Courtesy The Annex
Shawn Lipe and Suzanne Woodard, the husband-and-wife team behind The Refind Room, are expanding their furniture resale and consignment business with the opening of The Refind Room Annex (5739 W. Park), a destination for art, auctions, high-end home interiors, and antiques. By hosting events, like pop up shops and fundraisers that entertain and educate, the duo are bringing a long-held dream to life.
“We thought we needed a little twist on The Refind Room,” says Woodard. “There are certain design categories that we don’t have in the store and we didn’t want to confuse the mix at the present location.”
With the new warehouse location, just eight miles from the store in Richmond Heights, there is ample room for the couple, celebrating a decade in business this year, to expand on their vision. “This is our tenth year so the timing is just absolutely perfect,” says Lipe, a certified appraiser with a background in art. “It allows us the experience and knowledge of the St. Louis market to say that our strategies are in line with what they should be for our audience.”
We talked to Lipe and Woodard during the week leading up to the opening. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation.
How long have you been considering opening a second location?
SW: We’ve been thinking about this for years. We saw a need in the market to offer multiple services for clients. We started as a resale store and transitioned into consignment and yet there were still some clients in St. Louis who we weren’t able to help. Our multi-service menu for clients includes estate sales, consignment; we’re adding an auction company. We want to help clients with some of their higher, more valuable pieces so that they have a one-stop shop. That entailed having more square footage.
What specifically were your clients requesting from you?
SL: It was the higher end piece and for us it just took a little longer to sell [at The Refind Room]. It’s not that we couldn’t. We were wanting to have a resolution that was a little faster. As we move into the higher end home, we’re exposed to art collections. We’re exposed to high end collections of all types and those really require a national audience to truly give proper liquidation.
SW: In the space right now we have three antique carousel animals. We have two terracotta warriors that are life size and we have this enormous jadeite laughing Buddha. For the clients to really get the exposure and have the piece sell in a reasonable amount of time, they need different exposure.
SL: And art needs to be shown in the proper, in the right, space. To just put it into a retail space…We just knew we could do better. With Covid we doubled down and said it has to happen this year.
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It sounds like you want to reach a broader audience.
SW: We want to get more involved with the community, with fundraisers, events. We have space to offer pop ups for local artists. The space is really dynamic as far as how you could use it. We’re finding some freedom of expression as far as how we can engage with the community.
SL: The exciting this is that we’ve had all these ideas all these years and never quite the opportunity. This is a paradigm shift for us because now there’s no one we can’t meet. Everything’s a possibility.
What can you share about your plans for auctions?
SL: The idea is to move away from the more stoic auction format and make it a more dynamic, almost entertainment-based. I don't intend to have a marathon where it's five hours. You want to bring some group in, entertain them, educate them. And then I, of course, have my own collector base, but it's meant to actually give them access to better collections, too.
SW: My vision for this is that we would have people at the auction who don’t ordinarily go but who want to try it. It can be intimidating, right? I want it to be more laid back, sort of a party atmosphere that’s social and fun. We’re going to run with that and see if St. Louis is open to it.
How many auctions a year are you planning?
SL: I would say about six a year. We have one based on Modernism probably coming up first. We have a very rare collection of Japanese woodblock prints. Very esoteric. But that becomes an event. It’s an opportunity to educate.
What are your individual strengths and how do you work together?
SL: Suzanne has a passion for design. Believe it or not, when she comes home after eight hours, 10 hours at the store, she’s ready to go here. She will design and think about pieces of furniture and the harmony of the home. It’s part of who she is and she just loves it so much. That passion is the cornerstone of what started this company. She was the founder.
SW: Yes, I do have a passion for setting up the store and the furniture itself. You do too but Shawn's is more [about] the collectibles, the unique items, the art. I think of him as the creative and I’m more the back office person who keeps things running.
What challenges do you see ahead of you?
SW: We have been used to having a really visible spot. And we get a lot of drive by and people see us. This is not that. So to start, we are only going to be open on the weekends and by appointment. I think the biggest challenge to us is to get the word out without people seeing the space.
SL: I think the challenge is always going to be in convincing someone in these new modalities, away from the traditional. The world has changed.
