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March 1: The Adventure Begin


March 1:

What a day. Jordan, Lesley, and I set out on our big adventure. Big plans were in place, extra help was on its way (big THANK YOU to Kate, Canon, Kelton, Collin, Madeline, Kim, and many more), wood, nails, paint, brushes, paint pans, and everything imaginable was delivered to the store that afternoon. This was it. We were in the construction business for the next week. Little did we think, none of us were experienced in remodeling. When thinking about this group of people, they never let a small thing like experience stop them before. I’ve known them for years. We’ve collaborated, learned, taught, and succeeded many times in the past. On March 1, we had a plan, a goal, and we did what we have always done. We collaborated, learned, taught, and pulled off a remodel that we are proud of. It may not be “Fixer Upper” level perfection, but it’s perfect to us. It was the beginning of our adventure. Even though their names aren’t on the LLC, they are as much a part of this adventure as Jordan, Lesley, or myself. 

This opportunity came to us out of left field. It wasn’t on our radar at all. We heard about it through a friend who heard about it from a friend. Long story short, we made and offer and worked through the details and “wala”, the deal was done. The Fayetteville Institution called The Flying Possum was ours. We just had to wait about three more weeks to be handed the keys. I think at this part of the story, I should mention these three weeks were the fastest of my life. We had countless streetside discussions, dinner meetings, dreams, and sleepless nights waiting and prepping for March 1. When we thought we had everything in place, we quickly found out we didn’t. But that’s fine. We collaborated, learned, taught, and at the end of the week, we succeeded in what we were trying to do. 

You may ask what were we trying to do, and that would be a great question. We truly didn’t know. We quickly realized we didn’t know much about a business. How to pay taxes, how to charge taxes, hire employees, and the list could go on and on. What we did know is we wanted to carry on the legacy of the Flying Possum while also leading it into this century. At this point, I believe we are on our way. 

One month into this adventure, we’ve been having a blast. We’ve meet many in the community that have thanked us for keeping the Possum open in whatever way it can be. We’ve had people come in and sit down to just hang out. I’m talking about people in the 50s just taking a seat to talk about Bruce Walker and the old days around the store. We had an online order from someone in California that bought some sandals from the original Flying Possum when she was in college and wanted to finally update her sandals. She looked up the Possum to make that memory happen. Being an owner of The Flying Possum, no matter how short of a time period, I’ve learned about our community. I’ve learned that if Fayetteville likes a place, location doesn’t matter. They will show up and support. Lastly, and I can’t stress this enough, I’m honored to be a part of this legacy. I’m honored to carry on The Flying Possum | Since 1976. 

If you’ve made it this far on the blog, you are awesome and I’d love to hear from you. Reach out or swing by the store. We’d enjoy getting to know you. 

Bryan Allen


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