In the beginning, there was a tiny little resale store with a life-threatening parking lot right off Barbur Blvd. Many of you know exactly what I am talking about. This was around 2009. Being from Portland, and a mom, I had visited every resale and consignment store in Portland from NE, SE, NW and was now venturing into SW even though it was actually the closest to me. One was chaotic and overpriced, another was just chaotic, another just overpriced and the last option looked like someone threw up pink tutus inside. And then…I found it. Small, quiet, great prices, and well-organized. And it didn’t smell. An actual bonus in the world of secondhand.
After having 3 boys, I was expecting my first daughter. I had some shopping to do! But I knew my money would go much further buying pre-owned items. Like A LOT further. You could spend $100 and get more than 10 things or $100 at a retail store and get 4 things. The choice was obvious. This was my new fave place and it was called Hoot-n-Annie and I loved it. I remember the apple hoodie that I fell head over heels for. It was $12 which seemed like a lot at the time but I put her in it all the time and she looked absolutely adorable. I met the owner several times and she was very nice and remembered my face when I came back in which made me feel good.
I had worked as an ophthalmic technician for eye surgeons for 15 years prior to my daughter’s birth. During my maternity leave, I decided not to return and to take a year off to decide what I really wanted to do. I was raised in SW Portland but lived off of 39th and Clinton for 5 years and became fond of a wonderful store called Village Merchants. When we bought a house and moved back to SW, I became quickly aware that there was nothing like that on the west side and it bummed me out. During my break from the medical world (ok…being a SAHM is NOT a break) I realized what it was that I truly wanted to do. I wanted to BE that shop on the west side where people could find awesome, fun, and funky furniture, housewares, and clothing for a fraction of retail spanning all styles and eras while giving things new life!
I wanted this so badly and set my sights on making it happen. Of course, it is not as easy as it sounds. Loans were denied left and right and the lease on a space big enough to house furniture and all the other goodies was way out of my budget. I worked with small business advocates and finally, it was recommended that I start my business online for a year and then come back to see about a loan after having some business history. I wasn’t about to sell furniture online. I racked my brain and thought, “What could I do along the same lines that would be easy to sell online?” DUH!? I had 4 kids, all my friends had kids… kid’s clothes!! And so it began. After spreading the word, I had 30 bins of clothes, fresh and clean and organized by size, gender, and clothing type all stored neatly on shelves in my oversized laundry room.
I created my website, photoed everything, and waited. Ping. I had a sale. New Jersey?? Ping. Another one in Texas. Many more rolled in from the mid-west and then the real nightmare happened; I had to mail them. Oooph. Shipping items was the worst! Remember this was in 2010 and e-commerce was not what it is today. I started to cringe when I would get an order. I was losing money on shipping left and right. I had small children at home that I would have to load up in the car every time I had to drop off packages. This was not what I had in mind. With my tail between my legs, I decided this wasn’t for me and was about to go and ask about coming back to work for the eye doctor’s office again. But then…
I got a call from my good friend Amy from high school. She said that her friend owned Hoot-n-Annie and was going to be closing and she thought I would be the perfect fit! The phone rang again. It was my friend Megan who had just visited the shop. She got into a conversation about the store closure with the owner and told her all about me. The owner said she would LOVE to meet with me and see if it was a good fit. I could not believe the coincidence of it all. I called her and set up a time to meet.
I was nervous and excited. I am a fairly shy person but she made me feel very comfortable. We talked for a while and she asked what my vision was. She was a very good listener and I could see relief dashing away the stress from her face. When I was done she said, “I want YOU to have the store. I will do whatever it takes to make it happen.” And so it happened. The end of a chapter for one person turned into the beginning of a chapter for another. I have grown from a small little shop off a busy road, to three stores in great locations dotted through the map right here on the west side. She still reaches out to me once in a while out of the blue and tells me how proud she is of me.
