"The days are long, but the years are short" is a phrase that is often tossed around to parents of toddlers by well-meaning onlookers observing your kid going completely boneless on the floor of the bathroom at Target. Not that that has ever happened to me, of course.
The truth is, I feel the same way about the passage of time since we started to plan for Living|Room Collective to open in the Liberty Street Mercantile. 
The first time we walked through the building, the first floor was an open cavernous space, but Kirsten Moore's vision was intoxicating, and we knew we could not pass up the opportunity to be a part of something as special as what she had planned.
The past six months have brought a few construction delays - as is often the case with construction, so the answer to "when will your storefront be open" is a bit of a moving target. If you've driven by 76 West Gay Street recently, you know construction is progressing, but there is still a ways to go. It is exciting to drive by and see the outside entrances being built as well as windows being installed. Still, you may be wondering - what's going on inside?
Our little shop is shaping up beautifully inside the Liberty Street Mercantile. The floors are down and paint is up. From this vantage point, you can lookout over the store as if you are sitting at the cashwrap. If Amanda, owner of Parentheses Books was standing in her entrance, we could wave at her. Won't that be lovely?
If you enter the building from the door on the Liberty Street side, our shop will be inside to your left. The mix of the old and new has become a theme in how we are developing the look and feel of the shop. We have been scouting auctions and thrift stores for display pieces as well as working with local craftsman and artists to curate an unique environment we hope you will want to visit often.
So as for that "when are you going to open" question - well, we're working on it. I've been saying Summer 2023, and I believe that holds true. In the meantime, we are hosting at least one more pop-up and will be a vendor at Brunch with Beauties. Local friends can shop our collection at anytime here online, and we will deliver it for free with a 10 mile radius of downtown Harrisonburg.
We are grateful for the excitement for what's to come at the Liberty Street Mercantile. I promise it is worth waiting for!