New owner hopes to introduce new product lines
A changing of the guard occurred Thursday at a downtown business as Angie Wall purchased Honeysuckle Lane from long-time owner Bonnie Bamesberger.
Wall and Bamesberger, who both live in Hampton, know each other well having worked together years ago to launch the business on the north side of the downtown square. At that time, both women had booths at Village Square Mall which continued to grow and prosper, and in 1997 they made the decision to go into business together.
Three years later, Angie and her husband Kevin adopted their daughter, Haley, which prompted a change in priorities.
“I decided to be a stay-at-home mom so I sold my share of the store,” recalled Wall, a native of Falls City. “I have worked off and on at Honeysuckle through the years, mostly during the holidays and for bigger events.”
Wall said Bamesberger recently presented her an opportunity to buy the business, and she said yes, initiating a transaction which closed on Aug. 1.
“So it’s officially mine on Aug. 1 and we’ve got a lot of exciting ideas we want to implement,” Wall said, referring repeatedly to her team, which includes her family and staff. “I’m sure my husband and daughter will be in helping out and I like working with the ‘team’ concept because I want the people who work here to feel they are part of the team.”
On that note, Wall announced that she is looking to hire additional part-time staff, and invited anyone interested in applying to give her a call.
As for pending changes in the product line, Wall said she is excited to see how that develops.
“It’s going to take a little time to get things the way we want it with some new inventory, and we want to kind of see what direction our customers want us to move as far as gifts, home decor and florals,” she said. “It will stay the same type of store. We just want to make sure that it’s what customers in Aurora an Hamilton County are looking for.”
Asked what kind of products changes customers can expect to see, Wall shared some of her initial ideas.
“We’re still going to have awesome flowers and affordable prices, and we’re going to try hard to bring in more American-made, women-based business kinds of things,” she explained. “We’ll still have a lot of the lines we have, but over the next year I’ll think you’ll see more Midwest-made, Nebraska-made items.
“I think it appeals to people to have things that are locally made and we want to bring in more things that say Aurora, Hampton, Giltner and that kind of thing,” she continued. “We’ve had customers ask us for Nebraska things, not necessarily Husker, but Nebraska things. We’ve also got a great funeral business and we’ve got weddings with the florals, and we’re going to continue with that.”
One concept that will remain the same is the sharing of space with Kelsey Hofmann and her line of Urban Chic products.
“That’s a good deal for both of us,” Wall noted. “We’ve got a good relationship there and we’ve got people who come in and shop both sides, so that’s great.”
Operating hours will remain the same, with the store open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.