Ted Kennedy Watson

In fact, the former Seattle Tennis Club pro was still in tennis whites when he was asked to join the creative team for the Bill and Melinda Gates wedding festivities.

Not long after, he began to show the decorative work of friends and acquaintances, first in his home, then later in a wholesale showroom in the Seattle Market Center. “I learned a tremendous amount from dealing with some of the best buyers in the country — Neiman Marcus, Gump's, Barneys, Nordstrom to name a few,” Watson said.

At Watson Kennedy, displays of new product are layered with vintage bibelots to delight and tempt the senses.

When Watson opened a second retail location, he sold his wholesale division. Now he owns and operates three shops in the area, Watson Kennedy Fine Living, Watson Kennedy Fine Home and Watson Kennedy Fine Life. “I looked for historic, creative, beautiful spaces that enhance the Watson Kennedy shopping experience,” he said. “The second shop is in the Holyoke Building, a building listed on the Historic Registry. It has amazing windows facing out to busy 1st Avenue in downtown Seattle. The third shop opened in the quaint village of Old Main Street in Bellevue.”

Ted Kennedy Watson's three Seattle-area specialty shops reflect the country lifestyle aesthetic of the gentleman-owner, a former tennis pro whose early volleys into his current profession include a role on the creative team for the wedding festivities of Bill and Melinda Gates.

He's also very specific about the look and feel of his shops, which are characterized by highly visual, quality displays designed to tempt the senses. “The overall look and experience is fairly Old World. I display quite a bit by color. One entire section of the store might be composed of items that are green. We layer the displays with ephemera — vintage flash cards, game pieces, old playing cards, music sheets. A typical display could be an old French farm table from the 1800s with a smaller side table on top, holding sterling silver candlesticks with our signature beeswax candles, a vintage alabaster lamp, an oil painting, a grouping of Mrs. John L. Strong stationery boxes, and a stack of Le Jacquard Francais linens.”

The three Watson Kennedy shops are extensions of Watson's homes, which have been featured in shelter magazines and on several HGTV shows. A wide range of price points ensures there's something for everyone who walks through the door.

Those customers are described as well-traveled, well-educated creative souls who are looking to fill their homes with special and one-of-a-kind items. “We offer a tremendous range of pricing, so there is something for each customer that walks in the door,” Watson said. “With several universities in Seattle, we get people in their 20's to stylish grandmothers, and all ages in between.”

“Core to my business strategy is offering something beautiful to everyone, no matter their wallet. Someone can leave with a beautifully wrapped $6 bar of soap or a $4,000 table. Both customers are treated the same, get the same wrapping and attention. Overall, I would say our average price point is $25.”

The Watson Kennedy brand is clearly defined on the company's Web site, and a newsletter goes out to the entire mailing list twice a year. Watson's shops have donated close to $60,000 to Seattle area nonprofits from store fund-raising events. He also maintains contact with local and national lifestyle and shelter magazine editors, many of whom have included pieces on the shop and/or its products.

Watson opened his first store in a space he'd long adored and told friends he would make his if it were ever made available. For his next two retail locations, he chose “historic, creative, beautiful spaces that enhance the Watson Kennedy shopping experience.”

The biggest challenge is staying unique with products that aren't offered elsewhere. Watson prides himself on the one-of-a-kind shopping experience offered at Watson Kennedy and says if everyone else is doing it, he heads in the other direction. “My biggest compliment from a customer is when they say they have never been in a shop quite like mine — then I know I am on the right track.”