Picking A Place For Your Store

Our storefront has a white picket fence. That’s why we chose to be where we are in Mānoa.

True story, when I was trying to find an affordable small unit just to build out a commercial kitchen, I was looking at very small what felt like prison cells because they fit my meager budget. No windows, concrete walls, crooked floors, random pillars in the middle of the room, and no parking. And I was getting rejected when asked if I could be a tenant to “try and start a small business” in it.

When I cried out to God one night asking Him to help me, once and only once in my life, did I get a vision in my sleep and it was of a white picket fence.

That’s all I got. So I took that one vision and got in my car and drove around Oahu looking for a commercial space with a white picket fence and found it in Mānoa valley.

There’s much more to that story, but that’s the essence of it. I had no idea where would be a good spot to open a store, nor did I even plan to open a store. I was just looking for a spot to build a commercial kitchen. But God’s way was so much better. Not only did he help me find a beautiful space, with windows, (though it does have a crooked floor :), but in the most beautiful neighborhood of Mānoa with the sweetest neighbors. And, it just so happened that soon after, I would occupy an additional space where I would open a chocolate store in the building with a white picket fence that provided the feel I never even knew I wanted for a future store…for it to feel like a home that would welcome others in to where everything was made fresh on-site with care.

So sometimes we may not know what we are looking for or may not qualify for spaces we want, but we should not give up hope and pray that He can pick a place better for us than we could have picked for ourselves.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11