Mod Cottage—A Cross Country
Odyssey Home
It’s been a coast-to-coast-to-coast
journey back home for Brad Holsinger and Ed Moore, but when they returned,
they not only came home, they made their love of home and family a brand
new Rehoboth Avenue business.
Mod Cottage is located on the ground level
of the new Hotel Rehoboth and is, as Brad describes, “an urban home
store with a beach twist.” It owes its colorful and contemporary stock
to a splash of Laguna Beach, a dash of West Hollywood showmanship, a love
of Rehoboth Beach, and most significantly, to a tale of two men who took
coming full circle into both their hearts and their business.
The story of Brad and Ed begins in
Washington, DC, in 1994. Soon after meeting they joined throngs of fellow
DC’ers and were snaking their way up Beltways and over bridges to
weekend in Rehoboth Beach. And life was good. And then it happened.
Somewhere along the way they both turned forty! And it was time for a
change.
Heeding the cry to “go west, young
men,” Ed transferred locations with his airline, Brad sold his business,
and off they went to enjoy some laid back, West Coast living. But a change
in city wasn’t enough; they needed to be doing something different. The
Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams Showroom in West Hollywood became that
something different. A friend came to them with an opportunity to own and
establish Mitchell Gold’s first California satellite showroom and thus
they forayed their way into the world of home furnishings
Now before you think this is becoming a
simply sappy saga, their change in direction is best summed up by Brad’s
rather cheerful and teasing explanation, “For Ed, spending money on his
home is like giving money to his church.”
So with a backdrop of home as castle (or
temple as it may be) and personal passion now discovered, engaged and
satiated, it seems the story has a happy ending and thus it should end.
But it still has one more turn to take. Ed is a Baltimore Boy, Brad hails
from Virginia and in a post 9/11 world, it no longer felt like a hop, skip
and a jump to come home to family and friends. And slowly they realized it
was now time to “go east, young men.”
This wasn’t really a question of
where—they were coming to the place they loved best, Rehoboth Beach.
They were coming home. Only this time they weren’t selling a business,
they were buying one. They were coming loaded with exclusive lines (such
as Simon Pearce and Gus Design Furniture) and wares ranging from plush
towels for the bath to polka-dotted ice cream bowls. It’s a playful
burst of ideas designed to accent joy in every room in your home.
Affordable luxury items gleaned from their showroom years.
Timing is everything and Brad and Ed
couldn’t be happier that their decision timed out precisely with Hotel
Rehoboth’s design team’s desire to have several shops incorporated
into their property. “We knew that our shop needed to be in downtown
Rehoboth not only for business reasons, but also to complete our own dream
from all those weekends ago. To be a new business and have the support of
Hotel Rehoboth on all levels has been an enormous benefit.”
The DC turned LA returned Rehoboth men had
another surprise waiting for them. It wasn’t only the hotel that seemed
to care if they succeeded. Leaving a world often aptly described as
dog-eat-dog, the support from the business community leaves them happily
startled. From their dynamic new neighbors, Cleo’s ( a woman’s apparel
shop) and Spaggia’s, (the new in-town restaurant by Matt Haley) to
business owners throughout our town, they heard more than welcomes—
there was always support, be it an offer of help or a shared tidbit of
knowledge someone else had learned the hard way.
As home and business marched to opening
day, their celebrations included a visit to the Georgetown SPCA whereby
Zoey joined Gabby and Sophie in the coming home of it all. Because for all
the furnishings they have amassed, the secret favorite is their own
“L” shaped sofa, “as it can fit the whole family at once.”
From bedrooms to bathrooms to kitchens,
decks, gardens and even your pet’s eating and sleeping arrangements, Mod
Cottage is here and ready to furnish your house with wares for a home, in
an urban, beach chic style that Brad and Ed know you and your family will
enjoy. So as their odyssey ends, their new adventure begins.
Mod Cottage is located at 247A Rehoboth
Avenue and www.modcottage.net.
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