Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz McNamara.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Liz. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started 10 years ago as a high end clothing store, had an amazing first year and then the economy crashed! Instead of giving up on my dreams, I changed and adapted. Over the years the type of clothing we carried changed and we started using furniture to display our products. That is when our customers wanted to purchase the furniture we were using and asked for more gift items to shop. They wanted to ability to come in and get a new top for their night out along with a gift. About 6 or so years ago my mom (Debi) joined me on the adventure. That is when we decided to take over another store in our same shopping center and merge the two together. That is when Poway Countryside Barn became ours. We have definitely changed a lot over the years but have settled into Modern Farmhouse/Industrial type Home Furnishings and Décor Shop. We specialize in Vintage, reclaimed and new. Our slogan is “blending old with new”. We carry everyday throughout the year with a sprinkle of holiday décor, until November then we are Christmas everywhere!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Owning retail is never a smooth road, we have to constantly change, adapt and be ahead of the game. In our 10 years of business the economy has crashed, we have endured road construction and the booming of Amazon. We are always finding ways to keep ourselves unique and we do that with our product, prices and customer service.
Poway Countryside Barn – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a Home Furnishings and Décor shop that specialized in Modern Farmhouse/Industrial Farmhouse décor. But, we don’t just focus on that, we want our products to blend into any home and are always on the hunt for that special item. We have Open Houses and Trailer Unloading’s throughout the year and that is really fun for us and our customers. This is when we bring in all kinds of unique items and vintage pieces and our customers get to shop through all the one-of-a-kind pieces to find that perfect fit for their home. We also have a Christmas Open House the first weekend of November every year and that has become an incredibly fun and big event! We are currently closed and setting up our store for that event right now!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Our Christmas Open House! The event has become so incredible and the support we have from our local community over 1 weekend is just mind blowing. We close for just over 2 weeks and turn our entire store over to Christmas. When we re-open for our Open House and watch our customers shop through all our decorated trees it’s just magical. I love how excited they are for the pieces we spent all year finding to make Christmas at home special. At The Barn we believe in nativity scenes, Santa and saying Merry Christmas and to watch the support get bigger and bigger every year is humbling.
Contact Info:
- Address: 14051 Midland Road
Poway, CA 92064 - Website: www.powaycountrysidebarn.com
- Phone: 858-391-1616
- Email: info@powaycountrysidebarn.com
- Instagram: countrysidebarn
- Facebook: Poway Countryside Barn
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