Local mother and daughter team open Farm to Market on busy stretch of Highway 2
By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Adrienne Benner and Colleen Kirk are hoping to turn the heads of Highway 2 drivers with Farm to Market, their newly opened antiques and collectibles shop just east of Fairchild Air Force Base.
About three months ago the mother-daughter duo enlisted the help of their husbands to begin renovating a quirky one-room building at 14915 W. Highway 2. The small 100-year-old structure is easy to miss but hard to pass by once sighted, especially now that it's been painted olive green. It has held many businesses in its time, from a rentals lot to a barbershop, but most recently was home to Hidden Treasures, a vintage and collectibles store that has since moved into a pink house next door.
The location is great for visibility, Kirk said, although there are a lot of high-speed drive-bys. “You'd be amazed at the traffic, but most people are on a mission,” she said, adding that the building's transformation, and paint job, has given people an excuse to slow down and satisfy their curiosity. “After we got things going people stopped and said ‘I'm so glad because I've always wanted to stop but never did.'”
Kirk said her daughter, the shop's primary operator, developed the idea for Farm to Market after visiting with Hidden Treasures owner Lynn Wallen and divulging her dream of owning a similar store someday. “(Wallen) told her, ‘I'm looking for someone who might compliment my business,' and it was a match made in heaven,” Kirk said.
The stores draw similar clientele with their one-of-a-kind items. Farm to Market is primarily geared toward the “repurposing” of old things for use in unique interior or exterior design. “If you look in any Good Housekeeping or Sunset Magazine, repurposing is a big trend right now,” Kirk said.
Most of the merchandise in Farm to Market was collected or found in family barns and restored for sale, hence the business name, Kirk said. Homemade crafts are also for sale and garden vegetables and plants will be available on a seasonal basis.
The owners are also open to buying collectibles, but Kirk said it has to be the right item at the right price. “If we can't buy something reasonably and sell it at a reasonable price then we don't have room for it in this store,” she said. “Our goal is to make sure people can afford it.”
For more information on Farm to Market call 389-5939 or contact [email protected].
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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