Moving is a process:
I hope you are doing well, and that crazy heat wave is behind us.
It has been 2 months since we paused Hato Viejo, and 6 weeks since we moved from Lebanon to Dover, NH. What an adventure it has been! After we paused everything went into storage including all our materials for the business. Slowly we have been unpacking and getting settled.
The original plan was to move into a move-in-ready house, but that plan fell apart pretty quickly, and we ended up getting a house that needed some work. Up until a few weeks ago, we were camping in our house. We spent the whole July, between painting the whole house, doing small projects, until contractors came to do their part.
From July until now getting settled into our new home has been all consuming. I haven't had the time to focus on Hato Viejo in all honesty. I know some have asked and I wish I had a better answer on what exactly comes next for Hato Viejo or when exactly it will be clear. But Dan and I have been preparing our nest- making sure the kids and ready for school to start again in a new community.
I always said what makes a nice neighborhood isn’t well taken care lawns, beautiful homes, or the fancy cars parked outside; it's about the people that live there that make a neighborhood special. I lived for 11 years in a sweet and nice one. People really cared about each other. I think I found another one. From the moment people realized that someone new moved in- they stopped bye to introduce themselves.
We are 70% settled and moved by now. School starts in a few weeks. I am planning on using September to help plot what comes next for Hato Viejo Coffee. I do know that I will not be able to roast in my home here in Dover. So, I will need to lease commercial space in the city. Dan and I can see a lot of potential spaces in the old mill buildings and commercial spaces around the city.
In the best-case scenario if we lease a space now it would still take us 2 months to get it setup, inspected, and ready to go. So I know that might be frustrating for some of my loyal customers to hear. But realistically this is going to take time and more planning before I can get back to the business of coffee roasting.
The upside is we will likely have a brick-and-mortar business to operate. Which is really cool and part of my vision for the business. So please be patient and thanks to all that have reached out.
We will keep you posted when we have some news, hopefully soon. May God bless you and hope you continue enjoying the rest of summer.
Yani and Dan
