266 Express
Welcome to the 266 Express, your official podcast of Sanger, TX.
In every episode, we paint a picture of life in this beautiful North Texas town.
You will gain insight into everything from our rich history, community events, and the rapid growth and development of Sanger. Welcome to the 266 Express.
266 Express
Entrepreneurial Ventures: Renee Richardson and Joanne Dela Cruz on Creating Community and Business Success in Sanger
What makes two entrepreneurs from opposite sides of the Atlantic choose the quaint town of Sanger, Texas as their business haven? Join us as we unravel the captivating journeys of Renee Richardson, a Texas native, and Joanne Dela Cruz from London. Discover how Renee transitioned from corporate life to become a thriving small vendor and eventually opened her own store, Vintage Variety. Hear Joanne’s heartfelt story of moving from Pennsylvania to Texas and falling in love with Sanger’s small-town charm, which inspired her to establish Whistle Stop Coffee, Tea and More.
Vintage Variety, which began as a vintage clothing store, has blossomed into a treasure trove offering everything from eclectic furniture to fresh honey and locally-sourced produce. The serendipitous addition of the Whistle Stop tea room underlines the power of community support and collaboration. Inspired by the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, Whistle Stop offers a quirky menu featuring air-fried delights and creatively named dishes. Listen in as we explore how Renee and Joanne’s businesses have thrived through mutual cooperation and a shared vision, becoming cornerstones of Sanger’s downtown district.
Exciting times are ahead with our upcoming events, including a bustling August 3rd featuring fried green tomatoes, a Back to School Bash, and the Moonlight Market with extended hours and special menus. Don’t miss out on our Facebook Live event this Tuesday night, where we’ll be sampling fried green tomatoes live on air. Join us at 308 Bolivar Street, and be part of our vibrant community spirit. Whether you’re a longtime listener or new to the 266 Express, this episode promises to inspire and engage with stories of small-town entrepreneurship and camaraderie.
You have been listening to The 266 Express, the official podcast of Sanger, TX. IF you have comments or suggestions, please send them to dgreen@sangertexas.org
Welcome to the 266 Express. I'm John Noblet, here with my co-host, donna Green. Donna, who do we have with us today?
Speaker 2:Today we have Renee Richardson and Joanne Dela Cruz and they own Vintage Variety and also the Whistle Stop Coffee, tea and more also the Whistle Stop, coffee, tea and more oh, fantastic.
Speaker 1:I'm super excited about any time we can talk about a little bit of our downtown district and those businesses that make that up, because we're excited that people are showing up and we're starting to see a little bit of growth and commitment to the downtown. So welcome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Excited to be here growth and commitment to the downtown.
Speaker 2:So welcome, yeah, thank you. Thank you, excited to be here. So, renee, to start us off, just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from, your family etc.
Speaker 3:Etc, etc. Okay, I am from, I'm a native Texan, so I'm a small town girl. I grew up in Farmer's Branch, carrollton area, went to Ariel turner high school and uh, cheerleader, all that kind of stuff you know, uh, and then I slowly just uh, as years went on, moved closer and closer north and um, so I've always had um, I think I got it from my mom but an entrepreneurship, like uh, I worked for corporate america and all that kind of good stuff. But there was always this little thing in the back like I know there's something more, I don't know what. So anyway, so I just kind of started with small little vendor shows and so I have my. I love it when, little, I go to lease loan markets and it just brings back a lot of memories of where I actually started and I know what they're going through, especially when it's hot outside, and hence that's why I'm in an indoor facility now.
Speaker 2:I can't do the outdoors no more, oh my goodness yeah. Joanne, what about you?
Speaker 4:I am originally from London, uk. I've been over here since 1987. I lived in Pennsylvania for quite a long time in north of Philadelphia, and then I moved to Texas about nine years ago and this is where I'm staying. Absolutely love it here, especially Sanger. I fell in love with Sanger. I love the small town, vibe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, that's always a good question. We ask why? To both of you why Sanger, why Sanger?
Speaker 3:Well for me. My husband is from Chicago, so he's like I want to live somewhere where my shoulders do not rub when I walk in between the homes. I don't want to have to be that close to somebody. So we just kind of slowly started looking for property and as we looked and prices got smaller and smaller as we came north, we found a small little property and it was right around 2020. And so it took a while for us, for them, to build our home and stuff like that, but we just really wanted some space, basically.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:As soon as we moved out. There, though, of course, Riverside and a lot of different developers started coming along too.
Speaker 1:Congratulations, yeah, but we just wanted some space.
Speaker 3:And then I had a store in Lake Dallas and I was like I'm not driving back and forth, if I'm living in sanger, I'm going to find something singer. So I just kind of hung loose until we'd drive up and down, go to babes for lunch and I would just keep looking at stores and you know. Finally, uh, one popped up and it's not the store we're in now. It was a smaller one next door where the ice cream shop is now of town creamery, and so I started there. But I told the landlords then I was kind of like this is not what I want, something larger. So we just kind of kept our eyes open until something popped up awesome yeah awesome and, um, my husband, um, works for the post office in sangha.
Speaker 4:Um, he we call him everyone's mailman because everyone I meet he's their mailman. But I just fell in love with Sanger and we used to come up here and just drive around and I just fell in love and I was like that's where we're going to live. And we live in a little house right next to the train, but absolutely love it wouldn't live anywhere else fantastic I always ask people because I mean, you come from london to singer.
Speaker 3:I think that's fascinating to me, like how did you land this little dot in texas from london?
Speaker 2:you know, that's a big difference.
Speaker 4:It's a big difference, very big difference, and I'm from east london too, which is like, uh, next to the river, by the docks, so I'm used to being around water and there's I mean there's the lake, but you know you're 10 hours to the beach from here.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes well, we're glad to have you both Tell us a little bit about Vintage Variety kind of the journey, how it all began. We know it ends up here and we hope in 100 years from now, it will end here. Yes, but tell us how you got to where you're at.
Speaker 3:Well, I promised my husband, because you know, I told him, I said it will end here, because he's the one that has to help me move every time I decide to move. So he said, yeah, I've heard that about three times now and I said, no, this is it, babe. So back to what I was saying earlier about the vendor, shows and stuff.
Speaker 3:I just at some point. I did a lot of so I went from a vendor to a coordinator, event coordinator and I did most of my events out at the North Texas Rodeo Grounds, okay, and got to know Nancy and Glenn and some of them out there, and I did it four times a year. So I did seasonal, so I do two early, early of the year spring, then I had a fall and then I had a Christmas show and then that's when I decided that that's just too much work for me. You know it was. It was a lot. It was a three-day event, whether it was cold, whether it was hot, it was just at the end of those three days. It took me like two weeks to recuperate. So I was like I think I'm getting a little too old for this, you know.
Speaker 2:I can relate. Events are a lot for sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, and so I evolved into starting to look into finding a lease or purchase some type of facility. At the time, I lived in Corinth, so Lake Dallas was a good little fit for me. It wasn't very far and I found a hundred year old little farmhouse back behind the fire station and was there for three years and just loved it. We survived COVID so opened it up. In 2020. When we're buying stuff out here and I'm opening up a business, I'm like I don't know what in the world I'm doing, but you know it's happening um you know it just, it just all kind of evolved.
Speaker 3:It didn't take a whole lot of effort. I posted one day I had no idea that there were so many people of interest I posted one day that we were doing vendor spots inside this little farmhouse and by 3 o'clock I had all 35 spots filled. I was like, okay, I guess this is happening, you know. So I loved it. But then once we settled out here, bought the land, built the house and all that, I was like I'm not going to make that drive anymore. And then, with all the construction, you know, we survived the Buc-ee's and all that construction.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, Okay right there in Corinth, and then we come up here and the construction just followed us and I'm like oh my gosh, thanks for that. I thought we were just going to.
Speaker 1:Now we know who to blame. Nailed it down, stop by.
Speaker 2:Vintage Variety and blame them so Vintage.
Speaker 3:Variety came along to answer your question was I started out with kind of vintage clothing and so I always had that little name there all the time. But I didn't want to limit myself. So I'm like you know, I want to do a variety of stuff and I'm like, well, hold on a minute. Finish variety. There we go. And that's how it came about.
Speaker 3:There's no, you know really scientific, and so our store, honestly, is always evolving, obviously because now we have a tea room. Joe has been my inspiration ever since I met her. See, I just did it. I was trying to speak British and it's not good, it just happens.
Speaker 1:I thought that was the Philly.
Speaker 3:But I'm just kind of like.
Speaker 3:So when I met, her it was just like a godsend because it's like you know, I've always wanted to open up a little tea room somewhere, but I know nothing about tea. Well, she says, well, I do, you know, and I'm like, okay, so we have really bonded and had a really good friendship. But vintage variety has it is. It's just a variety of things. Don't go in there and think that you're going to find really authentic antiques. There might be a few, but there's going to be, like we said earlier, there's a bed in there, there's a bathtub, you know, full of bath stuff, or there might be some bedding of some sort, or they're just pieces of furniture. And then we've got apparel and we have shoes and we have jewelry, and we have shoes and we have jewelry and, um, we have singer spirit wear in there. So, and now we have a tea room. So it is a variety.
Speaker 3:I had a lady come in the other day and, uh, I have a, um, a vendor that, uh, she does the farmer's market but, uh, she brings us in the fresh honey from toga and uh, so there was a lady in there and she was kind of like, okay, I cannot believe I got everything at this one place. She said I got my lunch, I got a gift and we do, uh, free gift wrapping. So we, if it's small little things not a chair now we can't wrap a chair for you, or okay, or the bed, but we can do small little gift items and uh, so she got her gift, she got it wrapped, she got her lunch, and then the, the little vendor came in with her honey and stuff and she had happened to, and so the lady's checking out and she says you wouldn't happen to have some melons in your cart, would you? And she's like, yeah, we just closed the farmer's market. I have one left.
Speaker 3:So she got her her little mango melon. She's like, well, I'm just gonna stop here for a minute. I said all you got to do is ask, put it out there, we'll make it happen for you. So so, anyway, that's the variety of it. You know.
Speaker 2:So you just recently um expanded for the the whistle stop. So why now? I mean um? I know you, you talked about it before, so you know what well we can.
Speaker 3:we can actually probably reach back out to you for that Hold on a minute. Well, it's always been in my mind, and Joe can even vouch for that, even when we were, we started, and we've been here almost two years now. September will be two years and I've always wanted to, but over there, where the creamery is now, there's just obviously it was not going to work.
Speaker 3:We couldn't. Sometimes I felt bad because people with little strollers and stuff like that they couldn't even get through the store and I felt bad because we had so much stuff in there. So anyway, it's always been in the back of my mind and then with meeting Joe, we've always kind of said, you know, one day she can confirm it. I said we need that spot next door, you know. And I, and so I would always, you know, I'd ask them. They'd be like, no, their lease isn't up yet, you know, and all that. I said, okay, you just know, at the top of the list, right? So once that all came into fruition and stuff, uh, I had so many vendors that I really didn't have room, and so I was kind of like, okay, well, it's just probably not the right timing.
Speaker 3:Well, then Donna comes into the picture one day, and so I'm pretty sure I probably said something about I'd love to put in a team room at some point. And then she was like, okay, well, we can do an event for protectors and princesses and that date is going to be June. I think it was June 18th or something. Can you make that happen? And I'm like I bet we could Sure. And so I just got solidly dated.
Speaker 1:Donna's my secret downtown weapon.
Speaker 3:But I really feel like when something's meant to be, it just all falls into place and so we just, you know, for two weeks we just worked solidly. She'd come in check on us and I said I promised you, donna, we're going to make this work. Those were the weeks she was not my author.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I'm glad you mentioned that because we certainly appreciate you guys hosting that, hosting that we think it's important to utilize our local businesses and make those connections between all the entities. You know where we can, because we're a community and I think that's probably what drew you to Sanger right and we'd like to support that. So we always ask you know? Number one were we business friendly with you? Were we working with you, and where we're not, could you let us know? And two how does the community support you? Has the community been we business friendly with you? Did we, did we, uh, were we working with you and where we're not, could you let us know? And two how does the community supporting you? Has the community been pretty, pretty good to this point with vintage variety?
Speaker 3:oh yeah, very supportive and um, they all I mean, I can't tell you probably nine times out of ten people will come in and say this is exactly what we needed here yeah you know, um, now do we provide everything?
Speaker 3:Absolutely not, and that we probably never will, but we try to. I reach out and ask people. If you've got suggestions, let us know. You know we're here to work with you. We want to provide stuff that you want, you know, and you know I'm not going to put out, you know, a thousand dollar purse or something like that, you know. But if you want something kind of middle class, a little bit lower scale and we tried, you know we might have some a little expensive things, but most of the time we kind of know the clientele, you know, and and of course everybody loves a good sale, so you know people, I mean people miss that a lot, right?
Speaker 1:uh, when you're, when you're, when you're shopping a downtown or a community and you're dealing with small businesses, there is always that aspect of you will find what you need. Yeah, you know, there and we do, we do cater to you, we, we, we have a. There's a different kind of relationship between a vintage variety and my, my wife and and Kohl's you know, there is, there's a huge difference and there's a huge benefit on both sides.
Speaker 1:So I think it's vital that um that we as a, as a community, support your small businesses. Shop local where you can, because it has a huge impact on what everybody is trying to do right, absolutely so.
Speaker 2:You've mentioned a few of the items that you have in your store, but can you tell us you know how you're different from the other things that are available here, and then, when I walk, I've I've been to finch and variety and it. I can tell you, it changes every time I'm in there it's something new. But, um, what are some things that people could find that they're probably not going to find any anywhere else are they're going to have to go to, maybe the bigger cities for, or something?
Speaker 3:uh, well, one thing that's very popular is our young living essential oils. So a lot of people come in for that and they know that, um, without, a lot of people order it online and things like that. But a lot of people, if they need the oils, they're very, very therapeutic and so if they need them, they need them and so they can just come in and grab it off the shelf. So that's that's one thing that's been very I think it's just been very helpful to people. They're like I can't wait to just I don't have time to to pay, wait for my order to come in, things like that.
Speaker 3:Another thing I would say that we have that you, we are not a store that has 50 of the same item. So when you come in and I know people think, oh, that's just a sales, you know pitch or whatever, but it's really not. And I tell people they'll be like oh, I love that, but uh, we have a lot of um, clay, pottery, things like that. We have metal artwork, um, but we may have only one or two and it may not even be exactly the same, and so you know they'll be like, oh, I might come back and get that. Okay, that's great, but it may not be here because I don't have 50 of them sitting over in the corner for you. So ours are more of just one, of a kind things, because I feel like I don't want to be like the other big department stores, because you can go down the road in Denton and find that, you know, and a lot of people like the fact that they cannot, they don't have, your neighbor doesn't have the exact same thing you have.
Speaker 2:you know yeah, notice even your boutique clothing. You know you have one or two of each size and if you didn't get your size, sorry.
Speaker 3:It's not coming back, so yeah we may do one run of it like a small to extra large. We do carry some plus sizes and things too, but once they're gone, we probably a lot of a lot of distributors don't already. They don't even have it, they're gone. We probably a lot of distributors don't already. They don't even have it, they're already sold out. So, we have to move on, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now and again. It's unique because you have two facets to your business. Tell us more about the tea room.
Speaker 3:Okay, that is really. It's been great. Honestly and I'm not just saying that it really has. I don't know that we've gotten any negative feedback. We do ask people.
Speaker 3:We have a pretty good, uh, variety of things on our menu which we really weren't kind of planning on that and it just we sit down and we're working on it and they're like, oh, I think we can do that, oh, I think we can do that. We don't fry things, so we don't have like a big major commercial kitchen, okay. So we we try to keep the menu simple but yet keep it as a variety as well. So you may have chicken salad, okay. You can have chicken salad croissant. You can have a chicken salad wrap, you can have a chicken salad salad. You know what I mean, yeah, so we've taken some of the main parts and ingredients and then kind of expanded on that. Now I will share with you that we are going to. We don't fry things, but we can air fry them, which is healthier, right, okay, and so and I may be getting ahead here, but one of the reasons we named it Whistle Stop is because we love the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've ever seen that.
Speaker 3:So that's how it all evolved. We were like we want a tea room, what's the name? And so we were like, okay, we got the train going through the town and all that and a lot of things are. People are naming things after the things, after you know the train, and stuff like that. So we're like okay, and so we came up with Whistle Stop and I was like y'all, have you ever watched the movie Fried Green Tomatoes? Well, this one have you? Still I've watched half of it.
Speaker 2:I've seen half of it.
Speaker 3:And then Amy, who is managing the tea room, had not seen it either, so I said we're not going any further until you, ladies, sit down and watch this movie Absolutely yes.
Speaker 3:And I said but anyway, long story short, go watch the movie and then you'll understand when you look at our menu, because we have a Tawanda plate. I'm not going to tell you what that comes with that, but that's a part of the movie. We have a Big George sandwich that's got three or four different meats on it. It's a huge, huge sandwich for Big Georges. And then we have Buddy Jr. So we have a little menu for kids. So we have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we have a ham and cheese and things like that. So the whole name evolved from me saying I love this movie. And then fried green tomatoes came into the place. So we are going to have a fried green tomatoes on August 3rd. So we're going to kind of like, bring that out. That's going to be. We're only going to have it like once a week because green tomatoes are hard to find.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, okay, so they're going to be short-lived, but we wanted to kind of incorporate that into our little menu for people.
Speaker 2:And I put them on order in now. I love that. Yeah, they're my favorite and they're going to be air fried.
Speaker 3:So, y'all, they're not going to be bad for you. You know we're going to air fry them.
Speaker 2:As good as fried green tomatoes can be for you right, exactly.
Speaker 4:And a lot of our things are made in-house too, so I'll be making. I'm in the kitchen, amy's out at the front, and we have Chandler right now who is our server. Yes, but I try to make everything from scratch. I can I make scones from scratch. I can I make scones from scratch. Fresh scones, oh wow, every day Y'all going to come in there when she's baking those.
Speaker 3:I am going to gain 50 pounds between the tea room and the ice cream shop. I am doomed. It's just like oh.
Speaker 4:But we make our salad dressings and, like I said, I'm going to be working on the batter and a dip for the fried green tomatoes. Tomatoes.
Speaker 3:Sorry, Do you all love how she talks? I mean like Sorry. You sound?
Speaker 2:so Prim and proper, yeah, like princessy. Oh, I'm really not. I tell little girls I'm really really not.
Speaker 4:I tell little girls I'm a retired princess, especially when I had the pink hair. I had pink hair a little while ago. But yeah, I say to them, I'm a retired princess, I used to live in a castle and now I live in Sanger.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 4:How do I live in a castle? Step up, they love it. They love it.
Speaker 1:I'll be like how do I look? Step up, they love it, they love it.
Speaker 2:So how do you select your products, your decor and everything for both the tea room and for vintage variety? Because if people have not been in there, it's exactly what you want it to be when you walk in.
Speaker 3:It's got that small town wonderful feel, okay, I'll start with the tea room because, uh, that was interesting in itself because I came at one point I had a wedding and reception venue and so I am used to everything being matchy matchy. Every tablecloth has to be matched, napkins, blah, blah, blah. So we're setting discussing all this and I said, oh no, we need to have all tablecloths the same, uh, and all that. And they were kind of like, I think we, I think we should do every table different, because that way, if you're there, you're, you feel special, because that is your table and that's your group and this is, you know, and we have a Donna Jean table, by the way. Yes, uh-huh and uh, she has her favorite table there. She said this is my, I just love the way this looks. So we said we're going to name that Donna Jean, so if somebody reserves that table, they've reserved the Donna Jean table.
Speaker 1:But anyway, so that's fine.
Speaker 3:So every table in the tea room now is different, so it has a different tablecloth. It is different, so it has a different tablecloth. It has different chairs. Each one looks a little different. So most of them will accommodate two to four and we have some that will accommodate larger groups, like six to eight, or I think there's one section over there that I think we can even get 10 or 12 in there if we do it strategically. So. But we started looking on Pinterest, obviously, you know, and looking at tea rooms and stuff, and I did notice all the decor was different, you know, and so we just kind of started compiling our stuff together and Joe would be like, well, I have that at home, and I'd be, you know what? I think I have that at home. And so we just kind of put it all together and came up with this and it's still evolving. I mean, we're always bringing new stuff in For vintage variety.
Speaker 3:I go to market, I go to all kinds of vendor shows online. I just try to find just something that I haven't ever seen before. That's not always the easy task, but I'll even ever seen before. That's not always the easy task, but I'll even go to Canton there's, you know, sometimes there's things out. It's just, once again, a variety of areas that I reach out to and to find different things that I think people may like, and it's interesting enough that some of the things I think, oh man, people are just going to love this. It may sit there and sit there. Then I'll get other things and I'll be like, oh, I don't know.
Speaker 2:It goes right away.
Speaker 3:There's no rhyme or reason to it, it's just guessing and hoping. Then at the end of the day, I'm like well, if they don't like it.
Speaker 1:I guess I'll take it home Because I like it. So how do you stay?
Speaker 3:connected to the community here in Sanger. Well, besides being part of the chamber and we do attend as many as we can and I try to make at least all the breakfasts I can't always make all the luncheons and so I've met and Joe has been with me several times and just meeting those different people, because not everybody you know has come into the shop. I still, as of yesterday, people come in. We've been there almost two years and they're like I didn't even know you were here. I've lived in Sanger all my life and didn't even know you were here. So I think, trying to reach out to people that I meet in these whether it's a breakfast or a luncheon, giving out my cards and doing our little spiel at these different events, try to let people know we're there and I feel like just getting even at the farmer's market. You know I can take my little flyers with me and stuff, you know, and I've been able to get some vendors from that because a lot of them are, you know they may want to do a farmer's market once or something, but they kind of like the effect of being indoors and you don't have to worry about the weather, whether it's rain, shine or whatever, or 105 degrees, whatever, it's one of those things but just, and we try to stay in and even if the chamber or the city is not doing something, we're doing.
Speaker 3:Uh, for example, we're doing a back to school bash. Okay, that's just something we came up with, I believe amy, and started uh, amy really wanted to do it. Uh, amy patterson is cody joe designs. If y'all didn't know that, she does all the spirit wear for our store and so she started out with the Cody Joe Designs and Cody Joe Designs is still there, but she does manage the tea room as well, so she's got her plate pretty full. But with that, then we're connected to the schools now, and now we're connected to teachers.
Speaker 3:So it's been a process, but we try to donate as much as possible. Then we have the gala, the education and foundation, so we try to be a part of that, so we try to stay involved. I can't capture everything, but we try to stay open late when there's whether there's car shows or anything happening around town. You know we don't have, we don't kick customers out at six o'clock, you know, if there's something going on, we stay open late and just to keep the visibility open because you have a lot of people from you know, oklahoma and areas like that that come down to eat at Babes, you know, and then if you're open and they're just kind of strolling through town, you know that gives us more exposure and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we have noticed that most of the businesses that we have seen succeed or have longevity are those businesses that shift those hours around some of that activity. I mean Babes. Babes is kind of a downtown powerhouse for us.
Speaker 3:I think we all know that.
Speaker 1:And so a lot of those businesses have take advantage of that additional traffic. I think it's, I think it's fantastic, I think it's important for again, for for downtowns to recognize that you know and we're always looking for ways to, donna. We just had this conversation two days ago about downtown things that we can do downtown that help really pump traffic into that area.
Speaker 2:Fenty's Variety has been a great partner with the city. Thank you, I don't know if you remember, but Mrs Claus has been there.
Speaker 1:Mrs Claus. Mrs Claus has been at the vintage party, claus has been at the Vintage Bride, and then they did host the tea party.
Speaker 2:I'm always coming up with ideas.
Speaker 1:It's a great relationship I think that we have with you guys and we're happy to participate with any ideas that you have.
Speaker 3:We're always up for a good party, me too.
Speaker 2:So a whole street party? I tell you, yes, absolutely, that would be wonderful. How cool would that be? I'm in, let's do it. Let's do it.
Speaker 1:So what kind of events and promotions do you have upcoming? We know we've got fried green tomatoes. You said that was.
Speaker 2:August 3rd.
Speaker 1:I've been thinking about that. You said that was over for me. I've been thinking about that.
Speaker 3:You said that was over for me. You've got fried green tomatoes on the 3rd.
Speaker 1:Do you have anything else coming up?
Speaker 3:Well, and I mentioned about Back to School Bash. So, that's going to be so. August 3rd is really a busy day, so we picked August 3rd because we knew school was right around the corner and we want to capture those teachers and we're going to be giving out free giveaways. It's going to be a fun day.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:All right, but then that evening is also the Moonlight Market, that's 6 to 10,.
Speaker 3:I believe yeah, and so we're going to stay open from pretty much about nine o'clock in the morning until 10 that night, so that's going to be a full day, but it's going to be fun and exciting. We'll have, you know, we're going to decorate for back to school and stuff, but we're going to have a drawing just for teachers, and so we're going to be giving away a lot of things because we really want to cater to them, and then we're also collecting school supplies. So 15% of all of our sales and stuff that day will go towards school supplies and we're just going to reach out to whether it's the administration, whoever we need to reach out to in order to make that happen and where the need is there as well, and that's August 3rd as well.
Speaker 1:August 3rd, yes, yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, let's see what else we got going on. This Saturday we have a large group I think it's about 25 or 30 that are coming in for lunch. Oh wow, and it is the Sanger Women's Club that will be coming in, and then I think what was else?
Speaker 3:Let me check my notes because I want to make sure I didn't miss anything on. Oh, and then we also have anytime you come in, we have a big jar that looks like a light bulb, but business people can come in if they're just shopping or whether they're eating or whatever. Put your business card in there and we'll have a monthly free lunch for a business owner or this business person actually. And we just try to do little things like that just to let people know that we care. We're here, like that, just to um, to let people know that we care. We're here and um, we just felt like you know, the um whistle stop, uh, mainly caters to lunch. Um, that's what we're going to do. That's what I forgot, okay, so at the, I knew that I was getting something. Yes, the moonlight. What you want to tell them about the menu? Okay, so the moonlight market.
Speaker 3:That night we are actually not going to serve what's on our menu. We're going to have a special menu for that night because we know people are going to be walking around. I know there's going to be food trucks and stuff, but we're going to offer a special menu and then we're also going to debut the fried green tomatoes. That's going to be kind of like an appetizer for you as well. So any.
Speaker 2:You're going to give us any insight to the special menu, or is it still a secret?
Speaker 4:We can, you want to share.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we can, you're going to be making it, so no pressure.
Speaker 2:No pressure.
Speaker 4:So we are going to be offering chicken spaghetti with a salad and chips and salsa.
Speaker 3:Oh, and garlic bread. Garlic bread, not garlic.
Speaker 4:We're also going to be offering a chicken quesadilla or a cheese quesadilla For the kiddos, yeah, yeah and that will be with a salad too, and I expect we'll have scones as well.
Speaker 3:I expect that yes.
Speaker 4:We didn't discuss the scones, but I'm just thinking right now.
Speaker 3:You know, that's just a basic honestly the scones. If you just want to come in and have a cup of coffee or a spot of tea and a scone you can just come in and do that. You know we have little cubby holes in the back, so if you want to come in for your 30 minute or hour lunch and you want to escape and we won't tell anybody you're there, you can just hide back there in the back. We also have internet.
Speaker 2:Yes, wireless internet. So for clarity, so people aren't confused, you do not have to have a reservation. You'll do bridal showers and baby showers and whatever meetings but you can just go in and have lunch too. You don't have to have a reservation, absolutely yes.
Speaker 3:And we can accommodate about 35 comfortably. So if you come in, there may be a you know, five or 10 minute wait or something like that, but you know we really don't have any plans to expand right now. We just started. So I'm like you know, somebody said the other day about expanding. I was like I don't even want to hear that word, right now. Be, quiet.
Speaker 4:Donna I think we want to keep it small.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I think the quaintness of it is exclusive.
Speaker 1:It's special. I don't really want't want to.
Speaker 3:I don't really want to, you know, to expand. I'd have to just move out venters and stuff, and I'm like no, that's kind of the thrill of it is coming in and be able to shop, have some lunch you know, and things like that, and so I don't want to take that part away, and so I'm like no this is going to be about it, you know.
Speaker 2:So I'm like no, this is going to be about it, and we could expand it into the evening.
Speaker 3:We could do a wine bar back there. Wine and cheese, we have wine glasses. I mean, I've always got ideas Sampling, sampling. We have wine glasses. See, I've already got it. I love that idea. What are?
Speaker 2:your days and hours for both stores so that people know Okay.
Speaker 3:So Vintage Variety is open from 10 to 6, tuesday through Saturday, okay. And then the whistle stop is open the same days, tuesday through Saturday, but they are open from 11 to 4. Okay, so we try to hit that lunch crowd, so that gives them time to prep for lunch and then clean up. Before you know we close at 6.
Speaker 2:Plenty of time to bake the scones.
Speaker 3:Yes, Listen, y'all come in. It smells wonderful. It's just kind of like I can tell. When she's back there doing the scones, I'm like, oh my goodness, she made lavender yesterday. Lavender and cranberry and cranberry. Yes, so they're freshly made, you can yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you You've got to be careful, and then tell them about your whipped butter that you're making.
Speaker 4:Oh, it's actually like fluff. It is cream cheese, heavy cream and other secret ingredients. And right now we're doing lemon, so it's almost like a creamy buttery you can put it on the top, you can put it in the middle, you can dunk the whole thing in it. And I like to serve it in little like sherry glasses.
Speaker 3:I need a hot roll. I'm telling you they're fresh out of the oven. It's delicious. It's like a skull.
Speaker 2:I'm more carb heavy. You've seen these legs.
Speaker 1:Can they find you online anywhere? Facebook website, anything.
Speaker 3:Facebook and Instagram. We don't have a website or anything. And people ask me all the time why. But this was way before the tea room and maybe something I can consider down the road. But a website our stuff changes so much that I'm like I would be on the website all the time. I would have no time to do anything else so you know.
Speaker 1:So are you vintage variety on facebook and vintage variety on instagram?
Speaker 3:vintage variety 2022 on instagram.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then what about the tea room? Is it separate? Does it have a separate Facebook? Yes, whistle.
Speaker 3:Stop Tea, coffee and More is what Whistle. Stop is under and you'll see the little teapot. That's our logo, your logo, very cute yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, what advice would you give somebody looking to start their own business in a small town? Do you have any bits of wisdom?
Speaker 3:I do bits of wisdom I do, and I I have believed this, uh, even when I was um hiring people for any of my, even in the wedding venue and stuff, you've got to find somebody that has the same passion as you because, first of all, you're going to work really well together, yeah, and they're going to bring their, their differences and similarities together. But I've always firmly believed, I want and I believe Jo, I think that's why we connected so much is because I've always wanted to. She's just always been there, I can depend on her, she's reliable, and then she has the same passion that I did, you know. And then when the tea room kind of came about, I was kind of like, oh my, I just hit a gold mine, because I mean, who's going to find somebody that's going to open a tea room with me that's from London?
Speaker 2:I mean really.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, maybe a little background. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So that would be my first advice, and it's just honestly, finding somebody who has your same passion and then it just rolls from there Awesome.
Speaker 2:Ladies, we thank you for being here today. This has been a lot of fun getting to learn. Thank you for having us. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3:Hope we didn't talk your arm and leg off. Oh no, did we go over time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what a podcast is is talking. You did great. Yeah, we'll have to do it again sometime, yes, we would love to yes, august 3rd, I'm thinking.
Speaker 3:August 3rd. Yes, y'all, come and hang with us all day.
Speaker 1:They're extremely busy. August 3rd yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:I just meant for the Friday. Yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And now, if I can put a plug in this Tuesday, we do lives Facebook Live the last Tuesday of every month. So, this one's coming up Tuesday night and we will be sampling. If you want to pop in after you get off work, we will be sampling the fried green tomatoes on our live Tuesday night.
Speaker 2:I would hate to miss that. It would be really bad.
Speaker 3:And we would love to get feedback. You may not like them, but you but you have to try them first. Sure, sure.
Speaker 1:And what is the physical address of that bill, anybody that might listen. And they want to pop in and they put the address in Sure, their little GPS.
Speaker 3:It is okay. So it's 308 Bolivar Street, and then we are on the corner of Bolivar and 4th I always want to say 5th, but if you're headed to Babes, don't turn to Babes, go straight and you'll run right into us.
Speaker 1:Right on the corner. Well, again, thank you both.
Speaker 3:Thank you, we've enjoyed it. We appreciate it. It was fun.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to the 266 Express. I'm John Noblet, I'm Donna Green. Thank you for listening in to what's going on in our small little North Texas town.