Business feature: Oliver's Emporium home to Southwestern styles
Dec. 23—Editor's note: We continue our series of stories about local business owners and the unique merchandise and services they have for sale — just in time for Christmas.
When you walk into Oliver's Emporium in downtown Portales, you are briefly dazzled by the bright, primary colors and geometric designs of the American Southwest.
The store has been in its present location since April, and its owner Cassie Hardin, a life-long Portales resident, is confident the store's location in downtown Portales will be its permanent home.
The News managed to catch Hardin, her husband Stephen, her 2-1/2-year-old son Lucas, and her sister Cyndi Melton as they finished serving a few customers on Saturday.
Here are The News' questions and Cassie Hardin's responses, joined occasionally by Stephen.
Q. How long have you been in business?
A. About a year and a half. It started as a fun thing to do as a sideline. I was the director of rehabilitation at Heartland (Heartland Continuing Care Center in Portales).
Q. How did it start?
A. I started out with a small booth outside of my mom Rhonda Paden's insurance office, Paden Insurance, close to Walmart. Later, I rented space next to Sweetwaters at Landell's Coffee Shop. When my lease was up there, this place became available, so we bought it.
Q. Why did you choose a Southwestern theme?
A. Portales is a Southwest place. I think Southwestern clothes and blankets are beautiful. The blankets are very soft.
Q. Are you a Portales native?
A. I was born and raised here, and my parents and other family members live here, as well. My husband is a lifelong resident too.
Stephen Hardin joined the conversation to say he was born in India and was adopted by a Portales family at 5-1/2 months old. Hardin helps out in the store as much as he can, he said, when he isn't working as the development director of the New Mexico Christian Children's Home in Portales or teaching online classes in Communications at Eastern New Mexico University, Clovis Community College and other schools. He also works occasionally as an actor
Q. What kind of background do you bring to this business?
A. I have a bachelor's degree in Digital Cinema and Arts from ENMU. Later, I received a physical therapy assistant certification through Pima Medical Institute in Albuquerque, which is how I got to the director of rehabilitation job at Heartland. I also have experience in food service and retail. I also was in a band for a while. I was a drummer.
Q. What's your favorite part of doing business.
A. Opening the packages is great, but mostly it's the people and the familiar faces. It was the same as with physical therapy and the nursing home. People have stories to tell, and I'm happy to be a part of it. I find out all kinds of things about who people are.
Q. Have you done work in the field you majored in?
A. I do some photography on the side, and I've done some graphic design on small projects like fliers. I've designed some logos, including some for this store and I do some design for our website.
Q. What do you do when you're not working in the store?
A. I'm Lucas' mom. Between that and the store, I'm busy all the time.
Q. You credit your family with helping you get this store set up.
A. When we bought this place in March, I got a lot of help. The families jumped in and helped with painting, putting up shelves and racks and basic décor, except for plumbing and electrical work. My father Mickey Paden helped with the contracting for plumbing and electrical work. He's a retired contractor. We had the place ready to open in a month.
