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—
- Hey, this could work!
- Storefront exterior as we found it.
- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
- The Libaire Leather Handbag Factory
Building-out—
- Planning the work.
- Joe and Howard.
- Tim in the showroom, seen through the opening for corner sample display. Boarded up storefront is behind him.
- “This is going to be the showroom???”
- Tim takes a laugh break with Kevin Brown and Judi Leff.
- “I don’t know, just put the refrigerator over there.”
- Tim’s office being painted.
- Juan and Melchore in the gallery.
- Looking through the side doors into the shop.
- Shop doors installed.
- Kevin Brown begins to contemplate the lighting.
- Jessie, waiting patiently for her desk to show up, goes over the punchlist.
- Showroom gets painted.
- Floor/track for sliding corner sample display are installed.
- Sliding corner sample panels are installed.
- Fitting table’s installed in the fittng room.
- Back room coming together.
- The shop ready for machinery.
- Machinery installed.
- Sanded and finished fir subfloor that was under the vinyl tile.
- Sam Edie cleaning up the new floor.
- Design table put in place.
- Trevor installing redwood trim.
- Glass replacing plywood in the storefront.
- Storefront windows all installed, and papered over till work is done.
- Tim’s office all painted.
- Eric takes a pause from trimming the trees out front to talk to Tim.
Moving—
- The riggers, Iron Man Moving Co., prepare to move the machinery out of the old shop.
- The riggers roll the big planer out of the old shop.
- The riggers loading the tenoner into the truck.
- The riggers loading a table saw in to the truck.
- The old Emeryville shop emptying out.
- My friend Jeff loading up his flatbed truck with lumber.
Done!—
- The storefront restored to former glory.
- The showroom ready for our first customers!
- Our new hand-painted sign (by Derek MacDonald) and window lettering.
- Well-wishers arrive, Trevor enjoys a beer!
- At the grand opening—Jessie shows Carol Peek behind the scenes.
- At the grand opening—Karen and Jessie after hanging pictures all day.
- At the grand opening—Karen and Trevor.
- At the grand opening—Trevor and Robert Flanary (who came all the way from Chehalis, WA to celebrate with us!)
- At the grand opening—Tim and Trevor with Christin Coy