When we first moved to this area, Don and I saw a shop that intrigued us. As I made the trip back and forth from our rental to the cottage, I kept passing the shop and made a mental note to stop in one day. Hi Ho Home Market was the name. We eventually stopped in, bought some much needed pieces of vintage furniture and started up a conversation with the owner, Heidi Hill-Haddard.
Fast forward a year or so and I was still stopping in, chatting with Heidi and gazing at her wonderful displays (she is the Queen of The Art of Display.) Eventually, Heidi took pity on me and I worked there part-time. That continued for a few years until my coaching work started to take me away for long stretches of time. I am proud to say that Heidi and her family have become great friends of ours.
All of my auction smarts were gleaned from watching Heidi in action. I admit it: I leaned on her experience when I first started bidding on things, in fact, I often made her bid for me. I’m now able to go on my own but I always hear Heidi’s voice in my head and I try to match her deadpan expression when I see something I want desperately. Never let them see that you want it!
Last year, Heidi won an award from Hudson Valley Magazine for best gift shop in the Hudson Valley, this year she won another award – Best Unique Home Shop in the Hudson Valley. And she was named Retailer of the Year by Country Business Magazine! She and her daughter Whitney were flown to Chicago and it was a big, big deal.
Heidi’s dog, Humphrey, has become the shop mascot. Everyone loves him, including his Aunt Claudia.
Here he is in his favorite spot – watching the world go by on Main Street. Look at that face!
Oh, and on top of all these awards that are so richly deserved, when Extreme Home Makeover was in our neck of the woods lately, Heidi was the Head Stager for the final reveal! Six degrees of separation: Ty Pennington was on the cover of the Studios magazine in which my studio was featured and Heidi worked with him on Extreme Home Makeover! Who would have thought? Heidi works tirelessly and has more energy than Don and I put together. She sets the bar high for all other retailers. I’m so happy for her.
Hi Ho Home Market is on Facebook – just search for HiHoHome.
The website is here – you’ll enjoy looking at all the wonderfully decorated rooms throughout the store.
Heidi, Humphrey and me a couple of years ago – in the days of my blue glasses.
Congratulations, Heidi and Hi Ho Home Market!
Oh, I almost forgot: I’m starting a weekly meme called Reality Shot. I thought it would be fun to show the ‘real’ in our homes. One shot of something; a pile of clothes, a messy, cluttered table, boxes that haven’t been unpacked….you get the picture. Because there is so much that is pretty on home and design blogs (and I love it) it seems to me we need a dash of real life, as well. If you want to join, it will be every Thursday. I’ll put Mr. Linky or something like it up late Wednesday evening. If you want an idea of what I’m thinking of, visit this post from this past Thursday. I think it will be fun to share our real life messes, as well as all that’s beautiful.
I’ll put another reminder up on Tuesday. Grab the button and code on the sidebar and if you’d like to, pass the message along. Hope to see you there!
