By Eizaz Azhar

So we've gone through Phase 3 of construction of our new premises and what a challenge it is proving to be. We're basically done with almost 80% of the entire project, all in the ridiculously short period of a month! Here are some photos of past and present - guess which one is which!
The new premise is enormous and presents a completely different challenge as compared to the last location. With so much space, it takes a lot of time just to get around. Communicating with everyone is an issue as for every error you make, the time factor is multiplied by five fold due to the sheer size of the store. It takes a good 3 minutes to get to the new recording studio (i.e. my office) and another 10 minutes to get it set up!
So, what exactly are we now? We will be running a music store, music school, recording studio, instrument workshop, a cafe and even a stage for live performances. It's an all-in-one center for every musical need - at least we try to make it that way!
From pianos to guitars and woodwinds and brass, strings and accessories we can now display them all. The tremendous amount of stock that we have had in our warehouse for years can finally be placed in the store, all at once and it looks like a proper showroom. We placed a large tempered glass door at the entrance where our drums greet the customer as they enter the store.
There will be weekly performances at our cafe, scheduled as soon as it opens; we will be hosting various local and international acts from time to time for our students and customers.
This is sorta how the front desk and counter looks like. Guitars surround the area, hooked on gondolas that we designed and built ourselves.
The woodwind section consists of mouthpieces, saxes, clarinets and flutes. As a woodwind retailer we have a lot of instuments and accessories in stock. A glass door will soon cover the cabinet in which they are located in. The violins and strings will also be covered in a glass panel which will further add to the atmosphere. Each cabinet has twin halogen bulbs above it to illuminate the instruments inside.
Finally we have cozy teaching rooms for our students and teachers!
This series of posts will be concluded in Part III, where everything will come together. Everyone is invited for the grand opening - do come over!