Montana Avenue’s collection of top brands includes a convergence of home goods on the 1000 block, something the block’s newest tenant has deemed the city’s “little home section.”
Now co-existing with storefronts like The Shade Store, Visual Comfort & Co, Fireclay Tile and Divine Vintage is Hummingbird Home & Co., a home goods and boutique that owner Ashley Frawley wants customers to feel inspired by. Boasting a mix of unique and colorful pieces like table linens and dinnerware, Frawley looked to Montana for her shop due to a successful pop-up and dates she and her now-husband shared at Primo Passo Coffee Co and Marmalade Cafe.
“It’s become this little design district, that was not planned, but I thought it couldn’t have worked out better,” Frawley said.
Things working out in the home goods industry for Frawley was the result of a leap of faith and relentless work ethic, wearing “20 different hats” in her ascent from beginner to shopowner. After working for 15 years in the fashion industry, Frawley decided to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming more intrigued by home decoration from doing the process herself in her first home.
On a whim, she sent an Instagram message to Meg Young, the founder of decor startup Cailini Coastal, and eventually began working on the ground floor of the e-commerce operation out of Young’s garage. In her first time taking on tasks like data entry and customer service, Frawley noted that being “part of something new” unlocked newfound belief in her own skills, eventually inspiring the creation of the Hummingbird brand.
“I think I have this entrepreneurial spirit … I did feel this pull of my own that I’d never really felt before,” Frawley said. “I [felt that] I’m glad she’s doing her [thing], maybe I want to do this [too], and I can do this, and kind of having the confidence of, I’ve done this for so many years, I think it’s my turn.”
The right timing of the home goods and e-commerce industries blowing up in interest during the pandemic, along with her vision, put her in a place to succeed with Hummingbird. That vision, she said, is a heavy in-person entertainment influence, inspired by flexing her “creative muscle” at home.
“I loved setting a table, even if it was an impromptu dinner [like] bringing pizza over, just putting a tablecloth down, setting a table, place settings, maybe a place card with their name, I just enjoyed that … so when I thought about starting the brand, the entertaining piece came naturally for me,” Frawley said.
The Hummingbird standard product lines, like its collection of table cloths and linens, eventually snowballed into other home categories such as picture frames. For the holidays, Frawley’s shop is offering miniature decorative trees, miniature cottages and ornaments stylized into anything from a garden gnome to a dirty martini.
Frawley looks beyond just the holidays however, selling her wares as “an investment piece” using knowledge from her previous work in fashion. One example is red and blue colored items being of valuable usage in the holiday season as well as Fourth of July outdoor entertainment in the summer.
“I feel like a lot of the things that we sell, I like to show in different ways, because I don’t like things just being rotated in and out,” she said. “I feel like we live in a society that’s in and out. Okay, sale, okay, buy something new, you know? I want people to feel like [when] they’re spending $300 on a tablecloth, it’s an investment, you’re gonna be able to use it throughout the year, let me show you how.”
After picking the in-person retail location and giving it “a lot of love,” the design district’s latest opened in time for September’s Montana Avenue Art Walk, a day where Frawley met “all of Santa Monica.” Her goal is to translate the “buzz” of opening into having not only unique in-person shopping, but event experiences as well, such as group lessons on subjects in the party hosting realm.
“We’ll have that in store, just fun things to get the community out to do something [and] be inspired to host and spruce up your table and just put a little effort in,” Frawley said. “I feel like not only do people appreciate it, but I always feel so excited about those little touches. I think it just makes the experience better for everybody.”
Hummingbird Home & Co. at 1021A Montana Avenue is now open from 10am to 5pm Monday-Saturday, and 10am to 3pm on Sundays. To view the Hummingbird collection, visit hummingbirdhomeandco.com.
thomas@smdp.com
