McHuston Booksellers

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Awnings and Yawnings.

March 22, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The cloudy-rainy weather makes me wish for an all-day layabout in bed, preferably with a good book! But the hiatus is over and the days of lounging around while waiting for the building to be completed are gone.

I missed the awning! And I’m happy to report that it has been restored to the front of the building. It comes a little late, rain-wise, but that’s all right.

As you can see in the photo, the former law firm’s identity has been removed from the front of the canvas. Of course, if you have a hankering to see that, you can travel back in time by way of Google Earth, which has not updated its images of downtown Broken Arrow since the Main Street Tavern moved in, and the Glamour Gowns and More building was remodeled.

The new McHuston Booksellers building is pretty much completed now, with only a few minor behind the scenes things. Weather-stripping the back door, for example.

Tables and chairs are scheduled for delivery today, even though they’ll have to be pushed to the side again to allow the moving of the remainder of the book shelves and cases. Bit by bit it is coming together.

I’ve already given a couple of pre-opening tours to the curious, and I wish I could do it for everyone. There is nothing like word-of-mouth advertising, and the more folks who see the wonderful renovation of this century-old building’s interior, the quicker the word will spread that the store is reopening!

The new question is – When will that come?

I’ve been telling people that it will take some time (and cooperative weather) to get the one-thousand boxes of books moved back onto the shelves. And that’s after getting the last of the shelves installed.

The checkout counter won’t take long to set up, and the sales systems are already in place and ready to go.

April 1st would be a good target date. Whether it is realistic or not is the next question. In the meantime, blogging-break is over and it is time for back to work!

Ishmael? No. Call me Manuel. Manuel Labor.

March 19, 2012 / / 0 Comments

It is a bit dreary outside with the first real springtime storm dropping rain as though it will all come at once instead of spacing itself out over the season. Inside, it is snug and comfortable.

No need to set buckets in the back to catch water. The old location – with its leaks and exposed fluorescent bulbs and stained ceiling tiles – is history.

Earlier, I closed my eyes after setting the drill in place and ran the bit through the new wallboard. Hated to do it, but it won’t show and the wall shelves must be anchored for safety. Half are completed and I’m taking a break to post this update.

I’m exploring old and new technology this afternoon and both went off without a hitch. It’s nice when that happens. Being both supervisor and laborer today, I had to find a way to lift a broken shelf into place to be repaired. You can see from the pictures that I managed it, and the unit is much more solid with the new woodscrews than it was with the thirty-plus year old commercial staples.

Even though the staples gave way from the sliding, wrenching, lifting, and tilting, the wood is solid. Heavy stuff. The section is six feet long, and you can check the construction in the picture (it’s the nearest light wood fixture). I was able to lift it onto the base by stacking a series of steps using extra shelves. I could raise one end, slide the lift underneath, and then move to the other side to repeat the process.

Eventually, I had raised the top to a level where I could slide it over onto the base. Drilling pilot holes and running in the screws was the easy part.

I’m wishing I could clone myself to give myself a hand (not applause, silly – just a little extra lifting power).

Raising something heavy is ancient technology – pyramid stuff.

I’m able to post pictures using something I’ve just discovered. My cell phone is equipped with Bluetooth technology, something I’ve heard bandied about, but never had occasion to investigate. It turns out my laptop has the same capability.

It took a few minutes to figure it out, but I got the telephone to talk to the laptop and transferred the pictures from my phone to the computer. Bam! There they are, without so much as a wire to carry them from one place to another. And I love that fact that it worked on the first go ‘round without a frustrating learning curve.

Now that the images are here and this note is ended, I’m back to the drill and electric driver to run a few more screws into the remaining shelf units. The last wall anchors will complete the installation of the newly acquired shelves.

A break in the rainy weather will allow me to start bringing the books out of storage.

Here we go!

An Update: February bookstore report.

February 5, 2012 /

Here is a patience update: a thank-you for those of you have called or visited the new location hoping to find an open bookstore.

As of early February, the building – formerly the Francy Law Firm, just north of Commercial on Main Street – has been almost totally gutted by contractors to accommodate the bookstore. The attorneys had offices that were not suited to the retail display of books and the building’s owner, Mr. Roy Sturgeon, graciously agreed to remodel the space for a different purpose.

The contractor, Mr. John Skaggs, of Bixby, and his employees and subcontractors have been producing amazing and beautiful results in turning the structure into a modern-version of a turn-of-the-century storefront. New ceiling beams and columns serve to support the roof, wonderfully stained, and outfitted with elbow-level tables for book viewing or laptop wireless internet.

The century-old, now-rare tin ceiling tiles have been preserved and outfitted with matching corner molding that is painted to match the interior. Heating and air-conditioning ductwork has been moved. The loft has been resituated. Outdated bathrooms have been treated with sledgehammers and replaced with new, wheelchair accessible facilities.

The attorney’s office breakroom has been gutted and is being replaced by a licensed kitchen that will allow the serving of food and beverages.

Tables and chairs are purchased and awaiting delivery.

A beautiful floor is being installed as of Superbowl Sunday, another step in the process of getting shelves located and the book inventory restored. The grout is down. I wanted to walk on it and try it out, but refrained to let it dry.

There is a new front door, and new front window panes. Mr. Skaggs has tested a brick-paint to allow the façade to blend wonderfully into the two adjoining brick buildings. The front has already been thoroughly cleaned and prepped by workers atop a scaffolding.

As for the behind the scenes, non-structure work: meetings have been held to sample the fare that will be offered once the bistro portion of the new operation gets underway. Tables and chairs are at the ready. Cups are waiting to be filled with exotic coffees. Pastries to delight are standing by (well – truth to tell, we’ve eaten those on stand-by, but will have fresh ones ready!).

Credit accounts, as we’ve mentioned, are in place on the computer, and will be transferred in full to the new location.

Books have been purchased to add to the inventory. A new front counter will be installed as soon as feasible – in the meantime it awaits in safe storage.

Our customers have been dearly missed, and certainly your patience has been tested to some degree. Thank you for that.

I am certain you will enjoy the new store.

Bear with us over the coming next weeks as we approach the day the renovations are completed and we begin moving in…

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