by Dennis Dalman
A home-décor store named WR Home Company recently opened in St. Joseph in the repurposed building that used to house the city’s fire and police departments at 25 First Avenue NW.
WR Home offers home furnishings, and its co-owners will provide for customers design consultations and total-room redesigning projects.
The two friends/co-owners are Shantal Waytashek of St. Cloud and Kendra Harlander of Albany. Both women are licensed real-estate agents who have an artistic flair for interior design in ways that can brighten up rooms and even make homes more readily saleable.
Items at WR Home can be purchased in person or online at its website: wrhomecompany.com
Among the many items offered are kitchen essentials, furniture, rugs, pillows, glassware, vases, pitchers, picture frames, soy candles, holiday decorations and even personal apparel such as purses, baby clothing and adult clothing. All of those items – and much more – can be viewed on the website.
In 2018, Harlander and Waytashek opened a similar venture in “pop-up” shops under the rubric of “Weathered Revivals,” which offered mainly rustic repurposed furniture and décor items. They quickly outgrew their quarters while evolving into what they called “a cleaner, more timeless décor that veered away from the rustic feel.”
The women were happy to find a place in St. Joseph that was large enough to display their wares and to “rebrand” their business. They decided to keep “Weathered Revivals” for their shop’s name (the WR stands for Weathered Revivals). As they explain on the website: “We wanted to pay homage to our beginnings and loved the idea of keeping “WR” in our new name . . . We coincidentally realized all of our kids’ names started with either W or R, which made the meaning even more special. It felt fitting and perfect to make WR Home Company our new name. We hope it portrays a feeling of nostalgia to our old name and also brings a sense of clarity to who we are.”
Whenever possible, Waytashek and Harlander source their products from local makers and Minnesota-based companies. That was one of their business missions from the get-go: to support locally produced items.
Their company also offers a decorating service for birthday parties, weddings and other events. In addition, they will help decorate homes to make them more appealing when they go up for sale.
To learn more, visit the website and/or call WR Home Company to get a project quote. Its number is 320-557-0200.
The store’s business hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
Shantal Waytasheck (left) and Kendra Harlander set up a display in a home. The two friends and business partners recently opened WR Home Company in St. Joseph.