the story of wadoo

How Wadoo began...

I love colorful, unusual furniture. My husband? Well, he has this thing about originality – to such an extreme that he wants every piece of furniture in the house to be one–of–a–kind. It’s kind of a pain to find original furniture, though, and the more we looked for it, the more we realized it wasn’t here in Fort Collins. We had to travel to find it.

I’ve always been a journalist –

working at newspapers and then teaching journalism at Colorado State University. I loved teaching; the only way I was going to give up such a great gig was to become self–employed. But one Thanksgiving Day I decided I wanted to open a store; I wanted to bring art furniture to Fort Collins. One hour later, I knew what to call this store: “Wadoo,” which is the refrain in the 1940’s Ira Gershwin song, “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” And one hour after that, I told my husband I wanted to quit my stable job at CSU and open a furniture store. His response (which I think is astoundingly supportive) was: “I know where you can open it.” In the Armory Building at 314 E. Mountain St., in the same building where my husband's brand management and design business is located. Wadoo was born 18 months later.

But Wadoo doesn’t stop at furniture

Functional art can be introduced to your life in other ways. Wadoo also carries beautiful, handcrafted jewelry, ceramics, clothing, accessories and gifts. Mismatched socks even! And inspired switchplates! I carefully choose everything in my store for its originality, and everything I sell is only available in this area at Wadoo Furniture and Cool Gifts. Come visit!