Scrap Wood Wall

We've completed the scrap wood wall.  Building a scrap wood wall was a risky decision not so much because it's unusual for our area (more on that in another post), but because it's difficult for amateur interior designers and construction workers like us to make what's typically found in garbage look inviting. 

We based our design on scrap wood walls found in Seattle's Frank's Champagne and Oyster House and some of the ramen and izakaya shops in Vancouver BC.  The ones we've seen look dramatic, sophisticated, cozy, and inviting.  We realize that such a design may not be appropriate for a smoothie shop, as drama and sophistication may turn out ridiculous in a setting that sells smoothies in take-out plastic cups.  But we decided it was worth the risk. We want to redefine the smoothie experience (a blog post on this later) and create a shop that's a public meeting space.  In other words, we're trying to build a design that's a mix of Starbucks and Jamba Juice. 

After consultation with gym members and our architect, we decided it was best to paint over the wood with fruit colors.  Most thought that stained wood doesn't mix well with smoothies.  The bright colors remind people of fruit and smoothies, the wall texture makes for interesting design, and the use of scrap wood fits well with Seattle ethos of "recycle, re-use." 

Andrew nearly tore out the scrap wood wall.  Andrew built the wall, so it became a reflection of himself.  For him, looking at the wall was like looking at himself, and he soon only saw zits and other imperfects.  He saw ugly and insecurity.  He hated it and had a breakdown. 

Wan reassured him that the wall wasn't as bad as he thought.  She dragged gym users into the shop and asked them to share their opinion about the wall.  Andrew pestered his architects for their opinion.  Not everyone liked the wall, but all thought that it could work.  All it needed was some make-up to hide the imperfections and to properly express our ideas. 

Now that the wall is painted, Andrew is much happier with it.  Wan, not as much.  She did much of the painting so at one point, she felt that the wall was a reflection of herself and all she saw was ugliness and insecurity.  But that's another story. 

Anyway, some pics. 

We'll paint pictures of fruits and vegetables and their nutrition information about their content within the frames.  Updated pics this weekend. 

We probably should've been more deliberate in how we set the wood scrap pieces.  The good news is that it's very easy to change the texture of the wall.  We may do so in the future.  For now, we're happy with it. 

On the left is a more traditional scrap wood wall that we've seen in some Japanese restaurants (without the paint).  Simple and clean yet distinctive and textured. 

Here we built faces.  The mouth will be used as bookshelves.  We'll also put something in the noses.  It's hard to make out the faces from the photos.  The facial contours are clearer when you see this wall in person.  
Andrew was against using a shade of green that he hasn't seen in nature.  He didn't want colors that seem artificial because we're avoiding use of artificial ingredients.  In the end, we decided it was okay to add some artificiality to our color scheme, especially since this color feels so refreshing. 

Despite its imperfections, we're happy with this wall.  It's generated much more talk than we expected and most people find it interesting but not offensive, and some love it, even if it doesn't look refined.  We think it'll become an effective marketing piece.

Update: fruits are in the frames.  We just need to add information about them.  Pics coming soon.

Marketing

We don't plan to spend much funds on marketing. We'll put up signage over the storefront -- as required by the landlady -- and on the plaza-sign post, build a basic website, and create a Facebook page. We won't bother with print ads or coupons.  We don't expect any amount of marketing to make our shop a destination spot.  We're assuming most people won't travel long distances for a smoothie.    

As mentioned before, we envision our smoothie shop is a parasitic business that will primarily draw its customers from 24 Hour Fitness users. Our assumption is that 24 Hour Fitness provides us with a self-selecting customer base that doesn't need to be convinced to purchase nutritious smoothies.  They just need to be served well and provided with smoothies that meet their nutritional and taste expectations.

Of course, we'd like to attract those who aren't gym members and we'll eventually work toward diversifying our customer base. But we're concerned that focusing on satisfying too many types of customers may dilute our brand and negatively impact those interested in health and nutrition. For instance, we could offer bubble tea (not healthy) but we haven't figured out a way to offer such drinks without impacting our reputation as a health food shop.  

Another consideration is our lack of experience with such an operation.  We don't know how to minimize labor costs and to control risk.  We need time to figure out how to cost-efficiently best serve our core customers .  We initially can't handle too many different kinds of customers.  And ultimately, we want to attract more customers not by catering to those who aren't concerned about the nutritional qualities of a smoothie, but by making more people aware of how a smoothie that contains 4 servings of fresh fruit can positively impact the quality of their lives while reducing their cost of living.