Meet Amanda Cooper of Wood & Wicker in Wheat Ridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Cooper.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Amanda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Hi! My name is Amanda. I started my dream shop, wood & wicker, last fall and feel very fortunate to doing something that I love. I am an apparel designer by trade and am obsessed with home goods and home design. The idea of wood & wicker started when I was young, dreaming of owning a retail store where I could curate and design something of my own. In 2013 my mom passed away and my life forever changed. The loss felt doubled when the home I had known for 30 years was sold. My sister and I were asked to select items that belonged to our mom and our home to keep for ourselves. There are no words to describe the emotions of this task, but I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to keep these items and now incorporate them into my own home. While working through sweaters and holiday decorations there was a pattern to what my sister and I kept, her being almost everything wicker and myself being primarily items of wood. This signifying both our individual style and the idea behind the name of my shop.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I actually started wood & wicker “on paper” in 2016. My sister-in-law is a CPA and helped me start with all the LLC paperwork and registering the name. Figuring out how to apply for a sales license with the state was a bit of a crapshoot for me. Having a primarily creative brain makes things like business licenses, sales tax, and certificates of good standing sound overly complicated. But working through these challenges are honestly the things that feel like the biggest wins. I have also taken advantage of the small business advising sessions that the Jefferson County Resource Center has to offer. This has been a great asset to me in working through some of the paperwork of having a small business.

Wood & Wicker – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
wood & wicker is an online shop for modern home goods and gifts. The items in the shop are curated by myself and range from cards and planters to key chains and knives. I am so proud to have followed through with a dream I’ve had since a kid and working through the challenges I face as a small business owner. I think what sets me apart is my unique eye for design and asymmetry. Finding items that create a cohesive story and feel.

Do you feel like our city is a good place for businesses like yours? If someone was just starting out, would you recommend them starting out here? If not, what can our city do to improve?
Since wood & wicker primarily functions online, it could really be based anywhere! I was invited to do a pop-up shop around Christmas at a really cute shop, Tulare Denver, and loved it! I also want to try markets in the Denver area and would absolutely love to do more pop-ups. I think Denver is a great place to own a business and would recommend it as a great city to anyone starting out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.woodandwicker.co
• Phone: 720.460.1179
• Email: hello@woodandwicker.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodandwicker.co/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodandwicker.co/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/woodandwickerco
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/woodwicker2016/

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