I tried everything to keep the store open through the winter, even trying out a wood pellet stove. (Something I always wanted to try.) If it hadn't been for Blizzard Ali and my learning curve on using the stove, we might have made it through Christmas and the end of December. When the blizzard came, I couldn't get to the store to fill the stove with wood pellets and the store temperature plummeted to 30 degrees. The fire went out as did my enthusiasm for opening up despite all the Christmas decorating. If you haven't checked out the windows designed by Vicki Thorpe and Linda Stromstead, take a moment to stroll down Robert Street in Crookston. Check out the new store, "Happenstance" windows on your way.
I've got to admit that it is a tribute to the 6 brick thick walls of the building as a heat storage for winter and a cooling device for summer, that we didn't need heat until December and even the wood pellet stove brings the building from a cool 30 degrees up to 40 degrees in 20 below weather. Last summer we never needed air conditioning. I love the wood pellet/corn stove! It is perfect for Spring and Fall for this 5000 square foot store. In fact the heating bills were not the problem as when it had a natural gas high efficiency furnace and two ceiling fans circulating the heat, the highest cost was last January at $550. It is the recession that started last January that has caused us to close. Just when the first customer came in that said they traveled to Crookston just to visit the antique, collectibles, and thrift stores. She spent $350 in Crookston that day! Will we open again? I hope so.
At the same time, it happens that the Crookston Building Inspector decided to keep new "Happenstance" store owner, June Johnson, from staying open through the Christmas season. You see, there's a hole in the basement wall on the far east side of the building waiting to be patched. The former Crookston Paint & Glass building used to be two uildings. "Happenstance" is on the west side next to Kay's Attic.
The hole in the wall came about from poor drainage from the vacant lot between "The Novel Cup" and the east side of the building where a building was plucked out. Remember Rock's Jewelry and earlier, Associated Heating on the east side while Crookston Paint & Glass was on the other? Back in 1908 the east building was the "Lyceum Theatre!"
Just a little swale in the middle of the vacant lot would have drained water into the alley. Instead it drained into the building's foundation despite Crookston Paint & Glass owner, Chumley, (former renter) best efforts to bring in fill, it disappeared. The former and long term owners, Edith Krohn and family did little to care for their building and were happy to donate it to the Prairie Skyline Foundation. The former Crookston Paint & Glass building although 5000 square feet with a new roof was not built as well as the McKinnon built "Kay's Attic," aka the "Union Building." The builder, Jorgen Jorgenson, in 1893 used second-hand brick. Please readers, don't do that, not even for pavers, they just don't last as long. Our consignment store lasted almost 3 years. Stores come and go, buildings can last over 300 years. Just fix that drainage problem.
