We have been on the search for a new showroom to call home for about a year now. We currently lease a small space (approximately 1,000 sf) in White Bear Lake, MN but feel we have outgrown it. Because of the proximity to home, our natural market, and current clientele, we have been focusing our search in the Mahtomedi/White Bear Lake areas, however, the inventory has been very limited. Maybe we have too many requirements that are limiting our search such as specific location (want to be close to home!), minimum square footage (ideally at least 2500 sf), purchase option with space to lease (looking for 1031 exchange opportunity or SBA loan), loading dock/garage door, and of course – the potential to be pretty. 🙂
We finally found a place we loved in October of 2019. It was perfect and I could visualize our space and all the fun we would have there, serving clients with classes and workshops, offering a small amount of retail, and being in an ideal location. I applied for an SBA loan and after mountains of paperwork and lots of time, finally got approved to purchase the building! There was an existing tenant in place who was renting the entire building but figured out a plan to move to the 2nd level, and we would take the first level. It seemed to be a perfect situation and was everything we were looking for. Without going in to too many details, the sale fell through a couple weeks ago, so we are now on the search again.
We have expanded our search to the Stillwater area and I have located a few potential possibilities. We are excited to move on to a larger space so that we can offer more services, such as workshops and other events, and showcase more comprehensive and functioning kitchen and bath displays to better assist our customers with their decision making process.
If you know of any commercial spaces in the WBL, Mahtomedi, Stillwater, Vadnais Heights, or Lake Elmo areas that would make a great showroom – please send me an email!
XO Janel
