Post #398080 by RevBambooBen on Thu, Jul 31, 2008 10:00 PM

A message from Mrs. Boo:)

Ok people, put away the tissue and dry your eyes. With every end to an era comes a new beginning. Mahalo to everyone who has called and emailed with their concerns. We are not closing, and, sorry, the building is not up for grabs....yup, someone jumped on that opportunity. I wrote this particular email to a friend/client who was concerned they might not be able to come to Bamboo Ben (the shop, not the person....it's Hurley not "Hurleys") and enjoy the atmosphere. Like I mention in the email, it's time for us to turn things upside down and all around. And, not to the tune of Taps, it's James Brown, baby!

It's all good. There will always be Ben's amazing creations in our building and hopefully a more fun, relaxing and creative way for our clients to visit our shop and view his work. See.....when Ben and I went full steam ahead with Bamboo Ben, we carefully considered "how" we were going to run the business in such a way that our children did not suffer from our workloads and hours spent away from the home (Blake was barely walking at the time). Attempting to look into the future, we decided that 10 years or so down the line, we would not regret NOT placing our boys in daycare. In our hearts we believed we would sorely regret the decision to place the business before our children. Ben and I were determined to create a balance between our family life and our business. We have been in our building for almost 10 years and our plan worked like a charm......Ben created the product during the week and I ran the store on the weekends....Dad gone during the week, Mom gone on the weekends. Retail business was booming, custom orders were booming.

Today, install business is BOOMING! Retail business for all small businesses has taken a punch to the gut. It's time for us to turn things upside down and all around......kinda like a room change out. :) We're both really excited to take the business in a fairly new, fresh direction allowing Ben to have his "studio time" creating as well as traveling the country on installation work. When he's gone, I man both business and home fort. When he's home, we're both off work (for once). We have our family time whether it be hanging at the beach with the kids, camping or climbing through caves in the California desert. Just trying to keep the balance, baby. :)

So, that's it in a rather large nutshell. :) Yes, we will be at Oasis. Yes, we will be having a gathering at the shop the Thursday before. And, yes, I will be carrying Ben's cell phone while poolside. :)

I want to give a huge MAHALO to so many who have contacted us. It's all good and it's gonna be fun! As far as "Hawaiian Time," I hope Ben might be able to enjoy that someday. As for now, he is the hardest working man in Tiki without a doubt.

Much love,

Mrs. Boo