The smell of fresh-baked goods and European-style charm greet you with a smile as shopgoers step through the front entrance of Cashmere’s new HoneyHour Market, the beautifully decorated and uniquely styled market. Soft jazz hums in the background, muffled by the warm-hearted chatter of friends and family around you. The charm here is eminent, transferring you not to just another storefront, but a storybook idea coming to life.
Cashmere’s downtown has become quite a buzz for the community these past couple of years, from the excellent coffee and treats provided by Gaucho Coffee Co. to the brilliant bookstore, boutique, and record shop, a family of stores that provide everything that you could want (and then some). Not only that, 13 small business owners have made their home at Sidestreet, providing the community with “a field of dreams, “ states the owner of Sidestreet, Andrew Thomas, in a past interview.
The opening of Sidestreet’s newest addition doesn’t just offer a field of dreams; it invites community members to step into one.
Heidi Kuhn, owner of HoneyHour Market, describes, “All I saw is what you [customers] see now. I heard the music, I heard the laughter, I saw the lights and everything. I felt that it was this God-breath vision of what needed to come in this community. So yeah, I kind of said yes to this big plan.”
When explaining the process of opening her business, she articulated that the building was full of unnecessary materials.
“By the time we got everything out of here, I really didn’t get it empty [for a long time]. It took every bit of the past seven months to get this place going.”
And while presently HoneyHour Market is open, full of both opportunities and customers alike, Heidi clarified that they aren’t finished yet.
“We will have the wine bar, it’s a Jazz bar now, and we’re just finishing it up; it’ll probably be ready and open next week… We will have days where we will invite one artist to come, though it’s a small space. We’ll have some soulful jazz music playing. John at Cashmere Records has put together a beautiful blend of awesome jazz.”
But what kind of background inspires creativity like this?
“I was raised just by the Puget Sound, but we used to travel over the mountains every year and go to Alta Lake… So we would spend two weeks faithfully every single summer camping at Alta, and every time we’d drive back over the mountains, I was just like ‘Why are we not staying on this side?’ ” Heidi explains, showcasing her appreciation of the valley from the beginning.
“I felt like the pavement and the sky looked like the same color in the West Side, and I always promised myself, I was a young girl, that one day I was going to live on the sunny side of the mountains.”
Though her ingenuity didn’t begin with HoneyHour Market, her past career displays what sort of talented, inspired mind is behind the thoughtful work in the store.
“I’ve been a wedding photographer for thirty years, but I knew that God was going to take me on a new journey, and I was going to put my camera down and start something new. I was really nervous and scared, but super excited.”
Heidi shares, “I think the biggest story for me is just trusting the life that feels like a roller coaster ride. It can be scary when you don’t know, especially at a young age, what’s around the next corner. You don’t know how steep that hill is going to be as you’re going down.”
Despite her humble nature, Heidi has shown that her influential and ambitious persona is the reason that HoneyHour Market is flourishing today.
“We’re not meant to live scared lives. We’re supposed to dream big.”
