13 Sisters and REESEstored grows more into a home

photo by Ryan Bergeron
Sisters Jessica Kuznia and Kara Heggedal stand in front of the signage and behind the front counter of the new location of 13 Sisters and REESEstored, now located along Main Street in Greenbush. The store opened at its new location officially on March 26.

photo by Ryan Bergeron
A new addition to the 13 Sisters and REESEstored business in Greenbush, this full-service coffee bar will serve hot, iced, or blended drinks, such as coffee, espresso, chai, and Italian sodas. This new location has allowed the store to add more items and have more space– now about three times the size of its previous location.

photo by Ryan Bergeron
Near the store’s coffee bar, this space represents just one of several within the new 13 Sisters and REESEstored location along Main Street in Greenbush. The owners have always wanted this store to feel comfortable and like a home.

People have walked into a recently opened Main Street Greenbush business location and felt as if they had been transported, according to one of the owners. When one walks in, they see a front desk right off to the left, one fitting for a hotel, with the business’ signage hanging behind it.

Various couch, chair, table, and rug scenes fill the space— one a living room-type space with a fireplace. A full-service coffee bar with a few tables, including a shorter children’s table, occupy a corner, an area designated by gold letters spelled into the word “coffee” that hang on the front of the counter.

Women’s bags and clothing, various pieces of signage, a painted canvas with shades of blue, black, white, and grey, blue coffee cups that read in white lettering “Plant One On Me” represent just a few of the many items that occupy the space.

“I think the one (comment) that I like the most,” Jessica Kuznia said, “is that they walk in and they say it’s like walking into a different town or a big city.”

What is this space? It’s the new home of 13 Sisters and REESEstored, the home, gift, apparel, and boutique store that moved into a new location on Main Street in Greenbush. The store officially opened at its new location on March 26.

Jessica Kuznia and Kara Heggedal, 2 of the 13 Reese sisters that the business is named after, talked about the move to their new location, background of the store, the additional space of its new location, and the goal of and the reaction to this new space.

The sisters owned 13 Sisters’ first location— now home to Up North Treasures and Gifts. They then moved right across the highway to their second location, renting this space from Mark and Karen Novacek, before moving into its latest space.

March 19. That was the last day 13 Sisters did business at its previous and second site located between One Better Liquor store and River’s Edge. Now it occupies the space that was previously home to Primerica, Shellie Mekash’s myofascial therapy business, Sonia Lee’s bakery, and overflow seating from the previous Rockin’ 50’s Cafe. The sisters bought the space from Gordie Asmus.

From March 19 to March 24, they moved into their current location. On March 25, they hosted an open house— a first look for family and those who helped renovate the space— before hosting their Grand Opening on March 26.

“This was a chance to own our own building again,” Heggedal said, “and to be on Main Street.”

Kuznia added, “I think for a long time we both really wanted to be on Main Street.”

In this new space, it will have a full-service coffee bar with its very own Estella espresso machine. At this coffee bar, people can order hot, iced, or blended drinks, such as coffee, espresso, chai, and Italian sodas. This area includes pre-packaged snacks, such as sweet breads and biscotti. The coffee bar also includes a dining area, allowing people to get a coffee, visit with friends and family, and shop before or after.

“We think it’s more of a gathering space, where before… you were just kind of constantly in motion,” Heggedal said, “because either there’s not enough space or there’s other people that want to be where you are. And it was just tight.”

Within this space, it wanted to create a homey atmosphere— one that provides people with different creative solutions and ideas for using decor.

“Comments that we get is people can go shopping at other places and find things at other places,” Heggedal said, “but what we do that’s different than like say a department store is… we put it to use, show you how you can use pillows or decor or, you know, we have different rooms set up… You can actually see it in action.”

Kuznia added, “I think that’s why people like our live sales, too, because we show them how to use it.”

Putting spaces like this together comes naturally for the sisters.

“Growing up, I mean, for us anyway, creativity was in our genes,” Kuznia said. “You know, our mom was super creative, our dad was even super creative. So it didn’t dawn on us that there are people in this world that can’t always visualize how something can be used or how something can be put together.”

The store is currently open from 5 pm to 8 pm on Thursday and Friday and from 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday.

People can follow the store on Facebook under Thirteen Sisters, and on Instagram under shop13sisters.

To see the complete story, read the April 13 issue of The Tribune in print or online.