Cozy Creek gets comfy in Branson Landing

The original 3,000-square-foot store at 5997 N. 21st St. in Ozark, which opened March 7, 2005, will be joined by a 4,000-square-foot store at 105 Branson Landing Blvd. in Branson, scheduled to open May 26.

“We’re in the country section, three doors north of Bass Pro,” said Debi Hartley, who co-owns the rustic- and lodge-style furniture and accessory business with husband Tom Hartley.

Branson Landing was always in the Hartleys’ sights; they’d planned on waiting until their first year in business was behind them before seriously considering it. Then Branson Landing officials contacted them.

“At that point in time, that just made things go from one extreme to the other for us. We went from a dream thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to go down there?’ to ‘Oh, my gosh! They want us as bad as we want to be there,’” Debi Hartley said.

Linda Antus, director of marketing for Branson Landing, said that tenants are pursued based on specific requirements, such as uniqueness.

“Our criteria for all the stores we put in was to have something unique and unusual that you may not find, necessarily, in Branson,” Antus said. “Even though (Cozy Creek) is in Ozark and it’s close, … they were carefully selected.”

Hartley said she and her husband will divide their time between the two stores without penciling in set hours at each. They employ three full-time and three part-time staff in Ozark and plan to hire six full-time and four part-time workers for the Branson Landing store.

The lodge look

The two Cozy Creek stores will have unavoidable similarities.

“We travel across the United States to get our products. It’s a very hard look to find with good quality,” Hartley said. “We won’t be able to make (the stores) as different as we’d like to, simply because the look is too hard to find.”

The store’s inventory reflects the decorating style known as rustic or lodge décor.

“The look takes on its own character,” Hartley said. “You’re bringing the outdoors indoors. If you enjoy the outdoors and nature, and the comforting feeling of being outside when the sun’s going down in the evening or up in the morning, that’s what drew us to it.”

Locally, it’s a growing market.

Heather Ameye and Kristy Sloan opened Rusty Moose Lodge Décor at 3033 E. Sunshine St. in November.

“There’s a lot of people who’ve been going on vacation to those wonderful little quaint spots like Big Cedar Lodge, and they realize it makes them feel more comfortable and more at home, and that’s made it more popular,” Heather Ameye said. “It makes you feel at home right away.”

Rusty Moose will move in June to 1722 S. Sieger Drive, behind Andy’s Frozen Custard’s East Sunshine store.

Shoestring or champagne budgets

Cozy Creek’s merchandise ranges from $3.99 to $5,000.

Offering something for every budget was a priority for Hartley.

“When we opened this, I wanted everybody … to feel like, ‘I’ve got a part of Cozy Creek in my home now.’ I want everyone to feel like they can slowly transform their home into this look on a shoestring budget as well as on a champagne budget,” she said, declining to disclose first-year revenues.

In addition to furniture and accessories, Cozy Creek offers custom floral decor. Designer Kim Hardin creates arrangements for commercial or residential. She will remain at the Ozark store when Branson Landing opens.

Mike Strouse had help from Cozy Creek putting the finishing touches on a condominium cabin he purchased at The Cabins at Grand Mountain in Branson. Bought for personal use and for his Lawrence, Kan.-based consulting firm, The Strouse Group, the cabin will be rented to vacationers on a nightly basis when available.

“We were running out of time to get it ready,” said Strouse, who grew up in Marshfield. “We ran across (Cozy Creek) and it was 4 on a Saturday night.”

Hartley and Hardin met Strouse at the cabin two hours later.

“We gave them ideas and they came down with an entire van load of ideas,” Strouse said. “By the second time we were there, we had the place completely decorated. It was great.”

Business Basics

Debi Hartley credits her business interests to her mother-in-law, Fredia Hartley, who owned Ozark Ready to Wear, in Ozark, in the 1970s.

“She taught me so much because she knew from the ground up what it took to run a retail business,” said Debi Hartley, who worked for her mother-in-law for several years. “There’s certain foundations of it that are the same no matter what type of retail you’re in.”

Cozy Creek Trading Co. LLC

Owners: Debi and Tom Hartley

Founded: March 2005

Address: 5997 N. 21st St., Ozark, MO 65721

Phone: (417) 581-5900

Fax: (417) 581-5917

Products: Rustic decor and accessories, and custom floral

Web site: www.cozy

creektrading.com

Employees: 6