A peek at Heather Hanley’s new store and lofts

For months now, I’d been meaning to pop into Concept::Home , a new modern furniture store at First Avenue and Washington Street in downtown Spokane. Finally, I dropped by yesterday and my timing was perfect. Owner Heather Hanley was on site so not only did I get to see the shop, but I got to peek at the lofts she recently designed on the floors above.

Of course, it’s probably not hard to catch Hanley in the building since she moved into one of the units two months ago. But more on that in a bit.

Concept::Home opened in June as a sister to the Tin Roof, another furniture and décor store Hanley owns with her father, Jim Hanley. While the Tin Roof, at 1727 E. Sprague Ave., has a French flea market feel, Concept::Home’s offerings fall somewhere between modern and contemporary. She simply calls it “urban design.”

Hanley says that by listening to customers at the Tin Roof she saw a need for a shop that sold more clean-lined décor and compact furnishings (perfect for folks who live in lofts downtown, small bungalows throughout the area, or for anyone downsizing their living spaces, Hanley says).

“I’d sneak it in, and usually it would become our best seller,” she says of the more modern offerings at Tin Roof.

Hanley is known around town for her funky style and her knack for displaying products in unusual ways. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics, of all things, but it was during her time at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., that she gained an appreciation for how stores stage their merchandise.

“I really spent four years studying California retail,” Hanley says. “My parents called it ‘shopping.’”

To compete in California, she says stores have to making shopping a unique experience for customers, inspiring them to buy a table or tabletop arrangement and recreate the look at home. She wanted to bring that same experience to Spokane, first with the Tin Roof and now with Concept::Home.

She says the new store was just starting to grab shoppers’ attention in the late fall, and then December’s snowstorms hit. That was a blow, but she’s noticing the foot traffic building up again.

Meanwhile, she’s just finishing up the seven loft units she and her partners carved out of the space above the store. The 1906 building that houses it all originally contained 52 single-occupancy hotel rooms, which hosted railroad workers back in the day.

Hanley knocked down walls and drastically reconfigured the spaces, although she also retained many of the building’s original characteristics and materials. She saved the building’s four metal fire doors for later use, two of the lofts have the original claw foot tubs, and her loft contains the building’s grand staircase, which wraps from her foyer and office area on one floor to her kitchen and living room above.

As Hanley designed each of the lofts, she created make-believe families that would live in each unit. Her most traditional space, for example, was designed with an imaginary retired couple looking to downsize in mind.

Her own unit is a blend of bold contemporary and traditional pieces, meshing together to achieve a feeling of 1920s glamour. A chandelier hangs in every room. Intricate vertical tile work serves as a backdrop for the stove. The ceilings soar.

As grand as that sounds, Hanley isn’t afraid to incorporate a few quirky pieces, as well, including a jar full of corks from wine bottles that sits on the kitchen countertop and a ceramic penguin figure perched on a bathroom sink that belonged to her grandmother.

Hanley was a good sport, letting me take photos after just popping in. Her space is still a work in progress, so I’m hoping to come back again (with advanced warning) when she’s done with the space. Some of the shots in the slideshow above are of products for sale in the store. Hover over the bottom of the photos for a caption that will pop up with more information about what you’re seeing.

Concept::Home
401 W. First Ave.
Spokane
(509) 535-1111
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the First at Washington lofts, check out this article by Spokesman-Review reporter Alison Boggs.