The village of New Glarus has long beckoned shoppers, diners, beer lovers and others who’ve fallen in love with Wisconsin’s “Little Switzerland.” For Tory and Kelsy Hutchison, the town isn’t only home for them and their kids — three-year-old daughter Shay and one-year-old son Tristan — but also their shop, Hutch + Hide.
The pair opened the “family store,” which sells home and children’s items, gifts, vintage pieces and also custom bars and cabinetry, in 2016, helping to add a cool, rustic vibe to New Glarus’ small-town charm. Tory shares their story.
Why have you chosen New Glarus as the place to live, raise kids and run a business?
New Glarus is the quintessential small town in all the right ways — friendly neighbors, great schools and a thriving local economy driven by independent business owners. We have been blown away by the support of our business neighbors and the way we work together to make the town a great experience for everyone who visits. That stewardship, along with killer beer, food and charm, is what contributes to the town’s continued success.
We love raising our kids here for many reasons — the local parks and Driftless Region beauty, the thriving community of young families and being so close to the larger city amenities in Madison, which is only thirty minutes away.
Why did you decide to open Hutch + Hide?
We both had history working in retail, so we knew that we enjoyed interacting with customers on a day to day basis and feeding off of that positive energy. Additionally Hutch + Hide allows both of us to be creative in our own ways — Kelsy with our merchandising and sourcing of the shop and myself with the custom cabinetry design. Our primary reason for making the leap and starting our own business was our daughter Shay. We started realizing that by the time we drove to Madison for a job, worked all day and then drove home, we weren’t getting enough time as a family, and that was essential. At Hutch + Hide we can rotate work and family time seamlessly and even bring both Shay and Tristan to the store with us if we want — we have a back family room decked out with toys and books.
What’s it like to run a shop while raising kids? How do the two intersect?
Obviously there are moments where you wish you were either just in “parent mode” or “entrepreneur mode,” but in reality there are lots of gray areas and sometimes you just gotta be both things at the same time. But typically we really do work well as a team and have adopted a flexible system where one of us is the go-to for the kids on a given day, and likewise for the shop. Or sometimes we’ll split days — that’s the beauty of it for us.
How do you choose your products? What have been some favorite items? Anything you’d suggest for holiday shopping?
Kelsy is really the one who has her finger on the pulse of what gets brought into the shop. Truly one of her passions is finding and sourcing product with quality, beauty and intention. From flea markets to the largest home and gift markets in the U.S., she really has no rules.
Some favorites around the shop have been our handmade jewelry lines, anything with a Midwest focus, such as our custom reclaimed cabinetry and bars, vintage flags and our carefully selected candle collection. This time of year our balsam and cedar scent and vessel compilations are so good and are our signature, hands down.
Holiday shopping is one of the best times to visit, not just our shop, but New Glarus in general. And the lucky ones are there when Kels is working so she can wrap up their finds and put on her finishing touches.
What has Hutch + Hide taught you?
That you never know what each day will bring and who you will get to meet and interact with. New Glarus gets visitors from all over the world. Also, for me it has really taught me to appreciate everything in our lives and this time we are having as a family on this crazy journey. It has taught me that you can carve out your own life the way you want it to be on your own terms. Is it easy? No. But it is possible and so worth it.
What do you hope your kids get from seeing you run this business?
I hope they see that in order to add value it takes hard work and commitment. I also hope that they see that when you are doing what you love, and surrounded by what you love, it doesn’t have to feel like work.
Photos by Natural Intuition Photography.