08/23/2026
The Road to 15! ✨
Our shoppe is celebrating 15 years in business this September, and we thought it would be fun to share a mini-series over the next four Sundays about our journey. Reaching 15 years feels like such a major milestone, and we can’t wait to celebrate with all of you—you’ve been the biggest part of it!
Our story starts here: We’d been living in Sheridan for about two years when we received a letter in the mail stating that Real Deals on Home Decor was looking for a franchise owner in the area. Since we were originally from Billings and I had been a frequent shopper at their location there, I’m guessing that’s how we ended up receiving it. At 26 years old, I thought, there’s no way we can make this happen. We were newly married, had just purchased a house, and, if I’m being honest, the dream felt a little unattainable.
I thought about it for months. During that time, Tyler’s mom—who originally introduced me to Real Deals—got sick, and we lost her just three months later. It was a major eye-opener that life is short and we needed to go after the things we truly wanted.
So, I made the call to the franchise team, wrote a business plan, and started meeting with banks. Within three months, we secured a bank, were finalizing our lending, and paid our own way to training so we could secure the Sheridan territory.
Tyler was an absolute champ during training: learning how to merchandise, run the point-of-sale system, and offering constant encouragement—even if he was panicking on the inside! On our third night, we went to dinner with three other women opening a store in Iowa, where we all discussed (and cried about) how nervous we were 😆
On the drive home, Tyler calculated how many extra hours he’d have to work to cover the business loan payment if the store was a total flop. I told him I believed in us and knew it would work. Looking back, we were just kids with no idea what we were actually embarking on. I’m not sure where that level of certainty came from, but I just knew we could pull it off.
When we got back, we had to find a location. At the time, this felt like the hardest part. We finally landed on a spot on Broadway. It had a crazy ramp, no running water, and was pretty rustic, but it was the perfect starting point. We signed the lease and got to work on the front facade.
My sister Sam moved from Billings to help us open from ground zero, learning right alongside us. As we placed our initial orders, we decided to rush a few through so we could participate in Third Thursday market our grand opening.
Then, 36 pallets arrived in a single day!
We nearly had a heart attack and sent out a mass text to friends and family because we were literally buried in freight, our very first shipment, and it was ten times larger than normal. Friends came from all over to help us that weekend, spending the next few nights in Sheridan processing inventory. It felt surreal, but we waded through, and our very first Third Thursday was a huge success.
Looking back, that tiny, rustic building with the crazy ramp was just the beginning of an incredible adventure. We had no idea what the next 15 years would bring, but standing there on opening day, watching that line of friendly faces wrapped through the building, we knew we were right where we belonged. Stay tuned next Sunday for Part 2 of our journey! ❤️
