Today we’d like to introduce you to Elsie Russell.
Hi Elsie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Elsie Russell and I am so proud to say my hometown is Denison, TX, and that I own a little shoppe on Main St. called 2 Chicks Home and Market! It is where four generations of my family have planted deep roots and built solid foundations for future generations to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities for not only myself but for others who have chosen to put down their own roots to live, work, play, and enjoy a quality of life available in one of the best cities in Texas! I am the kid that grew up shopping with family for school clothes downtown every year; visiting the iconic stores (of the time) where family members were employed for decades, Kresses and Barrett’s to name a couple. It was a great backdrop for a small-town kid to grow up, enjoy and dream! The energy was dynamic and that is where the heartbeat of our town has been and will always be… on Main Street!
I have always been a small-town girl, even with a short stint in the big city working in the corporate world, I could not move back home fast enough to raise our own family and continue the traditions and provide the experiences for my children that shaped my love of Denison. Shortly after we moved back home with our precious twins, our son was diagnosed with autism, and I needed a job that allowed me to have a flexible schedule. I opened my design business focusing on Professional Home Staging and had a great 10-year run. It was great “gig” which allowed me the time I needed to be a mom first during those years! I loved Home Staging and provided products and furniture for vacant properties in addition to occupied homes. I would shop the estate sales, resell places, and find great bargains on furniture on a Saturday, paint it on a Sunday and install in a home on Monday. I fell in love with the whole creative process of painting! Which led me to opening a booth in a local Vendor Mall carrying a furniture chalk paint line, home décor products, and teaching furniture painting classes…. which then led to the opportunity to open my dream shoppe on Main Street over 7 years ago. I no longer offer staging but this next phase of my career offering something else that I love to share has been a huge blessing!
I am so happy to say that 2 Chicks Home and Market has thrived despite some of the most challenging times most of us have witnessed and have gone through in these past 2+ years! In Oct. of 2019, a fire ravaged the 300 block of our Main Street where our shoppe is located. One week after experiencing the fire that caused me to face uncharted waters and close our doors that very day, I had a business trip planned to attend a Destination Business Boot Camp in CO along with other Main Street business owners and our Main Street Director. Facing the unknown and those uncharted waters, I was struggling with (“Have I lost everything, what is the next step, do I shut it down…do I cancel my trip…why should I go if I don’t have a business to come back to?”) Fortunately, I listened to our mayor and so many others that told me they completely understood if I did not go but really encouraged me to make that trip. With a leap of faith and the thought of at least I can walk away for a week and clear my thoughts, I went forward and attended that boot camp! Simply put, it was truly LIFE CHANGING! Personally, and professionally! This opportunity to learn some major strategies and come back with the tools to make our businesses and our Main Street a Destination Experience was so powerful! I was able to position my business and come back with a purpose and a strategy. I secured a temporary location one block away and was able to open in that location within 36 days from the fire (saving the 4th quarter which is so critical to a retail business). With the support of our Main Street village and the knowledge and tools learned at that boot camp, we were able to increase our previous sales more than any other 4th quarter before. I learned so much and I definitely learned how to pivot!
We were able to reopen in our original location in February of 2020, but in just four short weeks we had to lock our doors when the pandemic hit! With the knowledge that you can make the best of what you have, and there are no excuses, we had to PIVOT, again! The tools I learned in that Destination Business Boot Camp allowed me to once again, continue servicing our customers/clients, create sales through newly implemented e-commerce platforms, and offer curbside pickup/local delivery. We also created project kits for customers and created virtual workshops so they could continue to create in the safety of their own homes. This was all behind locked doors, and we continued to thrive with record sales during a pandemic!
I am proud to say we have weathered those challenges and have grown each year and continue to offer a unique shopping experience for our awesome customers at 2 Chicks Home and Market. You will find Local Food/Market Goods, DIYPaint, Iron Orchid Designs Creative Products, Soy Candles, Creative Workshops, Jewelry, Hand-made Items, Textile Quilt Art, and Local History Books, Pottery and so much more! We fill our store with things we love and people we love! We also have 35+ creative makers and artisans who contribute their beautiful items to our shoppe in addition to what we offer.
It is a lot of hard work to be a small business owner/entrepreneur, but I wouldn’t trade this phase of my career for anything! When you love what you do, it is not a job…. it is a life full of amazing experiences and people! I truly love it!
What makes you happy?
My family – especially our twins Clay and Chloe, our 100 (technically 99) year old dream home, and sharing our fabulous shoppe with customers and other entrepreneurs.
My husband Tim and I have been married for 43 years. After 19 years of marriage, we were blessed with our twins Clay and Chloe (the joy of having these two amazing beings have been my greatest joy)! They are 23 now, and despite Clay’s diagnosis of autism, he is thriving and happy and healthy. Chloe will be graduating from Texas Woman’s University this May (2022) with a degree in Music Therapy, and it brings me so much happiness that she has found her joy and passion in her upcoming career. To say I’m the most blessed mom ever is truly the best happiness.
I’m so proud of what I’ve built at 2 Chicks Home and Market and knowing that when you shop with us, you are not only supporting me but also 35+ folks and families that love what they do, too!
Oh, I can’t forget my dream home! Briefly, when I was Staging Homes about 10 years ago, I staged (our current dream home). I fell in love with this house when I staged it and met the new owner that purchased it. We become friends/acquaintances and I used to joke with her to “take care of my house, decorate my house really pretty for the holidays, and if you have a party be sure to invite me to my house!” I would joke about it with my family, not EVER thinking it would be our home. Fast forward to 2018 and we had just sold our home of over 17 years with the intention of downsizing. We had still not found a house 2 weeks before our closing, but then found a home that we thought would be a good fit for us (which happened to be one block away from my dream home) and moved in (renting it until the closing a month later). In the meantime, we received the inspection report and realized we’d have to find another place and move again. That was a tough one, but I posted on FaceBook that night with a plea for anyone that had a rental place lead to please let us know! Ironically, the owner of my Staged Dream home had moved and sold it a few years before that (or so I thought). She called me that night and said, “You know I still own that house?” To which I replied, “YOU still own my HOUSE?!” She said, “Yes, I never sold it, I have renters in there.” I said, “Oh my gosh, you want to rent it to us?” Her reply, “No, I think I want to sell it to you! You are the only person I know that loves that house as much as I do, and it’s time for someone else to love it!” Talk about blessed! It’s probably not right to love a house so much, but I do!!! It’s was perfect for our family and I love the history and that it was built with such love almost 100 years ago (we found out recently after some research, 1920 was on the paperwork, but it was built in 1923! I constantly find myself thanking Mrs. Pearce as I move through this beautiful space (she was the original lady of the house) for creating such an amazing home! I’m so grateful for our time to love it….it truly brings me and our family so much happiness!
Contact Info:
- Email: elsie@2chickshomeandmarket.com
- Website: https://2chickshomeandmarket.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2chickshomeandmarket/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2ChicksHomeAndMarket
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7QsyRetwHsW3AmFgfHJqNw
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