We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Black a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jennifer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Being the 2nd owners of Hickory Road Inn, since 2018, we are committed to offering the same all-star Craft Retreat service and accommodations that our guests have come to know and expect.

The experience at Hickory Road Inn is a unique one in the Craft Retreat industry. We offer hosted Craft Retreats in a Bed & Breakfast fashion by offering fine furnishings, porter service, as well as full made-from-scratch breakfasts served daily in our dining room. Our Craft Room is set up with the specific needs of crafters in mind. This includes bright overhead lighting, long tables, adjustable padded chairs, electrical outlets, ironing boards with irons, cutting mats, and a quilt design board. Most of our guests either enjoy sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, or card-making. Knitting, crocheting, and vinyl lettering/design crafting is popular too.

When a group of friends decide to book a fun Craft Retreat at Hickory Road Inn, they usually share the same passion for crafting, they want time away with their friends to pursue that craft, and they want to be pampered. We provide a warm greeting upon guest arrival complete with porter service. Portering includes bringing all of their craft supplies and luggage inside upon arrival and back to their vehicles at departure. Guests enjoy plush guest rooms with private bathrooms, two sitting rooms set up for those late night conversations and laughs as well as a patio overlooking our pond and waterfall, all in a peaceful nature setting.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hickory Road Inn is owned and managed by Jim and Jennifer Black, second owners since 2018. Our speciality is hosting Craft Retreats of all kinds with our inn especially designed for craft groups.

Jennifer’s role as hostess is a natural fit as she enjoys welcoming guests upon arrival and greeting them each morning at breakfast. She holds a BS in Quality & Decision Systems and oversees every detail to ensure a fantastic Retreat.

In addition to being Hickory Road Inn’s chef, Jim holds a BS in Construction Technology and enjoys woodworking. He is also an avid outdoorsman and spends time as a volunteer with local Boy Scouts.

Hickory Road Inn’s mission is to provide a space designed exclusively for the needs of our craft enthusiasts so they can create, relax, and connect with friends all in a peaceful nature setting.

The Inn provides three luxurious bedrooms with spectacular views of our pond, waterfall, and surrounding woods. Guest rooms each have their own private bath with shower. We can host up to eight in a group and each Craft Retreat is private. Our breakfasts are made from scratch daily so we can accommodate dietary needs and/or food preferences. Some of our guest’s favorite dishes include our Blueberry French Toast – a nod to our founding innkeepers – the Bennett family, Tracey’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls – from a favorite sister-in-law, and Connie’s Quiche – a recipe shared by a wonderful friend who helped us move in and organize our kitchen pantry!

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

Hickory Road Inn was built and established in 2002 by the original owners, the Bennett family. The husband and wife team managed the Inn as a Bed & Breakfast for travelers visiting the area and/or enjoying the local sights and attractions. The lower level of the Inn was finished a few years later which would include the large craft room that defines our business today. According to their story, a guest staying at the Inn provided the seed for the idea of hosting craft retreats after she toured the unfinished lower level. Mrs. Bennett, an avid quilter herself, along with Mr. Bennett, an engineer, were able to design and build out the lower level to suit the needs of crafters – especially those that enjoy sewing. Once the lower level was finished, the Bennetts started hosting Craft Retreats as well as continuing to provide general B&B stays for guests traveling through the area.

Our family got to know the Bennetts while attending church. Jim helped Mr. Bennett often with volunteer projects as the Bennetts were and still are active volunteers in our community. It was during one of those times back in 2017 that Mr. Bennett shared that they were entertaining the idea of selling the Inn. The craft retreat side of the business is what really drew our interest. Mostly operating on weekends, we felt we could expand weekday Retreats in addition to weekend Retreats. Also, the Bennetts had already established relationships with several Craft Retreat groups that continually renewed their dates year after year. We wanted to develop that same type of relationship so guests feel like they’re returning to a dear friend’s home.

It took about a year to sell our home in order to have the funds to acquire Hickory Road Inn. The housing market was quite different back then and we had to wait to find the right buyer. It required patience from both families as the Bennetts were making plans to downsize and find their next home while we were entertaining several showings on our home hoping for an offer soon. It all finally came together during the early part of 2018, with the closing on our home finalized and the Bennetts having purchased their new home.

Since it was an operating business, we had to coordinate our move between guest stays. That happened to fall on Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to our family and friends, we helped the Bennetts with part of their move while simultaneously moving our items into the Inn. We had three days following the holiday to get things in order. Part of the acquisition included the guest room furnishings as well as those furnishings in the Craft Room. So we basically had to organize our personal spaces – family room and bedrooms – as well as the kitchen and dining room. A close friend of ours helped organize our kitchen space while we moved furniture into the dining area and into our personal areas. We had three days following the holiday before the arrival of our first guests! It was a whirlwind of a week but exciting as well.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Interacting with our guests and maintaining an exceptional facility for their Craft Retreats ensures that our guests want to come back to visit time and again.

Getting to know our guests helps grow our business. Because we are a hosted facility, we have the opportunity to interact with guests during the check-in and check-out processes as well as during breakfast time. Guests love to ask us questions about the Inn, about our hobbies, about are children, and we in turn get to ask about their lives. We love to read the kind notes left by guests written in journals provided in our guest rooms.

Providing an exceptionally clean facility with posh amenities is imperative to standing out in our industry. We continually improve our guest experience by including make-up towels in all bathrooms as well as upgrading the craft chairs to provide better quality seating with extra cushioning and adjustability. Our guests enjoy seeing subtle changes to our decorations and take notice! They can see and feel the pride that we have in our business.

Contact Info:

• Website: hickoryroadinn.com
• Facebook: Facebook.com/hickoryroadinn
• Other: fb.watch/pAcRlhvgqZ/?mibextid=cr9u03