Hammertown is a lifestyle store and interior design service. With three locations – Pine Plains, Rhinebeck, NY, and Great Barrington, MA, – Hammertown has become a destination for customers from all over the northeast. They offer everything one might need to decorate a home, from furniture, rugs, and lighting to tabletop, decor, antiques, and gifts. The stores themselves, and the rooms they help to furnish, are entirely realized spaces full of heart and soul.

Hammertown was started in 1985 by Joan Osofsky in one room of the barn behind her family home in Pine Plains. “My mother loved to decorate our home and was often asked by friends for ideas. She took this passion and began her business on a shoestring,” shared Joan’s daughter Dana Simpson. “I can still remember her stenciling the walls and doing most of the surface renovations herself. This flagship store, named Hammertown Barn for the road on which it sits, now fills the entire barn and two colonial houses. They hold events and workshops there, and it has become a real destination over the course of the last three decades.”

Valuable lessons learned and the growth of the business

Dana shared that, “You never have it all figured out. Retail is always evolving and you have to be willing to ebb and flow with the changing times as well as constantly trying new things. It’s a difficult business to keep up with, but we are extremely grateful to our customers and their commitment to our business over the years. As one longtime client put it, ‘What Hammertown sells is important, but I’d argue that what it stands for is even more essential: hospitality, community, authenticity.’”

Over the past 39 years, they have opened two more stores, and launched an e-commerce business. They have a design services team and a thriving trade program for interior designers. “Our furniture business has grown a lot as well,” Dana explains. “Since it began in the late 90s, our furniture business has grown exponentially every year. We now have a warehouse and delivery team, as a thriving custom furniture program to offer clients personalization in their homes.”

Paying it forward

When asked what advice she would give to someone starting out in business, Dana shared, “Have a long-term plan. There are a lot of great ideas out there, but it really takes something solid, something that is needed, and something with a path to grow. I would also say: love what you do and surround yourself with amazing people. You will spend endless hours together working, developing, and growing your business.”

When discussing businesses in the region and through the years, Dana said that she thinks that in general the demographic in the area has changed such that the region is filled with young, smart, creatively talented people who are tapping into our resources to build something great. “In a lot of ways it is a reflection of years past, but the hope is that we are all building something terrific that has longevity and offers something new to our communities for the future.”

She continued to explain, “It’s great to see excitement by young people in our area again. I feel living in our region will always be an antidote of sorts to an urban existence. Our towns are brimming with excitement and ideas these days, and the energy and buzz associated with city life is spreading into our rural landscape. You never know what may pop up in an old barn or an empty storefront, and that is very exciting. This issue is proof positive that the young people in our region are driving us forward. I am looking to the future with incredible optimism.” •

You can find Hammertown online at hammertown.com.