Friday, July 29, 2011

Meet The Neighbors: Part 1

Greetings! There's lots happening here in Newmarket, NH. We're still slightly under construction and getting settled into our new space (It's beautiful!). So far everything is exceeding our expectations.

We'd like to introduce you to a few of our new friends in town, through a short series called "Meet The Neighbors". Here we'll share with you the people and places that make Newmarket such a fantastic town to live and work in. Read on and stick with us – you'll feel like a local in no time.


Our first neighbor is Crackskull's, a local coffee and used book store. Delicious coffee, fresh baked pastries, and good music (masters of Pandora radio), all in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Neighbor: Crackskull's Coffee & Books – 86 Main Street.
Type of business: Used books and coffee.
Years running: Almost 11.


Owner: Michelle Graves

How did you get into this line of work? I was working at a brokerage firm, and I saw the shop for sale online. It was always my teenage dream (it was the 90's) to own a coffee shop...so I went for it!

Something special your business does (weekly/monthly events, community service, etc.): Aside from free counseling? We host a monthly open mic night and a monthly game night. Currently looking to start a chess night...and later a movie night.

What's your favorite thing about Newmarket? Newmarket's sense of community is one that I've never experienced before. Neighbors helping neighbors, people supporting each other's causes...all that jazz. It's wonderful.

If you could add any type of business to Main Street, what would you choose? Definitely BURRITOS :) Newmarket has been waiting for a burrito shack for years...yummmm.


You find a genie's lamp and he grants you 1 wish. What do you wish for? Seriously? This is tough...probably to open a second Crackskull's...in Paris...with a tattoo shop in the back.

Do you own a bicycle? If so, what kind? Unfortunately no. I was born with the balance of a child on stilts. Do they make tricycles for adults?

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Cycling Across America :: V2.0 18 Years Later

New York Times reporter Bruce Weber on his new custom IF that he will be riding across the country. His bike was fit and built up by Andrew Crooks and the team at NYC Velo.




Bruce first rode a bicycle across America 18 years ago and is setting out to do it all over again. Read his story here and follow his progress on the links inside the NYT article.

Godspeed Bruce!

Monday, July 4, 2011

On the Move :: Dark Side of the Moon

Happy Birthday America, and wishing you all a great 4th of July full of bikes, barbeque, family, friends, and sun.

We are now officially on the move, and have entered the zone where we are between factories... a bit like being on the dark side of the moon.

Our equipment has been picked up by the amazing folks at Cote Riggers. These guys were a pro act, operating like a precision machine. They came in and picked up our heavy equipment and placed it on their trucks like it was no big deal. Here's a video of their loaded trucks departing:



It turns out that the heavy equipment was the easiest part of this stage of the move. Sorting, packing and cleaning out 16 years worth of accumulated stuff was a far more challenging job. The crew worked non-stop to get it done. Along the way we hosted a "give-away" of excess materials and equipment for our friends in the local frame building community. Marty at Geekhouse did a nice shout out blog post here.

Despite giving away as much as we could, we still ended up filling two 30 foot roll-offs with scrap metal and equipment, not to mention having our normal dumpster tipped daily throughout the week.

Chris and Brian came up from Circle A to dismantle our old Binks spray booth and haul it back to their shop over the course of two days. It was a dirty and hard job performed by two of the nicest guys in the business, and it feels good to know that they will put the booth to good use painting many more frames in the years to come.

After we closed the door on the last load in the box truck, we took one final look around the old shop and said our goodbyes.






I'm incredibly proud of the team. They worked extremely hard to pull off an epic task, even after the paint and shipping crew had worked for the past 25 days straight, doing their best to complete as many orders as possible before we shut down to move.

After some much needed rest over the holiday weekend, we'll be working hard to get our new home set up and running.

We'll be dark for the next few days as we get our phone and computer systems up and running on 55 Main Street in Newmarket, so please be patient with us.

Cheers,

G.