Cool Clutter Barntique

Our Fairytale
WHO the heck is this girl?
My name is Tricia Cool Lorenz, (yes, my maiden name was REALLY ‘Cool’, Cool huh?) I grew up in Auburn, NY and the youngest of 8 awesome siblings! I spent almost half of my life living in the surrounding Syracuse area, and working in the corporate world. All this before I became a country girl…..Now married to the man of my dreams with our beautiful child living the fairytale.

My parents were both very creative in their own right. My Mom is a beautiful painter and can do just about anything that involves using her hands and my Dad had every tool under the sun and could use each of them. I remember he rebuilt a car for my brother’s College graduation from rebuilding the motor to putting on the detailed striping. We were all encouraged to be creative; I think I had the ‘prettiest’ erupting volcano ever created, glitter and all! Creativity was encouraged and expected, for that I am thankful.

WHAT does ‘Barntique’ mean?
After a lot of brainstorming the buisness name with Jay (my husband), I remember saying to him, ‘Boutique’ is so overused. He said, ‘Yeah, well you are IN a barn’, and my immediate response…BARNTIQUE!

It was seriously that simple.

WHEN will this ‘Cool’ place be opened?
We are currently undergoing renovations to give a little makeover to the barn once used for its purpose. The grand opening will be in May! Definitely visit us here or on Social Media sites for updates!

WHY did you decide to start this business?
The first time Jay brought me to his property, I saw this barn and said to myself, ‘that would be an awesome storefront’ and then I forgot about it. We have a yearly party in July with friends and family and have really enjoyed it for that purpose. I loved the barn so much I used it as a backdrop for our wedding! (See photo below )

Jay and I decided we wanted to start a family and we were beyond blessed with our Jana Rebecca, born in January 2016. We planned for me to stay home for 6 months with her before deciding to return to work. When the time came, we did the math and decided it would COST us money for me to commute, not to mention the time away from Jana in daycare. After a few months, I said to Jay “I might want to open a store utilizing the barn”. He was beyond excited, probably more then I was. This was a great way for me to have the best of both worlds and so we started making the dream a reality…

HOW will this business work?
In our initial discussion regarding what I would be merchandising, I thought there was no way I could do this on my own! Luckily, I have many family members and friends that are beyond creative and artistic, so I thought ‘let’s see if they want to join me in the fun’! To me they are designers and artists NOT vendors. Some are stay at home Mom’s looking to make extra money, single Mom’s looking to make money, retirees who now can do what makes them happy and artists who just love to create and want an outlet. Lastly, some are so lucky to do this for a living. It will be an amazing mixture for both genders and ALL ages. We will have a nice selection of handmade items along with items I will bring in that will compliment a gift buying experience.

Just a girls Fairytale come true…..