Main Street Shopping at Picture This
Seneca, Kansas (pop. 1,991) is our featured rural community this week! Their thriving main street, rich history, and community events are just a few of the many great things to love about Seneca. We'll be sharing stories throughout the week from local leaders and business owners who are making an impact here. Today's guest blog post is from Leah Hermesch of Picture This, a boutique that offers gifts, home decor, furniture, and more.
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Hello, my name is Leah Hermesch! I am the owner of Picture This in Seneca, Kansas, a small boutique that has a personality all of its own! Located on Seneca’s beautiful historic downtown Main Street, Picture This provides a cozy atmosphere for shopping with your friends and family for gifts, home decor, furniture and so much more.
I grew up and went to school in a small town called Alma, Kansas. I graduated from Kansas State University with a human resource degree in the college of business. While there I met my husband Darrin. We lived in a small town after we were married and I worked in management roles until after the birth of our first daughter, when I decided to leave the workforce and be a full-time stay-at-home mom. A couple years after she was born, we were presented with the opportunity to move back to my husband's family farm near Seneca. We decided that was best for our future family and would align with what our long-term goals looked like so we began the process of remodeling and moving! Darrin continued to work his same job in corporate America adding a longer commute each day as well as occasional weeks of travel. We managed to add a second daughter and then a third shortly after that which made us a family of five and me, a mom who desperately missed adult conversations. I landed in the direct sales world after stumbling upon a company I loved everything about, and with some much needed encouragement — or maybe a shove — from my husband. The new opportunity challenged and rewarded me in different ways I hadn’t felt for almost four years. It was perfect for our family at that time. Fast forward 11 years after initially leaving the workforce myself and then a shift in career for Darrin to the private sector, I found myself with three growing daughters in school full-time and a yearning that I was made for something more.
In 2008, I knew immediately when we moved back to his hometown community that I wanted to be a part of the Main Street community spirit. I wasn’t sure how or what it would one day look like, but it sat there on my heart tugging gently until I could no longer ignore it. Years had passed and were filled with many hours caring for the needs of my babies, getting to know people in the community — especially the other moms at the parks, parents of my daughters’ classmates, and activities my daughters participated in. Bring on January of 2018 when I walked into the store I own today and told the previous owners we were ready to buy their shop! I had enjoyed many casual conversations in prior years with them regarding the idea of making that a reality, as their children had grown and moved away and they were looking for an exit at some point in the future. But that January day in 2018 my fear of not moving forward was greater than my fear of moving forward, so we began the process of purchasing our home decor store Picture This and the building it currently occupied...there was no going back!
322 Main Street became my second home and we set our eyes on how to make it ours. There have been multiple previous owners of Picture This and each one has allowed it to be a reflection of themselves; I was excited and overwhelmed at what all that entailed! We know that finding a niche in our local market, willingness to try new things, and openness to change are the keys to sustainability. One way we are continuing that is through our love of working on one-of-a-kind projects that tell a story only one family can tell. Documenting history and retelling stories from years gone by with photos, textiles, medals, and more through our custom framing division is something we are very proud to offer to our community and the surrounding towns. Picture This has also been known to provide inspiration with each season change. Traditions are established with families and friends surrounding our annual Open House events each season. People enjoy coming to Seneca and spending the day visiting all the shops, enjoying the small town charm.
Another important piece of our business is wedding registries. Our brides and grooms enjoy allowing their families and friends to shop local and when they do, gift wrap and delivery is included on all bridal purchases. Besides wedding gifts, we’ve also expanded our wonderful gift selection in the store. We love helping our customers find that perfect gift for a friend - or their wives! Many times we will receive a phone call or a Facebook message telling us they need a gift but don’t have time to shop. We are happy to help and appreciate the trust they have in us! Something that’s really taken off for us since purchasing the store has been our in-home consultation and design services we offer. From seasonal decorating to remodels and new construction, we’ve really enjoyed helping all our customers with any size of design job they’ve got. Our hearts grow 10 times and we can't wait for our next call to help when we receive messages from customers like this one: “The kids were so excited when they walked in! They dropped their backpacks and said ‘MOM, quick!! SANTA CAME!!!’”
We are known for our gifts, home decor, including furniture, wedding registry, and custom framing, but we hope what brings people coming back is our genuine care for each person walking through our door and our love for Seneca. The schools, the businesses, the friendly smiles, waves, and conversations in the aisles of our grocery store...the brick streets, music playing everyday on Main Street, the farmers market, or community day at the park...the visits with Santa or scavenger hunt for the Seneca roaming gnomes, it’s all one part of why we love it here! We will continue to give back to our community and know that a large part of our community’s strength is dependent upon today's group of local entrepreneurs as well as the next generation of them that will take our place. There are a great variety of community events for all ages throughout the year and we always look forward to welcoming new faces.
Although we are in a period of uncertainty in the world today, I believe the strength and connection of community is even more important today and for the hope of tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we are excited about the future at Picture This and plan to bring even more changes to the store that will allow for more efficient use of the space we have and expanding on the needs and wants of our customers. We love our small community and are thankful for the people who are part of it!
Find out more about the rural revival happening in Seneca, Kansas here:
EPISODE 88 // LIZ FELDKAMP OF LIZ'S BRIDAL & FORMAL WEAR