Former attorney Suzanne Woodard has always had a passion for interior design. After practicing law for many years, she was ready to try something new. “I wanted to bring an alternative concept to the St. Louis market,” she says. “I had an idea for a store where anybody could come in and find beautiful, high-quality pieces for their home at an affordable price.”
As a senior manager and attorney at Macy’s for 15 years, Woodard feels at ease in the retail environment. She took a leap of faith and found a perfect space to open her store—a historic building on Brentwood Boulevard that once housed the old Brentwood Theater. The area has become something of a design hub in recent years, she says. She started buying furniture and home decor and opened The Refind Room in October 2012.
An alternative to traditional resale shops, The Refind Room buys and sells a carefully curated mix of vintage and modern pieces purchased from local families. Many of the items originated from well-known, quality manufacturers such as Baker, Henredon, Bernhardt, Maitland-Smith, Bauhaus and other high-end nameplates. Some of the store’s original midcentury pieces are stamped ‘Made in Denmark,’ an impressive provenance when it comes to this hot design category.
In addition to furniture, The Refind Room sells a wide range of artwork and home decor pieces— pretty much everything needed to design a great room. The continually changing inventory is always stylish and high quality, yet affordable, Woodard says. “With new pieces coming in daily, there’s something to suit everyone’s taste and budget.”
The store has quickly become a favorite of local interior designers, as well as of homeowners shopping for themselves, Woodard adds. That’s because the quality of older furniture is superior to much of what is available now, she says. And Woodard is determined to make The Refind Room a really fun way to shop.
“We wanted to create a different kind of store in the marketplace, one that offers unique items in a more personal setting than at chain stores,” she says. “We invite our customers to sit in, move and inspect every piece of furniture on our showroom floor. We want people to enjoy themselves here.”
Customers are ‘greeted’ warmly by The Refind Room’s two canine mascots —Teddy Freddy, a rescued Maltipoo who has a fan club of regular shoppers, and his pal Bandit, a Yorkie. As the store celebrates its third anniversary, it recently expanded, taking over the shop behind it to increase showroom space to about 4,000 square feet.
This year, Woodard and her partner, Shawn Lipe, also rolled out a purchasing affiliate, The Refind Estate.
“We always envisioned having a buying side that performed like a community service,” Lipe says. “We thought there was a need for someone to provide that buying option to people who are moving or downsizing. We purchase as much as we can of their high-quality pieces to sell in the store, and we even provide pick-up. This offers people a choice beyond the typical estate sale model. It’s an adventure, and we’re helping people at the same time.”
[The Refind Room is located at 2525 S. Brentwood Blvd. For more information call 314.962.7666 or log onto therefindroom.com.]
Photos: Bill Barrett
Cover design by Jon Fogel
