"Opening Hummingbird House Designs was the most terrifying thing we’ve ever done. My wife and I were making wooden signs out of a shop, thinking that it would be easier for us to just make the signs and let retailers do the rest. That worked for a time, but then it got to the point where we couldn’t make the days any longer or do more work in the hours we had, so to grow the business, the next step was to open our own store. That was a scary move because we suddenly had to worry about things like health insurance or how much money was coming in without a weekly paycheck.
It was a hard decision, but worth it. Owning a store is definitely a lot more work than what we anticipated, but we've had a lot of great support from Lapeer and the DDA. Any questions that we have, we get a quick response and they give us as much help as they can provide.
We carry a mixture of local Michigan-made products and makers, everything from local honey to small furniture pieces. Most things here are Michigan made. We've tried to keep it as local as possible to keep community pride as part of it as much as we can. Our trivet lady literally lives down the road. The candle maker lives two blocks from here.
I love seeing people's reactions when they buy a piece or they find a gift for someone. People want that face-to-face interaction. When you buy something on the internet or at Walmart, it’s just a transaction. But when people buy local, there’s joy.
We are very, very proud of the group of makers and small businesses we carry here at Hummingbird House Designs. Our inventory changes all the time and we get so many new things in that two months from now there won’t be anything in here that’s the same.
I think our favorite thing about Lapeer is that it still has that small-town charm and vibe, but it is growing so fast. Hat's off to the DDA, honestly for what they're doing to bring back downtown to be a successful, fun, attractive place for everybody, not just one age group or demographic.
Whatever they’re doing is working. We're very happy to be able to jump on board and be able to offer a good handmade, local gift shop."
– Adam Perry, Hummingbird House Designs
Written by Phil Eich, Storyville
This project was created in collaboration with the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) & Michigan Main Street for Hummingbird House Designs