Collectors, thrifters, artists, spiritualists and all kinds of curious customers in Mahoning Valley are invited to visit a unique new business: Rabbit Stew.
Kerri and Eliot Henderson are the mother-son co-owners of Rabbit Stew, which opened on Wednesday at 6217 Market St. in Boardman.
“I’ve always loved rabbits, hares and bunnies,” Kerri said. “I used to sell on Etsy under the name Marchhare, and it was associated with Alice in Wonderland, so I kind of re-branded it as Rabbit Stew. The store is basically a conglomeration of four rooms with just a bunch of nonsense in it that you might find fun.”
Kerri is a professor at Youngstown State University who teaches entrepreneurship and business.
“I figured, if I’m going to teach business, I should own one,” Kerri said. “I want to really inspire people to take the risk. I have a lot of my Youngstown State students here with me right now. I teach an entrepreneurship class, so they even inspired me to take the risk.”
What’s for sale inside Rabbit Stew?
Before opening Rabbit Stew, Kerri Henderson has been collecting antiques and bringing her finds to local antique shops and customers on Etsy. Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters
At the store, customers can browse bulk organic herbs, books, crystals, antiques, paper ephemera and hundreds of other items collected by the Hendersons.
“We have a healthy mix of antiques and new stuff as well,” she said. “I think you’ll have a really authentic experience here. My goal is for people to come in here and to be inspired. I love history. I travel a lot, and I just thought that the Youngstown community could use a store like this.”
One room is filled with antiques, while another room is organized with crystals, incense and gems collected by Eliot.
“We are a mother-son team. There’s not a lot for high schoolers to do around here, and my son and all of his friends helped me paint the store over the summer,” she said. “This is a gift to my son. I want him to take risks in life. I want these kids to be entrepreneurs.”
Rabbit Stew is open from 4 - 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon - 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon - 5 p.m. on Sunday. Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters
Before opening Rabbit Stew, Kerri had been collecting antiques and bringing her finds to local antique shops and on Etsy.
She said she cherished spending time with her friend Todd Tolson at house clean outs and discovering treasures.
“I’ve loved junk forever. I used to sell on Etsy quite a bit. I originally started out making jewelry out of found objects, but it’s just really expanded. Anything that you pick up in here, I could tell you where it’s from, how it was made, what it was used for in the past,” she said. “Everything has a story in here, and anything that I do bring in that’s new, I make sure it’s fair trade or something that is authentic and can benefit somebody.”
Rabbit Stew is open from 4 - 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon - 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon - 5 p.m. on Sunday.
“I love educating people. In the spring, I’m thinking about having classes here about wild crafting,” Kerri said. “I’m very into botany and plants, and eventually we’re going to have a lot of classes like plant pressing, and going out in the forest and actually looking for herbs and things like that that we can actually use for medicinal purposes.”
Rabbit Stew is open from 4 - 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon - 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon - 5 p.m. on Sunday. Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters
