SUB-HEADLINE
Doug & Carrie
How did it all begin? That’s a good question… There really was NO PLAN just a desire to have a better life.
Years of working in the restaurant / retail business really took a toll on us. We were a married couple with a young daughter, a new house and what seemed to be pretty good jobs. However, each of us worked 50-65 hours a week, with varied hours, alternating schedules…never home at the same time. For YEARS (what seemed like an eternity) we worked weekends and holidays, missed our friends’ weddings, missed family events, stayed up late, woke up early…blah, blah, blah.
Ultimately, I couldn’t take it anymore and like an idiot with NO PLAN, in the middle of a dinner rush, I left my keys on my desk and walked out.
At that moment. I didn’t know how, but I knew I wanted to create my own business, my own company, a happy place to work, a company that treated employees properly, with 40 hour work weeks, with a healthy culture and fun environment.
I started out selling my own vintage stuff on eBay, just to make some money. When I ran out of stuff to sell, I started picking up small items at auctions, garage sales, and flea markets. I was somewhat successful, so I kept it up.
In time, Doug decided to quit his job as well and joined me.
Of course, the money you make selling old stuff on eBay does not equal 2 upper management salaries…So, we had to make a difficult choice: find jobs that paid our bills or KEEP GOING. We decided to keep trying.
Keeping the dream alive meant selling everything we owned that had ANY value: all of our furniture, home decor, clothes, jewelry, one of our cars (we shared 1 car for 7 years) Doug’s huge Star Wars collection he’d been collecting since childhood, my prized Chris Isaak signed guitar, special gifts we had given each other over the years, our wedding gifts, tools, dishes. lawn decor, the slide to our inground pool… you name it, we sold it.
Eventually, we lost our house as well and moved into a small rental. However, the desire to create a great place to work was strong within us both and we were willing to sacrifice & put in the hard work to make that happen.
Fast forward a few years and we are still going!
After years of bootstrapping, we opened our first Hot House Market in Lafayette, Indiana in June 2012. Soon, we were growing from a single store with a couple of employees to having five locations across two states and 20+ employees. While creating a brand that is known for curating a singular and unique style is important to us, CREATING JOBS with a great work environment is our #1 goal.
Bloomington Store Manager
Hi, I’m Declan! I started working at Hot House in January 2023 as the store manager for the Bloomington location. I love working at Hot House, because our customers and team are some of the most welcoming people I’ve ever met. I was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska so I love being outside and hiking any time that I can! When you stop in, be sure to ask me about my cat, Stevie!
