Former banker fulfills dream to own antique, interior design store

Some dreams are realized almost immediately, some are deferred, and some are interrupted.

For Brenda Stried, life got in the way of fulfilling her dream to have her own antique/interior design company until 2009 when she opened Home at Last Chic & Antique in Libertyville.

"I never gave up on my dreams because you never know what tomorrow may bring your way," the 56-year-old Libertyville resident said.

Many years ago, Stried found herself a young single mom with two babies, living far away from her parents and siblings. Her degree was in interior design and she would have enjoyed that work, but Stried realized she could not support her young family on an interior designer's salary.

She landed a bank job in Colorado. While taking care of her babies and working full time, she pursued her new career with much enthusiasm. She took college courses at night and went to every training course the bank offered. Her hard work and diligence paid off when she became a vice president.

But Stried missed her family and moved back to Lake County, to be near them. There, she worked at local banks in various high-level positions. During the evenings, she dabbled in interior design by decorating new model houses for local homebuilders to satisfy her creative side.

While working at a bank in Gurnee in November 2008, a customer - Ron Molczan - walked in and spotted Stried. She took notice of him, too. Mutual sparks flew and they started dating. In November 2009, they married.

One night in August 2009, Molczan told Stried his buddy's wife was selling her antique store, Home At Last Chic & Antique, in Libertyville. Stried's eyes lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning.

Her dream of owning an antique store was about to come true, as she had saved enough money to buy the shop herself.

With the help of her children, Jason and Angela - who were now adults - they remodeled the antique store at 251 Peterson Road and rebuilt the customer base.

One thing Stried learned as an executive was to provide excellent customer service, including listening to the customer's needs, and not push something onto the customer that's not a good fit, she said. A service Stried offers - at no charge - is that when a customer makes a purchase at her store, she offers to go into the customer's house to help place the item so it meshes with the existing decor.

Stried puts her interior design experience to good use in her store. She points to an old china hutch next to a modern table decorated with new china and antique handblown Fostoria crystal glasses and a floral arrangement, and explains it is possible to mix new with old and look good.

Her store is so beautifully decorated a Realtor recently took notice. The Realtor is making arrangements with Stried to have about 25 local Realtors each month attend a seminar using Home At Last as an example on how to stage and decorate existing homes on the market.

The things customer Marianne Kaplan likes about shopping at Home At Last are the ambience - homeyness of the store, presentation of the displays, essence of cinnamon in the air, soft piano music playing in the background - and the unique items she can't find anywhere else.

"I am in this store at least once a month - more frequently before big holidays - buying gifts and things to decorate our house," Kaplan said. "I have also sold things, usually within a few months, on consignment with Brenda and got the price I was looking for. It's a better way of selling things instead of at a garage sale or through Craigslist."

About 50 percent of the items on the showroom floor are on consignment, and the rest are items Stried has purchased during her annual globe-trotting excursions. Each year, she travels across Europe searching for beautiful antiques and unusual items. She also travels the back roads of the United States and local estate sales searching for antiques and unique items.

Stried displays those items for sale in 10 rooms in her store, each decorated for upcoming holidays - Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Stried invites anyone to stop by and discuss design questions at her annual Home At Last Holiday Open House on Saturday, Nov. 7, noon to 4 p.m. Stried will serve champagne and appetizers and offer free raffle drawings.