Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 125117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions about business on the island?” Truman asked.
“Shoot, kiddo.”
Truman did. He asked the same questions to Bob at the Hardware Store, the Osgoods at the Queen Bee (where he found a lovely coffee table book about the history of horse racing for his father), and several other shop owners up and down Main Street.
He came away with a lot of information that didn’t surprise him in the least—online shopping and big box stores had completely eviscerated the economy on the island, except in the summer, when the island became a tourist destination. But he also gleaned some that he couldn’t have known without their insight, and an idea. An actual idea that he thought might work.
Ash was behind the counter at Thorn, glaring at a calculator when Truman arrived.
“Did that thing wrong you?”
Ash looked up and his face softened. “Hey.” He came around and wrapped Truman in a warm hug. “God, you’re freezing. Get in here.”
Truman did not point out that he was already in here. He just burrowed his admittedly freezing nose into Ash’s warm shoulder and breathed in the scent of the man mixed with the light floral scent of Thorn.
“Okay,” he said after he’d smelled his fill. He was buzzing with excitement. “I have an idea.”
Ash’s eyes went lust-dreamy, and a slow, promising smile bloomed.
“Er, no, a business idea. But a good one! I think. Well, you decide. Okay, so I just talked to a bunch of the business owners on Main—I was doing some Christmas shopping anyway.” Truman held up his bags, lest Ash think he was only poking his nose in. “I asked them stuff about their bestselling products and what the challenges were to their businesses. Super interesting, by the way. Should I be a business coach? Anyway. They all agreed on one thing.”
“The business owners of Owl Island agreed on something? Was it that Jim Musgrave shouldn’t be allowed to cook out on the beach?”
“What? No. Wait, what does he…cook? You know what, never mind, if y’all have some kind of Fried Green Tomatoes barbequeing people situation going on here, I don’t wanna know. I’m sure you have your reasons. But listen, okay? They all agreed that one of the reasons there isn’t more business is because there isn’t that much to do here, so people leave the island to do activities and end up shopping on the mainland while they’re there.”
Ash nodded.
“Okay, you already knew that. But my point is that what we need here are things to do. Things to keep people here so they have an opportunity to shop.”
Ash nodded again.
“We’ve been thinking about things you could sell. But what about experiences? Here’s my thing: you do a weekly, or monthly, or whatever, event at Thorn. People pay a fee to come, like a date night or a friends’ night out, or just something fun to do on your own. Whatever. Then you have a bunch of flowers here, and some vases and jars. And people drink wine and arrange flowers, and they pay by the stem on top of the fee to come. Then you can use the fees they pay to come to buy the flowers, because they’ll prepay when they sign up. And you’ll make your money on the flowers they use and the arrangements they take home.”
Ash was blinking slowly, thinking expression firmly in place.
“Maybe you charge for the wine, maybe the wine’s free because the more they have, the more they want to stay and chat and make bouquets. We can price it all out. Oh! And maybe you partner with one of the restaurants and you do it there, where there’s more space. They can sell food and wine, so you don’t have to deal with it. You can have the tubs of flowers and all the tools set up on the tables. And you can go around helping people arrange. Maybe you even have a few arrangements around the restaurant so people get inspired.”
Truman was buzzing with excitement.
“It helps the restaurant, it helps you, and maybe people would even come from the mainland if they hear of a quaint date night or friend hang option on an island. So then they end up coming on the ferry early to be here on time, and then they’re here so they go to the local shops, spend money, all that.”
Ash was silent for a long time, eyes narrowed, looking around the shop. Truman forced himself to be patient.
“That,” Ash said finally, “is a damn good idea.”
Truman’s heart soared. “I could help you plan it. We could see about partnering with—”
Ash interrupted him with a kiss and looked deep into his eyes. “Where the hell,” Ash asked, “did you come from?”
“New Orleans,” Truman said with a wink.
Truman’s phone rang.