Behind The Storefronts

Ever wonder who’s behind all of the amazing retail offerings in Serenbe? Well, there are some incredible, powerful women who own businesses in the community, and we had the pleasure of speaking to one this week on Serenbe Stories podcast. Stacy Simmonds is the owner of Hamlin, a modern lifestyle shop located in the Selborne neighborhood. She opened the shop in 2018 and it has been thriving since, selling all the necessary-ish products and providing out of this world experiences.

Stacy has a strong background in sales and marketing but always dreamt of opening her own store. When the opportunity presented itself in 2018, she got to work to bring a ton of personal touches to the store, incorporating aspects of Stacy’s life throughout. To start, the name Hamlin is the name of a street in Chicago where Stacy and her family lived when she was growing up. In her interview, she says that all the wonderful memories and stories from “Hamlin Avenue” always brought such joy, that she’d always planned to name something Hamlin. How lovely!

If you visit the store in person, you’ll find a cool, giant print of a polaroid in the window. It serves as beautiful decor for the store but also holds special memories for Stacy. The print is from a family polaroid of she and her brother when they were kids playing in the yard. She’s wearing a poncho that her grandmother crocheted and her brother is standing behind her, representing his protective nature, she explains. All of these personal touches make Hamlin, Stacy’s dream store, offering up west coast meets east coast vibes. She has something for pretty much everyone, from babies to millennials to pets.

Stacy’s not the only boss babe retail owner in Serenbe, of course. There’s Nadine Bratti who owns the General Store, Kathryn Drennan with Forage & Flower, Christina Gault who owns Gault Designs, Kathy, Kelsey and Lindsay with The Ballog, Monica Olsen, Garnie Nygren and Rain Newell who own Resource & Honeycomb consignment respectively, Jessica Sutton who owns Typo Market,  Stephanie Perry with Chai Vegan Spa Collection & Salon, and next door is Zen Grove by Yaffa Yemima and also in Mado is Studio13 Pilates owned by Julie Lord and Jill Campbell and Bamboo Juices owned by Kelley Henry and Garnie Nygren. Although these aren’t street-facing storefronts, including Heather Ruth with Serenbe Yoga & Bodyworks and  Precision Performance Physical Therapy owned by Kate Edwards, both also featured on Serenbe Stories podcast. There are also boss babes at Serenbe Farms, including interns and Farm Manager Virginia. These women work endlessly to keep their beloved products and services available for you, so come support them if you can! You can also find other amazing women-owned businesses at our weekly Farmer’s Market.  Find all of Serenbe’s retail, health and wellness services and more at our community directory. See you soon on the streets of Serenbe.