One year ago this month we took possession of our new West Berkeley home. I was far too busy at the time to blog about the move, so I’m taking a few minutes to reflect on what can only be described as a miraculous effort on the part of this absolutely wonderful team—and to say publicly THANK YOU!!!
The dream team that made the move possible, having a well-deserved beer just before the grand opening. Left to right: Eric Johnson, Juan Lopez, Trevor Davis, Sam Edie (behind Trevor), Melchore Mendiola, Tim Holton, Joe Pieri, Jessie Dunn-Gilbert, and Karen Gorman. Not in the picture, but deserving credit: Stephanie McCoy (who took the picture), Jeff Lena, Carlos Reyes, Howard Ingram, Kevin Brown, and Cesar.
The move and build-out—
Thanks to Sam and Jessie for all the great pictures!
Before—
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- Hey, this could work!
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- Storefront exterior as we found it.
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- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
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- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
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- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
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- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
Building-out—
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- Planning the work.
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- Joe and Howard.
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- Tim in the showroom, seen through the opening for corner sample display. Boarded up storefront is behind him.
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- “This is going to be the showroom???”
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- Tim takes a laugh break with Kevin Brown and Judi Leff.
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- “I don’t know, just put the refrigerator over there.”
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- Tim’s office being painted.
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- Juan and Melchore in the gallery.
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- Looking through the side doors into the shop.
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- Shop doors installed.
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- Kevin Brown begins to contemplate the lighting.
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- Jessie, waiting patiently for her desk to show up, goes over the punchlist.
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- Showroom gets painted.
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- Floor/track for sliding corner sample display are installed.
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- Sliding corner sample panels are installed.
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- Fitting table’s installed in the fittng room.
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- Back room coming together.
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- The shop ready for machinery.
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- Machinery installed.
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- Sanded and finished fir subfloor that was under the vinyl tile.
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- Sam Edie cleaning up the new floor.
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- Design table put in place.
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- Trevor installing redwood trim.
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- Glass replacing plywood in the storefront.
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- Storefront windows all installed, and papered over till work is done.
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- Tim’s office all painted.
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- Eric takes a pause from trimming the trees out front to talk to Tim.
Moving—
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- The riggers, Iron Man Moving Co., prepare to move the machinery out of the old shop.
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- The riggers roll the big planer out of the old shop.
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- The riggers loading the tenoner into the truck.
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- The riggers loading a table saw in to the truck.
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- The old Emeryville shop emptying out.
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- My friend Jeff loading up his flatbed truck with lumber.
Done!—
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- The storefront restored to former glory.
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- The showroom ready for our first customers!
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- Our new hand-painted sign (by Derek MacDonald) and window lettering.
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- Well-wishers arrive, Trevor enjoys a beer!
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- At the grand opening—Jessie shows Carol Peek behind the scenes.
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- At the grand opening—Karen and Jessie after hanging pictures all day.
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- At the grand opening—Karen and Trevor.
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- At the grand opening—Trevor and Robert Flanary (who came all the way from Chehalis, WA to celebrate with us!)
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- At the grand opening—Tim and Trevor with Christin Coy