So we signed on the dotted line and started designing and building our new office and showroom. We perform this type of work for our clients on a daily basis, so the process was not difficult from a technical standpoint. The hard part was figuring out how to allocate the new space. We needed room for sales, administration, design, web development services, warehousing and lectures. We had some competing interests and if I had allocated the space everyone wanted we would have had to double the size of the facility!

Instead we just started blocking out the available space; laying in desks, chairs, fixtures and displays and working with each department to try to figure out what they really needed in terms of space and equipment. Further we had to take in to account the needs of our customers- traffic flow through the showroom, access to bathrooms, ease of parking, etc. Every aspect of both the customer and the employee experience had to be taken in to account.

The overlay on all of this was of course budget. The landlord provided a reasonable build out allowance and we had fixtures and displays to add on top of that. Of course every single budgeted item came in a little higher than expected, but we value engineered as necessary and kept our targeted budget in sight - right up until the handicap accessibility rules cropped up! We had a little disagreement with the landlord regarding who was responsible for making the property ADA (American Disability Act) compliant. In most cities the ADA rules crop up when the tenant or the property owner gets a permit to improve the property or someone sues for noncompliance. It’s at that point the city tells the tenant or the owner to make the property ADA compliant. In our case, San Diego provides an exemption that limits the investment in compliance to 20% of the overall improvement budget (In our case $60,000.). At the new showroom, most of the compliance work was on the outside of the build and included grading, parking and sidewalk - all to the tune of $30,000. As the costs increased so did my blood pressure. Since we were getting pressured by our existing Landlord to get moved we eventually claimed the 20% exemption and moved forward with some interior work and 100 feet of new sidewalks. I will attempt to work things out with the landlord once the project is complete.

We did have a few other issues, which included leaking air conditioners that pumped hot instead of cold air, leaking windows, colors that looked better on the color chip then on the walls, flooring materials that were sent short, contractors who showed up late, early or not at all, and of course, the usual issues that all builders deal with and that I simply refer to as “The Zen of Store Building.”

Now on January 21, 2008, one week after we had scheduled our move, we will in fact move! I suspect the computers will glitch as will the phones and we will suffer through some growing pains as well. The showroom is next so, if the stars align, by around March 1st the showroom and retail learning center will open. That means substantially more customers visiting the facility, but that also means additional trained personnel and upgraded dress codes (there go the flip flops, t-shirts and backwards ball caps!).

The real benefit is that our new facility will let us interface more effectively with our customers while allowing them to touch and feel a myriad of fixtures, materials, samples and more. As we move forward we’ll keep you informed of our progress and the dates for the grand opening.