Harmonic progression

Three months ago, Kathy Walsh and her husband of three years, Trip Rothschild, signed a lease for their third Homeward Bound store, in West Hartford, Conn. A month later the store opened, just in time for the residents of Greater Hartford and central Connecticut to begin their holiday shopping with Homeward Bound's organic “Interior Harmony” lifestyle selections.

The store's name, Homeward Bound, comes from Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 song of the same name. “We occasionally run an ad headlined, 'Home, where my sofa lies waiting silently for me,'” Rothschild said. “Interior Harmony, the store's motto, means that we endeavor to help customers find harmony within themselves via fashion and personal care products, and within their interior spaces through home furnishings.”

The harmonic inspiration, however, begins with Walsh and the synergy she feels with her vendors. “The most enjoyable part of my job is my connection to the products — I don't buy unless I love the people behind it, their philosophy, the materials and the workmanship,” she said.

“Green is where my heart is … and beautiful, high-end products that make my customers happy and help make the world a better place,” Walsh said. Her collections of furniture, home accents, personal accessories, apparel, jewelry and gifts are carefully edited for quality, style and source, in a variety of price points. The challenge is finding products that look good. “There are plenty of products out there that fit the sustainable and organic categories, but I like a very high style and won't buy it unless the product is also exceptional.”

And if anyone else is offering the same thing locally, Walsh has yet to find them. “Our customers walk in and say, 'wow' — they're happy to see that it's all here and that they don't have to schlep all over the place to find a couch, accessories, a dress or jewelry they can wear. It's like they think they've found a secret, a little gem.”

All three stores carry the same styles and merchandise but with a slightly different vibe. “I wanted the same good feeling in all the stores, but not identical stores,” Walsh said. Best sellers include natural beeswax candles, synthetic vegan leather bags, hypoallergenic toys, and upholstered furniture made with natural and vegetable-dyed fabrics, soy-based filler and sustainable wood frames.

Store brand exclusives include a bedding line of hand-blocked, natural, high-thread-count cotton, and custom-made live-edge wood furniture made by a local craftsman. Other cultures and nonprofit groups are supported through the sale of products such as Kenya Critters, Peruvian handknitted toys by Bla Bla, and MonkeyBiz beaded animals.

The work of local artists is showcased on an Art Wall in each store. “We publicize it, sell it for them, but don't take any money — the artists decide in advance what percentage they want to donate to a local arts program,” Walsh said.

Gifts are wrapped in burlap with colored twine, and reusable shopping bags are made of hand-blocked recycled fabric. To keep the inventory turning, a 10% discount on floor merchandise is offered at all times.

Walsh developed her merchandising talent following her graduation from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology when she worked as a buyer for Bloomingdale's, Henri Bendel and Barneys. In later years she applied her skills to interiors and furnishings at New York's eclectic emporium, ABC Carpet & Home. These days she's put it all together in a well-defined lifestyle presentation that not only sells, but invites inquiries from the local media who turn to her for advice on eco-friendly trends in home furnishings, gifts, apparel, personal care products and toys.

While Walsh stays busy buying, merchandising, advertising and marketing the business, Rothschild manages the operations, human resources, business development and finances. His retail connections were inherited from his great-great-grandfather, the “Abraham” half of Abraham & Straus, a major Brooklyn-based department store that eventually became a link in the Federated-Macy's chain.

Rothschild's business background includes undergrad studies at Harvard and NYU, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently he owned the Housatonic Valley Publishing Co., a publisher of 10 community weekly newspapers in the New Milford area.

New Milford is also where the couple resides, in a renovated 1810 home they share with five daughters, and where they chose to build their second store. Rothschild credits an associate for bringing West Hartford's Blue Back Square, a new mixed-use development, to their attention as a site for their third location.

“The (Blue Back Square) project was conceived by the town government and the developers were strongly encouraged to seek out local and regional retailers, not just national tenants, so as to differentiate Blue Back from the stores located in or near the large mall that is partially located in West Hartford,” Rothschild said. “For that reason Homeward Bound and several other distinctive, upscale retailers were heavily courted by the developers. From our point of view, co-locating with these tenants as well as the big national players was pretty irresistible.”

Asked if he had any advice for independent retailers looking to expand to other locations, Rothschild doesn't abide by any hard rules but said many people, including bankers, told the couple that their expansion into three locations in three years was nuts. “You have to think strategically,” he said. “If you believe as we do that we have a business concept and a market niche that is expandable and defensible, you've got to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way before someone else does.”

Cabinets from India and “live edge” shelves made by a local craftsman hold candlesticks, votives and personal organic products.

Homeward Bound, along with several other upscale retailers, was courted by the developers of West Hartford's Blue Back Square, a new 550,000-sq.-ft. mixed-use development/village center. Unlike their first two stores, in which owners Kathy Walsh and Trip Rothschild took over retail spaces that didn't require too many changes beyond the cosmetic, West Hartford is all new construction. Walsh and Rothschild began getting things together October first, with everything shipped to their New Milford store where it was priced and ticketed. “We didn't get the certificate to unpack until three days before opening, but thanks to such a great staff, we made it,” Walsh said.