The Trading Post is in East Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau. We are located at 3500 Airport Road in Rockwood, Tennessee. We're about 140 miles from Nashville, right in the middle of Cookeville and Knoxville. So, if you are heading to Knoxville, come see us! Exit 340, we're about 4 miles down on the left.
2. Why the Trading Post?
Nathan has been doing commercial real estate in addition to residential. He is specializing in gas stations and convenience stores and though it might be good to understand the business from the inside. We looked at two other properties last fall before settling on this one. Nathan couldn't resist this deal. The store has a lot of potential with a little loving care and creativity. The former owners are in their 70s and have owned the store for 35 years. They haven't done much updating in the last 15 years to grow the business because they just didn't feel like it!
3. Will you be moving? What about your house in Kingston Springs?
I will stay in Kingston Springs and teach this year. I will go up to help Nathan out on weekends. He can occasionally leave for a night or two to come back home. We have 2 very capable and trust worthy employees, plus the form owners (Wanda and James) have offered to help us out in such situations as has Nathan's dad. Since we have only been in our house for one year, it didn't make sense to sell it so soon. We may not keep the Trading Post long term, it may be more of a flip project. We don't have all the answers on that one yet. Also, it's nice to have a second income and keep health benefits consistent through my employer. It's not an ideal situation, but lots of couples have a partner who travels during the week for school.
4. Do I get free gas if I come to see you?
No, but maybe we can work out a deal on a slurpee or a slim jim.
I just made a snappy little slide show with iMovie and posted pictures to http://web.me.com/kate.hollis
I will try to update pictures of our progress there. As you can see, it is a diamond in the rough. Stress the rough. We already have a painter lined up for the house this week! YEA!!! Yesterday, Nathan met with a shelving company representative to work out a new store layout, we sold the first lottery ticket to Wanda, and I spent time researching flooring options. Beer was added to the coolers this morning. And Shanda and Briclyn (our employees) are working on new menus and product orders for the deli. So in about a month or two, we should be ready for a grand reopening celebration.
1 comments:
That was very helpful--put all the pieces together for me! Good luck with everything! Are you back at school yet? We are...ugh...
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