Hi, my name is Laurie. I'm so proud to introduce you to Henry's Country Store.
Henry's is a concept that has been in consideration for years. In the spring of 2024, a sequence of events fired up the engine and the wheels have been moving forward ever since. In June 2024, I launched our original online store. On December 18, 2024, I opened our first retail location as a concept store - where we could be creative about our retail choices and introduce a shopping experience that is reminiscent of the past, with a touch of nostalgia mixed with the most up-to-date products on the market. A store that is uniquely Henry's.
At the beginning of August 2025, we launched our new website, directly linked to our in-store inventory system to ensure every shopper has access to our full inventory, all the time, including sales and promotions. It has rolled out in "fits and starts", with a period of downtime - oh so painful, but quickly a fading memory. Thanks to you all for your patience as my team kept our commitment to keep costs down and do it ourselves!
For the past two decades I've had the blessing of travel for work, visiting regions of the United States I might not have visited otherwise. Sometimes even international trips. Frequently I planned my travel so that I could stay over weekends and explore the region, visiting cool little shops, hunting for antiques, tasting the local food and drink, and embracing the culture and people. At the time I thought I was doing it to build great memories and could tell my daughters and grandkids about all the cool places I visited. But then times changed and travel was halted for a bit and I moved from Seattle back to my hometown in North Idaho.
Over the past few years I really started to miss the exploration and the amazing foods, spices, hand-made goods, antiques...I was longing for it. On top of that, I started looking for healthier food options and was having to drive an hour or more to find them (shopping multiple stores to find only an item or two) - or resorting to online orders from uncertain sources. I realized that my struggle was probably not unique to me, but a shopping challenge many of us face on a daily basis. With that realization, in June 2024, Henry's Country Store was born.
Since then, I've devoted my time to sourcing incredible, healthy, sustainable, single source, small batch, small farm, small business products from the Inland Northwest and Pacific Northwest, and then quickly branching out across other regions of the US from there. We are proud to not only present products from the traditional product categories (such as baking, spices, legumes and grains, etc.), but also by the regions where they are grown and processed. It's a new way to present them with the intent of giving you a better sense of quality, seasonality and taste. It also ensures you know where your products come from. We want to empower you to make informed decisions about what you buy and from whom.
I believe in the brands we've researched, tested and selected for selling. To give you even more confidence, I plan to launch a couple of unique endeavors through this blog over the next year:
1) Meet The Maker: Onsite visits to our suppliers, even in remote locations, to see their processes first hand, to understand the methods they practice and the passion they have for their products. We all have a story and you should hear theirs!
2) Meet the Author: Sit downs with amazing authors to learn more about their inspirations, learnings and insights as they practice what we all want to learn. If you haven't already, check out the amazing selection of books we carry!
3) Henry's Favorite Recipes: Almost every day my employees and I use and experiment with the products we carry at Henry's. The result is often mouthwatering, sometimes mind blowing, great food. Not only that, but we've been pleasantly surprised by some amazing kitchen gadgets and innovative, new products we had never used before. Our goal is to help you understand how you can use the products and what to expect if you decide to buy.
In addition, beginning in October 2025, we will be offering on-site classes, Meet the Maker and Meet the Author events in Oldtown, Idaho. The schedule will be published on our Facebook page and at henryscountrystore.com. Stay tuned!
To wrap up this first post, I want to thank everyone who has played even the smallest part in making Henry's the success it's already become. In particular:
- To Ashley and Lindsey - Your belief in the idea, tolerating one more crazy idea from mom and ultimately your support through all the product samplings and business decisions means the world to me.
- To Matt, Brandy and Ashley - Your hard work is so important and the results are evident to everyone who steps through the doors. Henry's is thriving because of your dedication to the dream and learning every product, even when you are skeptical.
- To our vendors and suppliers: Thank you for working with us so closely and providing such amazing food and products for our customers to enjoy. I appreciate how so many of you go out of your way to ensure orders are right and appropriate for the season. Henry's is a co-op of all your hard work and passion for the products you offer. We are proud to be your representative to our customers!
- To our customers in Oldtown and Priest River, Idaho; Newport, Washington; and everyone who has visited our stores (retail and online) from further distances - We appreciate your support and kind words - besides "Thank you" some of our favorites are "Wow, it smells so good in here!", "There's so much more to see since I was here last time" and "What? There's another room? What else haven't I seen!" You all make every long day, late night, and growing pain worth it! We appreciate you!
Thanks for visiting and shopping Henry's Country Store!
Laurie
