(8/2019) One of historic Thurmont’s corner stores celebrates its 10 year anniversary. What has kept this retail location open in this quaint town during a tough economy?

Timeless Trends Boutique opened its doors in 2009, during one of the toughest economic periods in recent history. "Everyone told me I was nuts," owner Virginia LaRoche said, "but I must be a stubborn kind of nuts because here we are 10 years later!" The anniversary celebration will begin on August 10th and runs through August 18th.

The boutique is located in the historical Creager’s Furniture Store, is home to a not so small family run business centered around vintage furniture and upscale home décor with a lean toward "farmhouse appeal". The old Creager’s home furnishing store was built in the mid 1800’s and is reportedly the county’s oldest store location. The boutique also offers a variety of local artisans works, with the most impressive being custom-built farm tables. "My son handcrafts the farm tables and we get a steady stream of orders for them," Virginia said. The farm tables are crafted from reclaimed lumber from old buildings or from local mills and no two are alike. They also carry art glass by Yemi with a Thurmont design that is exclusive to the store and several local jewelry artisans also consign their jewelry at the boutique.

Behind the boutique is the Vintage Warehouse which has an entirely different feel to it. "The Vintage Warehouse started out to be a once a month event," says Virginia. The owner went on to state that people started asking to see it all the time so now it is open the same hours at the boutique. "The warehouse is like hunting through an old barn for all kinds of really cool vintage stuff. The funny thing is you can always tell when we need to send the guys out there to do some hunting through the old tools and other ‘guy stuff’ that is out there," chuckled Virginia. "They will be rushing their wife or girlfriend along and then we tell them about the Vintage Warehouse which they seem more than happy to visit and then it becomes their favorite shopping destination."

When asked what has kept this business on a Main Street that has seen so many others come and go, Virginia chuckled, "stubbornness! But really, it takes a connection with the people you serve, and our commitment to bring them back." Virginia went on to describe the work it takes through social media and special events to bring people into the store. "With today’s economy and the demands on people’s attention, you can no longer just open the door, hang a sign and expect to thrive," the owner said. Customer feedback and reviews concur that Virginia and her staff always offer personalized, friendly service. Virginia stated, "my employees know that if a stranger comes in the door they leave here as a friend!"

The store holds several events each year to invite customers in including jewelry shows, community benefit events and ladies nights. "By far our biggest event is our holiday open house the first weekend in November. We close for a whole week to get the store ready for it and usually have over 20 trees decorated," explained Virginia. "I don’t think there is another store in the county that does Christmas as big as we do!" Part of the preparation for the holiday open house is covering the windows for the entire week and then on Friday evening we do a big window reveal. Many of the town residents comment that it marks the start of the holidays in the town.

Last year, the time of the reveal was posted on their facebook page. Virginia stated, "it was so exciting to have people come out for the reveal. It was even raining and they still came out to support us. It really meant so much!" Giving back to the community has always been a key value to the business. The store has several fundraising events a year, raising money for the local food bank, Heartly House and the Patty Hurwitz Breast Cancer Foundation. "We are always looking for ways to give back to the community," stated Virginia.

Timeless Trends Boutique is definitely a family run business, with Virginia, her children and husband all pitching in to keep things running. "I have been fortunate to have great staff that take pride in both personalized customer service and creating beautiful store displays," Virginia went on to say. When asked what is the thing she is most passionate about, the owner reportedly said "it's the people that keep me passionate about the business. We love going out hunting through Pennsylvania all the way down to South Carolina to bring our customers the very best in home decor. If someone comes in and we don’t have what they are looking for, we go out and try to find it for them." She went on to say the upcycling pieces is another passion. "Anything we can salvage or keep out of the landfill is important to us!"

Thurmont’s Economic Development Manager Vickie Grinder raves about Timeless Trends Boutique and says, "Timeless Trends is a store you would expect to see in DC, Georgetown or Frederick City. We are very proud that Timeless Trends Boutique calls Main Street Thurmont their home. How many towns have a 4,000 square foot vintage furniture store that sells handcrafted and hand painted furniture? Not too many! I never get tired of boasting about the history of the building either.

"Once upon a time this building was a furniture store and a place you could buy coffins, and still is home to a furniture store-that’s a really cool fact and sets Timeless Trends apart from any other retail outlet in Frederick County. I never get tired of boasting about this gem on Main Street and is the ideal place to purchase that perfect piece of furniture, home decor, and a large variety of unique handmade jewelry that you will not find anywhere else. Happy Anniversary Timeless Trends Boutique and thank you to Virginia and Jay LaRoche for choosing Thurmont for this exceptional retail outlet on Main Street and for the friendship and support over the last decade! "

Timeless Trends Boutique’s anniversary celebration kicks off Saturday August 10th and runs through August 18th with specials, live furniture paint demos and interactive sales. "We are very proud and excited to be celebrating this anniversary and hope people will come celebrate it with us!" If you haven’t been into the boutique you may be quite surprised at the size and variety of the selection.

Timeless Trends Boutique is located at 21 E. Main Street, Thurmont.