By Audrey Ingram

[email protected]

A young Washington Court House couple is launching a clothing, primitive craft and refurbished furniture store in downtown London.

Cade’s Closet, located at 7 S. Main St., offers a mix of brand-name consignment and new clothing and accessories, including jewelry, shoes and line of Coach purses. Furniture pieces, which sport a rugged, antiqued style, are refurbished by hand.

“It feels high-end, but you get every bang for your dollar,” co-owner Brandon Cade said.

Cade and his wife, Kristen, met five years ago at a McDonald’s in Washington Court House. They worked together at the fast food restaurant nearly every day for three years before entering the nursing and health care administration fields.

Kristen Cade’s mother, Darena Pritchard, is a silent partner in the new business.

Less than a year into their marriage, on an after-church drive through London with Kristen Cade’s grandparents, the Cades saw an opportunity to pursue a new dream.

“Kristen wants to go back to school to be a fashion merchandiser, and I had been refurbishing furniture for a couple years,” Brandon Cade said.

When they saw the downtown building, “I knew we had to have it instantly,” he said.

London was recommended as the perfect location for the new retail store by Kristen Cade’s grandparents, Bill and Patricia Snyder, who owned clothing stores in Washington Court House and Chillicothe for more than a decade.

Before he was a retailer, Bill Snyder was a Church of the Nazarene pastor. He eventually entered the evangelism ministry, traveling across the country. His wife wanted to travel with him and found herself quitting jobs to accompany on him on several-weeks-long trips, Bill explained.

So the couple started their own clothing store, Pat’s Purse in Washington Court House, so she could come back to the same job after each trip rather than trying to find a new one, he said.

When the couple closed their second store, Fashion Outlet in Chillicothe, they placed remaining merchandise into storage.

Several of those pieces, including a few women’s suits, are now coming out of storage to help line the shelves of Cade’s Closet.

The couple hopes to add new clothing lines as Kristen Cade works through her studies — she hopes to begin classes at the Art Institute of Cincinnati in the fall.

“I’ve always loved fashion,” the 21-year-old said. “It’s a way to express yourself without having to say anything.”

Brandon Cade’s refurbishing hobby grew out of a desire to have matching furniture before he could afford to buy full sets.

“I figured I’d make it my own, and I’d make it better,” he said with a laugh.

His excitement at his first auction, a trip organized by mother-in-law Pritchard, amused his family and the auctioneer, she recalled.

A starring piece of the 22-year-old’s work in the new store is a white china hutch. A similarly-colored kitchen table set sold in the store’s first hours.

“I’m very proud of them,” Pritchard said. “They’re so young, and to be so ambitious.”

Cade’s Closet will be closed on Sundays and Wednesdays. The rest of the week, it will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The couple is currently accepting consignment items. Brandon Cade also invites locals and visitors alike to bring in pieces of furniture they don’t wish to refurbish themselves. He hopes to hear the stories behind the people and the pieces.

Contact Cade’s Closet via phone at 740-550-4193 or find it on Facebook.

Visit the store before Dec. 21 to enter to win a Coach purse for Christmas.

Reach Audrey Ingram at 740-852-1616, ext. 1615 or on Twitter @Audrey.MP.

Salt Magazine

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