PHOTOS: New Kirkwood boutique store with some 'sass' opens this weekend
KIRKWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) — When you walk through the all-glass doors at 11022 Manchester Road (near the Lindbergh intersection), a massive wooden pergola sits right in front of you with a room set up underneath. To the right is a kitchen, to the left, a nursery. At RF Home Co., there are actual rooms set up with everything for sale. And there aren’t 10 of each item displayed, it’s just like what it would look like in someone’s home.
Nicole Genz is the owner. She is in the back of the store when we arrive and says she’s shopping. She’s shopped for everything inside the 20,000 square foot space…and designed the cabinetry you see as well.
Genz was an engineer. So was her husband. They both started helping friends with their kitchens, which turned into a hobby.
Then she said she was coming to work with paint on her hands more and more. She decided to make her hobby her job, and quit engineering full time. The first location was on Lafayette and open for three years. People liked it, but Genz wanted to do certain things that didn’t fit. Her kitchen cabinetry business was also growing.
“So we needed more room for both,” Genz says. “So for about a year I looked for a place that we could do everything.”
That includes DIY classes, and incorporating in other local businesses.
The store that opens April 13 will have 60 businesses represented from within the U.S. 50 are from the area.
As you can see in the pictures, some of the items are described as ‘sassy’, like the pot holder that says The Best Part of Kale is Not Eating It or the tea towel that reads Better get your Dumbrella – It’s really stupid out there today.
“We actually keep certain things in certain places for the sole purpose of being able to hear people laugh.”
Genz says Facebook, Tech startups, and the "creator’s movement" has made people feel empowered to do what they have always wanted to do.
