Anatomy of a makerover

Romeo's is backward. The front is in the back and the back is in the front. Well, not exactly. The middle is in the front and the front is in the middle. So I guess Romeo's is really inside out. It all happened late last night, and I'd be lying if I said it was easy.

The look says it all. Good work is always exhausting.

Moving shelves and furniture is hard enough, but we ended up having to move one piece of furniture just to move another. It was like a giant Rubik's Cube or one of those picture puzzles where the pieces slide around. Four of us muscled everything around (me, Frank, Curtis and Jeff). There should have been more smoking, but our hands weren't empty often enough. There was drinking, although only three of us partook, so the average was lower.

Jeff surveys the new sitting area.

What we ended up with was a sitting area in the front, and all the shop business taking place in the middle. The cigar humidor is still in the back, but it is not so far removed from the point of sale anymore. What it means is a less convoluted means of moving from shopping to purchasing to enjoying. And the last thing customers will see as they leave is the friendly faces of all the smokers (mine included, most likely, as often as I'm there) enjoying their tobacco and each other's company.

Frank connecting the phone before he realized it was already connected on the other side of the room.

Likely there are some more changes that will come, minor tweaks and adjustments. Frank's wife has the final say over the setup. But I'll tell him and anyone else right now. If he has to put it back like it was, he does it alone. My back still hurts. But I'll be enjoying the new setup tonight when The Ozark Pipe Smokers test it out.