Meet Kasandra Hoover | Owner/Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kasandra Hoover and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kasandra, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My husband and I grew up in Eastern Colorado and when he was done serving in the Army we wanted to come back and raise our children in a rural community.  We ended up having the opportunity to buy the local Ace Hardware in town and I thought I would be more in the background helping in the office but the seller said he also had a decorating/furniture store that he wanted to sell in town and would like for us to take that business over as well. I had always loved interior design and at one point had even considered that as a major in college so I thought I might be able to help make the store profitable by bringing in some newer and updated furnishings. I had never worked in the retail space before so it has been a learning process but slowly I feel like we’ve been able to give our customers and small community a place they can shop locally and feel like they don’t always have to go to the city to buy great pieces for their homes.

Sometimes I can’t believe how my life has come full circle with things I wanted to do, like majoring in interior design, but ended up choosing a different path and it is still in some ways coming to fruition. After high school I went into cosmetology and was in that career for about 3 years. My husband was in the Army at the time and we had just had our son when he went to serve his 2nd tour in Iraq. I decided I wanted more of an 8-5 job where I didn’t have to work weekends and finding daycare was easier so I decided to go back to school and get my Bachelors Degree in Business. Going back to school with kids and having a husband overseas was hard and in the moment you feel like you can’t push yourself anymore but usually when it feels hard it’s probably worth it and it definitely has been worth it. If you would have told me 10 years ago I would be running my own business I don’t know if I would have believed it. I always thought I would be the support for my husband and his entrepreneurial goals but when the opportunity came up for me to run the furniture store I realized what a blessing it was and I had the opportunity to do something I love that was always more of a hobby.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our business sells furniture, mattresses, appliances, flooring, carpet, kitchen cabinets, countertops and home décor. We are essentially a one stop shop if you are remodeling or building your home or if you just want to update a few things in your home we can do that as well. I think what sets our store apart from others is our customer service and how we style our store. I feel like it’s easy for a customer to envision how the merchandise will look in their home. I’m very proud of how far the store has come in the last 6 years we’ve owned it.  We have been fortunate enough to buy the building next to ours 2 years ago and expand so that we can give our customers a better shopping experience that I hope feels like when they go to the city but can stay in our rural town and shop locally.

Retail can be hard sometimes because you want to make every customer happy and when you live in a small town, word of mouth and positive reviews goes a long way. We try very hard to give great customer service and I’m very thankful for the customers that have supported our store and keep coming back to buy more pieces for their home or to come update their home with a remodel. I feel like our store is always evolving and staying up to date with the trends and getting better every year with what we can offer to our customers.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was visiting the area I hope it’s in summer because it’s the best time to come to our community! There is so much happening between our Celebration of Summer event where our town hosts a car show, events in the park, music and food. We also have the County Fair in July where we have events all week long and ends the week with a great rodeo and concert.

We would definitely go to The Main Cup for a great cup of coffee and walk down Main St to go shopping at all the local businesses.  We have great retail shopping on our Main St, from Health Essentials which offers a great variety of organic food and an exclusive line of oil oil and vinegar and spices.  The Shaman Shoppe who makes all their own organic essential oils, rubs, soaps, and teas and two great floral shops, Williams Floral and Garden Center and Koda Floral where she also carries some clothing and jewelry as well!

We would spend one day at the Old Town Museum, a tourist attraction off I-70 that has a lot of local history and you can walk through the buildings and go back in time. I’d also take them to see the Kit Carson County Carousel. The carousel is over 100 years old and is the only antique carousel in America still having original paint on both the scenery panels and on the animals and it’s fully operational!

We would spend one day at Prairie Pines Golf Course for sure and get a round of 9 holes in and take them to dinner at The Dish Room to set out on the patio and have a few cocktails! We have a lot of great local restaurants from Spices on the Green where you can always count on having a great steak, Tequilas and Panaderia Grill Mexico #2 who serve Mexican food and great margaritas to The Post Bar and Grill for American homemade food!

We also have some of the best views for a beautiful sunset out here on the Eastern Plains so we would definitely be finding a place to stop, slow down and enjoy the views.

I think our rural communities have a lot to offer and I’m sure people who’ve never lived in a rural community often wonder what we do in a small town but I think it’s what you make of it and there is always something fun and interesting to do!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I would love to give a shoutout to my husband Cody who always pushes me in the best way. I’m not always the most confident person when it comes to business so he always helps me recognize when I’m doing a good job. To my kids, Evan and Grace, who are very understanding when we have crazy hours we have to work and sacrifice time with their parents.

I definitely have to give a shout out to my employees who always give great sales support and help manage the store. We would not be successful without all their hard work and dedication to our store!

I’d also love to give a shout out to the other small businesses in my local community. We’ve all been very supportive of one another and make sure when a tourist is in our town that they know what other businesses there are to shop at, where there is great food or activities they can do in our town. When you live in a small community it’s so important to help the other businesses succeed because we want to keep our town thriving!

To all the customers that have supported us from the beginning of our journey and keep coming back! We appreciate each and every person that shops at our store and we would not be as successful if they didn’t support our small business!

Website: www.mshomefurnishings.com

Instagram: @mshomefur

Facebook: @MainStHomeFurnishings

Image Credits
Kasandra Hoover