Where Do You See Yourself Going

Where Do You See Yourself Going

When I read my email for today’s suggested topic in the Ultimate Blog Challenge I knew exactly what I would be writing about.  The topic is to write a blog about where you have been, where you are now and where you see yourself going in the future.  When the challenge started, I gave a run down about things that happened since the July challenge and I mentioned I had something else to write about but it needed its own blog post.  So today is the day to make our big announcement.

Where have we been?   Hubby and I started our sewing business back in 1965 in upstate New York. I started sewing way before that when I was young and would help my grandmother when she sewed. I did alterations, dressmaking, men’s suits and then on to wedding dresses.  After I was married, hubby joined in and we added window treatments, bedding, slipcovers and light upholstery.   In 1994 we relocated to South Carolina to be with my mom while she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.  We grew and grew in our interior decorating, mostly from word of mouth, referrals and repeat clients.

In upstate New York we worked off our dining room table then “relocated” to our basement as we grew.  When we moved to South Carolina, we rented a 1000 sq. ft. storefront and within a few years we expanded by another 1000 sq. ft.  This is a blog I wrote a few years ago about how our interior decorating business was born. http://themarthareview.com/how-mar-cs-was-born/

 

Where are we now?   We have had such a successful business for the past 53 years in total.  In the 24 years since relocating to South Carolina, we have met so many clients who have turned into super friends.   We have the workroom in the back part of our shop so people can stop in and see us fabricating their window treatments.  We have designed treatments for both residential and commercial.

 

 

Whether it’s a mobile home, a condo or apartment, a modest home or a multi million dollar home, we have decorated them all.   Each treatment we design, the fabrics we use and the finished product is unique to each client.  http://themarthareview.com/what-has-changed-from-years-past/

 

When our now 22-year-old granddaughter was about 6 weeks old, she started “working” with us at the shop.  Our clients enjoyed watching her and her brother grow up helping us in the shop.  Throughout the years our client/friends would stop in to say hi to our little ones.  Yes it was a great time being able to have Alexandra and Zachary work with us.

 

Where do we see ourselves going?  So this is where our big announcement comes in.   Since March, hubby has had two hip replacements, one had already been replaced in 2007 so that surgery ended up being a bit problematic.  He now needs knee replacements but more importantly, back surgery.  Rich is the kind of guy that never slows down even if he’s in pain and all he is doing is making things worse health wise. Rich will by 73 and I’ll be 70 soon and we aren’t getting any younger plus our health is becoming more important. So we made the decision to retire our interior decorating business and start a new chapter in our lives.  Cleaning out 53 years of our lives has not been the easiest thing to do especially since I see so many memories in the things that are in our shop.

 

While I was cleaning out a drawer, I found a picture that our grandson made when he was probably around 5 or 6 years old.  Zachary would always draw cute pictures for us and the little things like this mean so much to us.

 

In another drawer I found a letter our granddaughter wrote to our pup whom she loved dearly.  Alexandra would dress Marty up and would read him stories, he was more like a person instead of a pup!  Yes so many memories that will never be forgotten.

 

So as we close the door of Mar-C’s Interiors after 53 years, we are now opening a new one.  I enjoy designing and sewing so much and we will be starting our new chapter making adorable baby items.   Our Mar-C’s Minky’s was born a few weeks ago and along with our granddaughter Alexandra, we will be making adorable Minky blankets, pillows and other unique baby items.  But it won’t stop with just baby blankets, we have adults that love the super soft Minky fur and will be adding adult sized Minky blankets soon.

 

Now do you remember when I told you our 22-year-old granddaughter started working with us at Mar-C’s Interiors when she was about 6 weeks old?  Well what goes around, comes around!  Alexandra’s precious daughter, our 6 week old GREAT granddaughter will be the official quality control inspector at Mar-C’s Minkys!  She is doing an excellent job checking them out!

It’s fair to say, for the past two weeks hubby and I have worked non-stop sorting, tossing, giving away and moving things and we are beyond exhausted. But we will get it done and turn the page.  We have had 53 wonderful years in our business that started on a dining room table and grew into a 2000 sq. ft. storefront and now I’m excited for the next chapter in our life.