Tale of 2 Connecticut Yankees
Have you ever walked into an antique store and spotted a stunning piece of furniture or treasure, only to look at the price and go into sticker shock? We all love beautiful things, but don’t necessarily have the means or the desire to pay and arm and a leg. So my dear friend Susan and I thought we would combine our love of travel, our affinity for unique treasures, and the excitement of a bargain. Why not create a home business to promote the lost art of “gracious living” at a reasonable price?
Five years ago, we started 2 Connecticut Yankees, to be “thrifty purveyors of antiques and fine objects”. Susan is a fellow Yankee also born and raised in Connecticut. For those of you unfamiliar with the term “Yankee” we are known for our thriftiness and flinty character. We save, reuse, recycle and make do or do without. While many people come to this lifestyle on their own, Yankees are born that way and can do little to overcome these traits.
We wanted to make our shopping from 2 Connecticut Yankees different. It was important for it to be an enjoyable experience for our guests so we treated our events like a party, welcoming people into our home. The goal was to just have fun, provide lovely things for a fair price and be joyful in finding a forever treasure. There was no pressure to buy. Our knowledgeable friend, Leslie, helped us get started.
We also saw this as an opportunity to showcase other women in small business to give them exposure and display their wares. We included florists, a beekeeper/honey-maker, pastry chef, seamstress and other artisans.
Our plan was to host 2 to 4 events per year out of the barn at Bella Terra. That would allow us time to replenish inventory and still be able manage the rest of our lives. Susan and I had fun searching for that unique item and staging the barn for our sales.
We had quite a few successful events and most importantly, we enjoyed the gathering of our friends and the help of our families. And then life, as it tends to, got in the way. Between raising children, caring for our parents and working, we found less and less time to travel, seek bargains and host on our barn events. So 2 Connecticut Yankees was put on hold, for all the right reasons.
The good news, is that there is a barn full of wonderful treasures that we are slowly putting on the Bella Terra website. It’s been a fun learning curve (well, mostly) and with time, we hope to get all the items posted and available for purchase.
Please bear with us as selling online is new to us and we imagine there will be some glitches.
The Store will be officially sometime next week. Have a wonderful Sunday!
