even kids know it's wrong to hold out on somebody." That's how I'd feel having a business at Skyline that didn't offer people a place to relax and enjoy the view with a cup of tea or a glass of wine.
So now we're trying to figure out how to strategically pair a Vermont-made furniture showroom with a cafe or wine bar. Allocating space is the conundrum of the day. 60% furniture — 40% cafe? Additional seasonal seating outside? I guess the answers will reveal themselves as we do our research.
Got ideas? Suggestions? Interested in running an upscale cafe at Skyline? Contact us on Facebook and jump into the conversation. We'll be looking for local help as we navigate through the feasibility study and (hopefully) beyond.
Vermont Skyline Project: Feasibility Study
Ken and I are under contract at Vermont Woods Studios to purchase the old Skyline Restaurant on Hogback Mountain in Marlboro, Vermont for use as a small furniture showroom, administrative office and cafe. Right now our emphasis is on conducting a feasibility study to see if the property can be renovated to meet our needs.
If you're local to Southeastern Vermont, you no-doubt remember eating a delicious, hearty breakfast at Skyline while enjoying the incredible 100 Mile view. It was the kind of place you thought would always be there for you, the next time you were in the neighborhood. I'm not sure why the restaurant shut down (about 4 years ago?) but it's in pretty bad shape at the moment.
We've been working with Jeremy Coleman of J Coleman & Company Architects on evalutaing the condition of Skyline's heating, air conditioning, plumbing and structure these past couple weeks to see which systems will have to be totally gutted and replaced and which, if any may be partially salvaged. It looks to me like there will be a lot of replacement.
If you're in the area or you're interested in green building or the story of Skyline, keep an eye on our project through this blog and Facebook. We'll be posting progress as we go. If Skyline is a feasible location for a Vermont made furniture showroom and we do end up purchasing the property, we'll be looking for local help to transform it. Contact us if you interested in getting involved.
Vermont Furniture Store: Expansion Plans
I guess I should say expansion plans, hopes and dreams. Well at any rate, we are once again very excited to be out-growing our space at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture and we're looking at options for the future. We love our landlord here in Vernon and we've already rented a second suite from him. But we're also starting to think that purchasing a property might be smart.
Here's Ken, waiting for me to climb onto his bike as we cruise around Vermont looking at potential places. We asked our favorite real estate agent, Suzanne King of Masiello Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate for help and she's been kind enough to show us dozens and dozens of properties, including these:
- Brattleboro, High Street
- Brattleboro, Western Ave
- Stowe, Above the Clouds (not really, but I wish
I feel horrible asking Suzanne to trek around all over tarnation with us, but as we grow our needs keep changing, so the properties we looked at 3-6 months ago are no longer adequate. We keep needing more room! Lately we've been looking at an old, historic property in Marlboro, Vermont where the Skyline Restaurant used to be. The building is dilapidated but it's on a property with a stunning view and it's right in the middle of Vermont's Green Mountain Forest. It's an interesting possibility as we work to raise awareness about forest conservation and our green mission.
Have any other ideas we should check out for our next move? Let me know and I'll keep you posted on our progress as we move forward.
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