What Taking a Great Leap Looks Like

I'm feeling a little nostalgic this week. Right around tax day I am reminded that was the day I took a big leap and purchased the building that we call Fuzzy Goat's home. It was ten years ago. I was still working at Florida State University and right after the purchase, I gave my notice, though it would take four more months to shine this building into the gem she wanted to be; "it smelled like boiled peanuts in a wet sock." Our building had never had air conditioning, it rained in the building such that the floor buckled 8" high and it was filled with tons of old TV parts (it was last a TV repair shop - complete with a burn spot in the window where a tube caught fire!). It wasn't on the "fancy street" but I could afford it (and watched enough HGTV to think anything could be rehabbed with the right contractor). She has given us so many gifts, a skylight, brick walls, creaky oak floors, original tin ceilings, miles of old pine shelving we turned into shiplap and barn doors for the classroom, deep windows and transom windows, and that old rusty roof became a great feature wall. Not to mention the Ritz Amphitheatre that was built later behind the shop. Why Thomasville? I loved to come up from Tallahassee and wander with my bestie while we ate and shopped and laughed. And there were four yarn shops in Tallahassee that I loved to shop in at the time and I really didn't want to compete with them, so I came up here, I am so glad that I did!

The real story is what happened when you all showed up. It demonstrated 1st hand the difference one small main street business can make to a town - or what renovating one building can do to a whole block. After we opened and the knitters didn't care that we weren't on the "fancy street" (which truly is pretty spectacular and home to lots of my small biz friends) we saw one building after another be renovated and become home to fun thriving businesses such as Big Adventure Outfitters, Active Soles, Element Style Bar, Courtney's Couture Boutique, T'velo Brewing Company (on our right - Thomasville's own brewery!) and of course Empire Bagel and Delicatessen next door on the left.

You all really made a lot of that happen - me and our town thank you! We get visitors now from all over and if you haven't had a chance to visit yet, we hope you'll plan to enjoy our town soon

And stay with us at Jane + Hanks!

Happily,

Cadence