Time has flown by since I joined the store and in my opinion things have continually improved. The internet store has taken off, our party support operation has done very well, and our name and word of our offerings has spread over the East Coast.
Of course, the best most lavish parties were given by Miss Jane. But I felt we couldn't keep imposing on her hospitality, nor did we want to be limited to only having parties when she was available. An idea which had seemed vague at first finally blossomed in my mind, so I started checking its feasibility in earnest. After some detective work along the lines of real estate, I was ready to make my suggestion to Hannah.
After explaining my misgivings about imposing so much on Miss Jane, I said, "Hannah, what do you think of the idea about us owning a separate space to offer parties and support them? I found a place located in an industrial park that may work for us. It has plenty of parking space, plus a fence completely around it which would offer improved security."
Hannah looked thoughtful about the idea for a bit. Then she responded, "That's an interesting proposal, Emily. It would be kind of a big step, but I must admit that not only do the parties bring us increased visibility and boost our sales, but the parties themselves bring in a noticeable extra income. So when can we tour the place and discuss its possibilities as we actually see it?"
Within a day or two, we made arrangements with a Realtor for a chance to inspect the building. Leaving one of our staff to watch the store, Hannah and I accompanied the Realtor on a visit to the building. Our first impression was favorable, since it was away from the other buildings in the area, and with its perimeter fence, access could be controlled easily. "This building appears to be in good shape and relatively clean," Hannah stated during our walk through. It just needs a small area for demonstrations and music."
We confirmed that the bathrooms were big, clean and in good shape. "This place has been on the market for some time, so they're now offering it for a really good price," I told her. "And there are two small offices along the back wall. It feels like it's just the right size for our needs, do you agree?" I asked Hannah. She nodded happily, and it looked like she was visualizing hosting parties here and enjoying it. We closed the deal.
It took about a month of work to clear up the small details. We put on new coats of paint where needed. And we hired a contractor to construct a sturdy raised platform midway down one of the long sides of the room. We openly spoke about the platform having a DJ booth for the party music. Privately, we discussed how much fun it would be to place a device up on the platform. There, I or one of our other willing cute young submissive women could be a 'party favor' on display and perhaps even used, while the audience watched and commented. We'd also have a well stocked bar, and a snack table, along with the requisite permits to serve food and drink.
We'd mostly be using the parties to make people aware of the kinky leather, latex, and rubber clothing that our store stocked, plus some minor kinky toys that could enhance their love play with their significant other. We wanted affluent, high end customers, who'd be more likely to have the disposable income to make major purchases. Hannah had the idea of having a onetime membership fee to join, just high enough to keep out the 'riffraff' but low enough to be attractive to people like Miss Jane and her friends. In fact, Miss Jane bought the first membership, and word started to spread. Of course, they knew the membership just gave them entry into the premises. Attending parties also would cost a nominal fee, as would any drinks or food they purchased, more income for the store and our growing staff.
For the display devices, Hannah and I agreed that having bondage crosses and pillories would be excellent devices to have on hand. Since well made versions tended to be heavy, I spoke with the building contractor about installing a heavy duty hoist from one of the metal ceiling beams over the platform. He undoubtedly thought it would be used to lift the various pieces of DJ equipment. I didn't bother to dissuade him of that notion.
Hannah and I worked well together, so I managed to talk her into doing a 30 second TV commercial. A nearby college had classes in TV production, and students had to work on various projects. I checked, and one of the students -- a very cute, curvaceous young woman named Mallory -- agreed to do it for her project. Not only did Mallory get an 'A' on that project, the commercial attracted a lot of attention and inquiries. It featured lingerie but managed to hint at more. It was more tease than show, with the skimpy outfits being modeled by our lovely 'party assistant' submissive women, myself included. It was suggestive enough that it could only be run in certain time slots, but that was fine with us. Oh, and by the way, Mallory was impressed enough that she also joined our 'party assistant' crew!
A week or two later Hannah got a call from Miss Jane! She'd seen our commercial and, thrilled that we were now ready, wanted to be the first to book a party reservation. We explained to her about our new location which featured new security. It would be about a one hour drive for her but she was fine with that, booking a party that would be held in two weeks and stating how many guests she'd bring. Hannah and I were very happy to have Miss Jane bring her friends and help us launch the new locale. We knew that we could trust her to give us an honest critique, which would help us improve. Also once the word got out that Miss Jane was going to give one of her famous parties there, more and more reservation bookings started to come in.
Final preparations were made and the room updates were completed well in advance of the party. Hannah didn't have to tell me that this would be another high end party gathering and that everything had to be perfect. Luckily we had the experience of attending Miss Jane's parties, and we had a very good idea what she would expect. On the day of the party, I arrived early to set the temperature so everyone would be comfortable, checked that the bar and snack table were ready and checked the music and lights. We were fortunate enough that the DJ and the bartender really wanted this gig, knowing that it could lead to many more gigs, so they'd work at minimum scale, plus tips.
Everything was looking OK so I waited for Hannah at the front door, expecting to handle the early check-ins for memberships. But Hannah came in carrying packages and told me there was a slight change of plans. She'd just received a package each from two new vendors and wanted me to model the items for this party. She was very excited, saying, "Emily, you're going to look so fantastic in these new items! Mallory, please take over the door check-ins until I get back. Here is the list of names of guests to expect. Just make a mark by each name as they arrive, dear." The security guy handling the perimeter gate had a copy of that list as well.
