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With a central location on the Avenue in Hampden, squeezed between an organic hair salon and a Bikram yoga studio, its scarlet store front and aged-wood sign could make Red Tree seem like just another hip store on West 36th Street. But once you walk into the store, with its brick walls and pipes running along the ceilings, the shop has a certain energy and a clean, natural sophistication that sets it apart. I assumed Red Tree was a national chain anthropolgie-type home store when I first discovered it several years ago. I was surprised to find out that the shop is locally owned and operated. It is full of handmade jewelry, home goods, furniture, and some vintage and one-of-a-kind items.
Starting as a long-time dream and a draft of a business plan in 2004, Red Tree has become a successful reality seven years later and is expanding even further. Owners Carmen Brock and Ben Homola will be opening their second store in DC this spring. With this expansion, Carmen plans to further solidify the shop’s identity and image. The name Red Tree was originally associated with a store in her home-state of Kentucky. Since March 1st, Red Tree has been known as Trohv, appropriately meaning a collection of objects or treasured items.
Though Trohv’s products are from national artists, nearing 500 different vendors, Brock focuses on local Baltimore and regional artists. Shawn Theron (www.sogh.org) is one of these artists. His modern, colorful paintings made from recycled wood line a wall of the store, beautifully fitting into the overall aesthetic while still keeping their local voice and personality. . In the new DC store, the owners plan to maintain connections with some of their Baltimore artists, but also develop new ones with DC area artists.
When you walk into Trohv, it’s hard to not be impressed by the design. The industrial bones of the store contrast beautifully with the rich fabrics and colors of the furniture while maintaining a rustic feel with antique and worn wooden tables and cabinets. Interspersed among these pieces are displays full of small gifts and unique home décor. Being full of items from so many different artists, the aesthetic of the store is unique and fun but stays warm and cohesive. The professional layout of the store almost takes away from its small business feel. Trovh could fit perfectly with the hipster scene in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood or next to some boutiques in SoHo. With the mainstream success of previously alternative and niche markets, Trohv could even have potential to become as wide spread as Urban Outfitters, making appearances at local malls and shopping centers.
But the owners have no interest in being a national franchise. When asked how many stores she would ideally like to run, Brock said she would max out at three. Though her husband and co-owner Ben Homola would love to have a few more, Carmen is a self-proclaimed “quality control freak,” and wouldn’t want to sacrifice her involvement in each store for a larger expansion. Carmen attributes her loyalty to small business to her upbringing in Kentucky. Her family ran a cattle and tobacco farm and taught her the importance of managing your own business. These ideals blended with her love for community arts and home design is the foundation of Trohv’s identity.
What does it means to be a successful small business today? Success in American culture often comes with a push to expand and grow. That’s what we think of as “making it”– starting off small, being recognized and then being picked up by a larger corporation, or becoming a larger corporation yourself. It is the “Starbucks Effect”—a small business with flavor and personality becomes a chain, and with that expansion comes industrialization and standardization. Though you can find a Starbucks on almost every corner around the US and abroad, each store is now a flavorless carbon copy of what the original Starbucks identity was. The American emphasis on efficiency and standardization sacrifices quality for growth. It’s great to see that there are still small businesses that keep their quality and personal involvement top priority.
Even though my budget couldn’t afford seventy-five percent of the items in the store, if you aren’t looking at an antique cafeteria table or leather couch, the prices seem reasonable enough for an art and design lover with a decent income to furnish or accessorize an awesome home. With inexpensive jewelry, even a teenager could find some great everyday or special occasion things to wear. Overall, Trohv, formerly Red Tree, is a good place to find small gifts and accessories, a place to plan your rustic-urban-vintage dream house, and one of the few small business around with a potential for mainstream success but a commitment to protecting quality and supporting local arts.
Trohv Store
921 W. 36th Street
Baltimore, MD 21211
410-366-3456
Store Hours:
Monday-Wednesday 11am-7pm
Thursday- Saturday 10am-8pm
Sunday 11am-6pm
http://www.redtreebaltimore.com
http://trohvshop.com
Tags: Community Arts, Hampden, Red Tree, Trohv
Filed Under: Community Feature Profiles
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