Kenwood Home Opening
Last week, cars pulled into the sweet little town of Wanda, MN, to find a brick and black building sitting on the corner filled with a collection of home goods and an excited (and admittedly anxious) business owner ready to greet them. It didn’t take long for my nerves to turn into pure gratitude, though, as people started coming through the door. It’s hard for me to even put into words how much those first three days mean to me - Simply getting to chat with both old and new friends, watching the joy in people’s faces as they found the perfect item for their home, and finally seeing what used to live in my head come to life.
The Kenwood Home Backstory
Before I get into the details of the opening, though, I feel I need to backtrack to when Kenwood Home was just a glimmer of an idea. I started Kenwood Design back in 2018, and just like I’ve always been drawn to home design, I’ve also always loved small boutiques and shops where you can literally feel the love and attention poured into them. The thought of carefully curating home items that people can bring back to their own homes felt like it served my overall goal of helping people love where they live. And although having a home goods store has been in the back of my mind for awhile, it always felt like a distant dream because I didn’t have the space to make it happen.
About 6 months ago, I stumbled across a for sale listing for a building in Wanda, MN. I was already starting to outgrow my home office for Kenwood Design, and shipments of decorations, furniture, and samples for client projects started taking over our garage. And basement. And office. We were starting to feel the walls closing in around us! My husband, Micah, and I knew eventually we’d want to find an office space for my business, so when this listing popped up, it felt like fate. Other than a few small renovations and cosmetic changes, it was perfect! The location was great since it’s just a few miles down the road for us (in fact, Kenwood Ave leads you right to the building), it has enough space for both a workspace for my design projects and a storefront for home goods, and the previous owners took such great care of the building.
All of a sudden, dreams of having an occasional retail shop felt attainable, and this building was going to be the ticket! We closed in February and got to work on the renovations. I need to pause and give credit where credit is due. First off, I can’t quite count (or maybe don’t want to count) the amount of hours Micah put in to make the building work for my business. He helped me lay flooring, install shiplap and trim, set-up/build/refurbish all my furniture and shelves for the shop, open up walls, and the list goes on and on. Also, our families have gone above and beyond to help make this happen. From helping us paint the exterior, to hanging signage, providing feedback, watching the kids when we needed a few extra hours to work, and lending a helping hand the days of the recent sale - These are all things they didn’t have to help with, but were always offering and so willing to do. You know who you are, and I truly can’t thank you enough.
Opening the Doors
We opened the doors to customers last Thursday, and although we weren’t able to have the grand opening we initially planned on due to COVID restrictions, the “soft opening” was everything I could’ve hoped for. I had a grandma secretly treat her granddaughters with items they picked out, sweet customers who made several stops over the course of the three days, friends and family enjoying each other’s company, and we were able help people pick out items for their home - And even better, received messages afterwards saying it worked perfectly in their space. I was on cloud 9.
So, even though just typing the words doesn’t feel like nearly enough, I want to thank you. Thank you to everyone who shared their love and support leading up to the opening. To each one of you who made the trek to Wanda, whether it was just down the street or miles away. Thank you for trusting me to help you find items for your home. Thank you for the wonderful conversations, flowers, and well-wishes. I’m looking forward to doing it all again next month!
- Abby
