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Saturday, June 28, 2008
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Baxter store offers home decor in a home setting
Senior Reporter BAXTER - When Nisswa's Woodland Meadow home decor store expanded to Baxter, the move created an opportunity for change.
"It's a huge contrast," owner Peg Schoening said of the new store in the Baxter Village near Famous Dave's.
The Nisswa store, in a former grocery, features wood floors and cozy quarters. In Baxter, Woodland Meadow's high ceilings and expanded display area create a different approach.
"It gives a perception of what I can really do," Schoening said. Woodland Meadow includes interior decorating services for customers along with the home decor store. The goal, Schoening said, is to help everyone beautify the place where they spend their time - their home. Recently, customers who previously shopped at the Nisswa store stopped in Baxter and noted the new store provided a better opportunity to see what items would look like in a home setting.
"That's the reaction I get from everyone," Schoening said. "I think everyone is surprised."
Because many customers have wooden walls in their homes, the store includes a pine wall running the length of the retail space so customers will be able to visualize what decor may look like once they get it home.
Jess Johnson, Schoening's daughter, said the more contemporary Baxter store offers a more high-end look without the higher prices. Family and friends helped Schoening transform the Baxter Village space for the new store. Carpet was removed and paint used to create a striking floor, which Schoening said works well for people who want to transform concrete floors.
The store includes clocks, mirrors, lamps, greenery, candles, handbags and paintings, along with items for the kitchen and home. Woodland Meadow has stamping accessories and stamping classes, which Johnson is in charge of, and Schoening also makes jewelry. The store features inspirational phrases on its walls and provides those options for customers. Shoppers may bring in their own containers to be filled with the greenery or faux floral arrangements.
Schoening said one of her biggest concerns is that her customers, including those seasonal folks returning this summer, may be confused by the two Woodland Meadow stores.
When The Painted Turtle in Nisswa announced it was closing last fall and had a buyer for the building, the move was expected to force a move for Woodland Meadow. At the time, the home decor store had been in Nisswa for 14 years. Schoening started the home decor and accessories business in the basement of her cabin and opened her store in Nisswa a couple of years later.
The thought of moving, finding a new store front and potentially leaving Nisswa caused considerable turmoil. And just as Schoening found a spot in Baxter, she was asked to stay in her location in Nisswa.
Now she is operating both stores with the help of her daughter and staff members.
"I think if we can get people in here, we are going to be great," Schoening said of the shop in Baxter. One of the best parts, Schoening said, is being able to work with fun people and beautiful items.
"I couldn't have a greater group of women working for me," Schoening said.
Contemplating a move from Nisswa was stressful, but Schoening said the positive side came from the support she received from fellow business owners in the city and from customers. She said the experience was a bit like attending her own funeral. But then Schoening said being able to keep her Nisswa store and expand to Baxter was like a chance to live again.
It's the best of both worlds, she said. "One of the girls said you could write this as the tale of two cities - Nisswa and Baxter."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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