A College Hill favorite sells: ‘The tradition continues in a good way’

There are several things that Robin Van Huss and her husband, Art Davis, have in common with the people who are buying their Traditions Home store in College Hill, but there’s one particularly important one.

They wouldn’t consider selling to that many people, and buyers Sara and Taylor Lewis say Traditions is one of the only stores they’d consider buying in Wichita.

The two are “everything I could have possibly hoped for,” Van Huss said.

The Lewises already have a design firm, Lochwood Design, and will be moving it to the store at 3220 E. Douglas.

“Our customers are going to be over the moon,” Van Huss said. “People will be thrilled to hear.”

The Lewises are from Wichita and “both left quick as we could and were never going to come back,” Taylor Lewis said.

However, just as Van Huss and Davis returned from the Washington, D.C., area to open their store, the Lewises decided they wanted to return and raise their 7-year-old daughter, Kate, near family.

“It’s so similar it’s unbelievable,” Van Huss said.

Sara Lewis is an interior designer — her firm is named for the first Dallas neighborhood she and her husband lived in — and worked in Texas before moving back to Wichita five years ago.

She does residential work on everything from a small bathroom to a $3 million new build along with hospitality work, including designing 6S Steakhouse, Reverie Coffee Roasters and the new Carlos O’Kelly’s look.

Taylor Lewis had been in engineering at an architectural firm before joining the design business. He and his wife talked about teaming from the beginning.

“We like to invest in ourselves,” Sara Lewis said. “We just like being entrepreneurial in that way.”

She said they’ve been considering retail for a few years.

“It’s a good tangent for the design business.”

The Lewises liked Traditions for a number of reasons. For starters, it’s in their neighborhood.

“We’re die-hard College Hillians,” Taylor Lewis said.

Also, Sara Lewis said, “Their aesthetic and their customer experience really aligns with ours.”

The Lewises went to market with Van Huss and Davis.

“They have great taste, great style (and are) really good at buying,” Van Huss said. “We were really impressed.”

They also met reps from some of the popular lines Traditions carries.

“We have such phenomenal lines that we have such great relationships with,” Van Huss said.

“It was fun to see all of the relationships they have,” Sara Lewis said.

Those relationships are already helping the Lewises.

“They were able to move us to the front of the line on some things,” Taylor Lewis said.

“We’re fighting against the nationwide shortage and challenges kind of within the furniture industry getting product to consumers.”

For that reason, they’ll be reopening the store in phases.

After getting the keys in early May, the Lewises will do a bit of renovation and have a soft opening in late June. They’ll open a large portion of the first floor initially and then expand into the entire first floor by the end of summer and add upstairs in the fall.

Upstairs also is where the design business will be. There will be employees on the floor to help customers, or they can employ the design firm.

“Most of the lines will stay the same, and then we’ll add a few that are our favorites,” Sara Lewis said.

She said it’s about catering to the existing Traditions clientele and adding new pieces that may appeal to new customers.

“There’s a fresh way to do traditional that I’m excited about.”

She said that may be putting a fun fabric on a piece of Stickley furniture.

“The tradition continues in a good way,” Taylor Lewis said.

He credits Penner Lowe Law Group and Commerce Bank with helping them through their purchase.

There’s also going to be a shop dog, Bo, who is a mini Australian labradoodle.

“They’re going to be brilliant,” Van Huss said.

“We’re really excited they’re willing to mentor us through the process,” Sara Lewis said.

It’s like a couple of shop owners did for Van Huss decades ago before she started Traditions.

Lewis said the sale of the store is not simply a transaction.

“They want to see us succeed,” she said. “That means a lot.”

This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 4:47 AM.