Trendspotting: Plano store keeping up with what is cool

The owners of Trendy Finds gift shop and boutique in Plano do their best to make sure their store is living up to its name.

“We’re very up on the trends, what the trends are in the marketplace,” said Richard Fetty, who owns the store with his wife, Tari. “I know what people are looking for.”

The store will likely see brisk business on Nov. 30, which is Small Business Saturday. Started by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday encourages consumers to do their shopping at local businesses. It is held each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and after Black Friday.

The 5,000-square-foot store, located at 619 Walter Payton Memorial Highway (Route 34) in Plano, opened in November 2019. The building had previously housed The Village Peddler.

The couple’s idea was to open a store that sold products for everyone.

“The vision was that you could come to our store and buy a gift for anybody,” he said. “We have a section for men where we sell a line of soap called Man Bar. ... We have guys come in the door and go straight over there to buy their soap.”

Oswego resident Nancy Moore is a regular customer. She used to shop at The Village Peddler.

“When The Village Peddler left, I was sad,” she said. “And then they opened up and I have been coming here ever since. It’s homey and very friendly. They have all kinds of neat stuff in here. You never come out not buying something for somebody.”

With Christmas only a few weeks ago, the store is chock full of Christmas items. The couple, who live in Sandwich, started stocking Christmas items a week before Halloween and had a Christmas open house on Nov. 2.

The Christmas season is his favorite time of year.

“It’s the fun of it, it’s the beauty of the decorating, it’s just the spirit of the people,” Richard Fetty said. “Our customers are fun. We have fun here.”

The store’s colorful Turkish lamps are popular.

“Those are all handmade in Turkey,” he said. “It’s a great gift because it can go to anybody.”

The owners pride themselves on selling quality merchandise at prices people can afford.

“We keep our prices down,” he said. “I want to turn product over. We want people to see new things all the time. We want everybody to go out of here happy with what their purchase was.”

Fetty knows the business. In his full time job, Fetty works as the director of trade show operations for a gift and home manufacturer.

The couple tries to give customers an idea of how a certain item might look in their home.

“We build a display and then all of the components for that display are right there for them to purchase,” Fetty said. “Everything’s right here to build that look.”

Among the items that are popular this Christmas season are metal tabletop Christmas trees.

“They’re flying off the shelves,” he said. “It’s a trendy look.”

Trendy Finds is one of the few stores that sells Annie Sloan chalk paint products.

“She’s the one that created chalk paint and her paints are the top in the marketplace,” Fetty said. “We sell them for people who want to do home projects.”

Along with being a gift store, Trendy Finds is also a boutique that sells women’s clothing along with other items.

“We sell handbags from all over the world,” he said. “Some of them are handmade in India.”

One of the best things that Tari Fetty likes about owning Trendy Finds are the friendships that she gets to build with her customers.

“I like showing them things that they can decorate their homes with and on the other side, buying things that we know are trendy that will sell,” she said. “That’s why we call ourselves Trendy Finds. We go with what’s trendy.”

More information about Trendy Finds is at its website, trendyfindsplano.com.