Source Like a Pro with Kickey Keheo

PBP Insights

Source Like a Pro with Nickey Keheo

THE DESIGN-WORLD FAVE explains their move (back) to NYC, why vintage is always in style, and what they’ve learned in the age of ecommerce.

Meanwhile, we’re kind ofobsessed with this paint colorfrom one of your interiorprojects in New York. What is it?

Benjamin Moore Feather Green 625.

You maintain a strong brick-and-mortar presence on both coasts. Talk to us about the importance of that.

Brick and mortar is where we began, and it’s what we know best. In LA we are a neighborhood shop. We know most customers by name, whether it’s an interior designer purchasing furniture for a big project, or a neighbor stopping by on a Saturday to pick up fresh flowers. It’s been so fun to get to know our neighbors in New York and build that rapport with our community on the East Coast.

Your New York space, on a residential block in Greenwich Village, is unique. How long were you searching for a location, and how did you settle on that one?

We had been dreaming of opening an East Coast location for a while, and then on one fortuitous visit to New York, our founders, Todd and Amy, happened upon the location. They took one step into the space and knew right away that it would become our second home. It was kismet!

What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to someone wanting to open their own homewares shop?

Fill your shop with goods that you would want to live with in your own home. We only buy product that we are absolutely obsessed with, whether it’s a chicken roaster or a vintage armchair.

The Nickey Kehoe partnership began 20 years ago. What’s the one thing about the brand that’s remained constant?

Our commitment to thoughtful design, unfussy elegance and human connection. Our ethos has always remained that each piece should be as beautiful as it is functional. Even the most everyday layers of the home— what’s in your kitchen or mudroom—should feel beautiful and timeless.

Todd Nickey & Amy Kehoe, Co-Founders of Nickey Keheo

It’s an upstairs-downstairs space, how did that influence the type of shop it would be?

The salon upstairs lends itself beautifully as a showroom where we can merchandise our NK Collection furniture, artwork, and vintage finds. Downstairs made perfect sense for Household, which is more of a general store where we sell our everyday items for the home.

What’s been the hardest, but perhaps most valuable, lesson you’ve learned navigating the world of online retail?

Doing all we can to replicate the warmth and service level of our in-store experience. How it feels to walk into Nickey Kehoe or Household is such an integral part to our DNA—translating that to our site and site experience always felt like an absolute must.

You present a mix of vintage and selectively-sourced pieces from artisans around the world. What’s the balance you aim for, and how do you present the two spheres to your customer?

The two categories have a very symbiotic relationship. When designing new styles, we strive to provide our customers with products that will make their modern lives easier and more comfortable, all the while keeping beauty and a reverence for history at the forefront of our design process. We often turn to colors, patterns, and finishes from the past for inspiration. Alternatively, vintage offers our customers that layer of unexpected surprise and whimsy into our assortment. You never know what treasure you will stumble upon when perusing our online shop or visiting one of our shops.

More than ever, consumers are concerned with who makes their products and what they’re made out of. How do you effectively convey this information to your shoppers?

Every product we buy has a story behind it, and most have been handmade. We have a deep respect for the artisans that we partner with, as they each bring a unique background and skill set into the fold. We meet with our sales and marketing teams every week to share these stories, so that they can ultimately be passed along to our customers.

Do you solicit feedback from your customers? And if so, has there been any as of late that you’ve found particularly helpful?

We have an open line of communication with our customers and they are always so helpful in providing insight into what they’re looking for or wish we had. Last year we had a customer request a smaller version of our Household Lantern, which we added into the line and has since proven to be a best seller.

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