When you enter Three French Hens (16935 Manchester, 636-458-8033, threefrenchhensstl.com), you can’t help noticing the espresso machine. Most furniture shops don’t let you get anywhere near their merchandise with a drink, but here, a helpful clerk will make you a complimentary cappuccino and encourage you to browse.
“When you walk into the store, you’ve just walked into my home,” says owner Jeanie Hood, who opened the store a decade ago, after being frustrated with local options while decorating her own French country–style home. She decided Three French Hens’ selection would emphasize unique furniture and accessories, such as colorful stoneware measuring cups ($15.95), elegant sideboards (from $1,395), and stately bookcases (around $2,000).
The 10,000-square-foot showroom also carries edgier pieces and is the exclusive St. Louis carrier of HGTV decorator Candice Olson’s furniture line, which includes ornate mirrors ($1,195), glitzy beige-and-gold faux zebra hides ($819), and sparkly “happily ever after” throw pillows ($87.95).
If you see something you like, but aren’t sure it quite fits in your home, the store will let you borrow it—with approval—for free. “You don’t know how something looks in your home until you place it there,” says Hood.
Though ceramic figures and paintings of hens abound, “the name was inspired by my granddaughters,” says Hood. The girls, who were 4 and 7 years old at the time the store was founded, were always singing “The 12 Days of Christmas,” but they always forgot what came after day three.
That was in 2003, when Hood opened the shop in Wildwood, not far from her own home. “Then it was off the beaten path,” she says. “People asked me what I was thinking, but I was confident that it would be a success.”
Today, Hood attributes the store’s popularity to her eclectic collection and the customer service: “Here you’re made to feel special, whether you buy something or not.”
