Mackenzie and I plan on posting weekly progress reports to let you know what’s going on with Assemble. There are two reasons for doing this.
- To keep us motivated.
- To keep you in the loop. If you are reading this it’s because you’re interested and excited about Assemble and we want you to know what’s going on.
We spent Saturday checking out a few other craft related shops in town. Knit Witz in Mandarin and Paula’s Fine Fabrics in Baymeadows. After some Tempeh burritos at Native Sun we headed over to the Beach Boulevard flea market to look for fabric. Mackenzie was hoping to find a super-secret resource for fabric, but no dice.
Next we headed to Riverside to look for studio space. This was probably the most depressing part of the trip today because it seems like we are never going to find a good space. We looked at Park and King, Post and King, Post and Stockton, Margaret Street, Five Points and up and down Oak Street.
We feel like Riverside is the best place to put our business to guarantee maximum success. The suburbs and beaches don’t have the vibe we are looking for. There’s not much space available in San Marco. Downtown has parking problems and then there’s Springfield. As much as we would love to open in Springfield there’s a perception that it’s not safe after dark.
Finally we stopped at Panera to talk about the weekly blog update, call about some leases and decide on an legal name. By the time we left Panera we had filed our articles of incorporation. We’re legit! Our official legal name is Assemble Lounge Inc.
So break the “Springfield after dark” stereotype and just do it! You yourself(-selves) described it as a perception, and not a reality. Jim Draper has an awesome studio over there right of 8th, possibly even an open space to rent right next to him. Or even at the old boomtown location, etc. I think you’d get a lot traffic from Main, or 8th, and it would be convenient to downtown, riverside, northside, lots of places with crafters. Sounds like you want more of a “scene” anyway. A friend from the Southside madness just told me he travelled up Main street this weekend and was shocked at how nice it is becoming and how he was attracted to the “oldtiminess” of the area (he also complained about the road construction, but no pain, no gain.) Somewhere around LaVilla would be cool, too. Just a hopefully helpful few words.
Honestly, when I read about Assemble one of the first thoughts I had was , “I hope they dont put it in Springfield.”
Not because I believe that Springfield is unsafe after dark.
but simply because Riverside/Murray Hill makes the most sense.
For a lot of reasons. if you are familar with the area you will understand why.
Locating in Springfield would make an already difficult (but progressive and exciting) business idea even more difficult.
I think you guys are showing sound judgement and a committment to success. Crafters(and loungers, boutiquers..?) who are excited about Assemble should be excited about its propects for long term viabilty in Jacksonville .