Gifts, classes available at White Oak’s Hometique

The small business was launched last year by Becca Michalsky and Ed Cherepko.

For those looking for some after- Christmas shopping, Hometique in White Oak has personalized gifts and more for loved ones.

Located at 1201 Long Run. Road, the vendor boutique supports several local small businesses and sells furniture, home decor, wreaths/door hangers, candles, crystals, gemstones, jewelry and more.

The idea for the store started when Becca Michalsky — who was into crafting — and Ed Cherepko — who got into refinishing furniture — wanted to start a business together in 2024. Michalsky said business this year has been better than last year because more people know about them.

“We’re still new, and we get new customers every single day,” Cherepko said. “It’s tough being a brand new business. We haven’t had a bad customer, and everyone is so nice.”

The store offers arts and crafts classes and brings in vendors for other types of classes. They also had a holiday pop-up Sunday at the store.

There are wooden craftmaking classes that are run by Cherepko, Christmas cookie classes taught by others, charcuterie, jewelry making, chunky blanket making and many other classes that are updated throughout the year.

“It’s a busy time of year,” Cherepko said. “Each spot in here is its own vendor. It’s like we are a small business and they are all small businesses within it. It’s always changing. It’s like a treasure hunt sometimes. It’s a mix of old, new, used, handmade, homemade, upcycled.”

According to Cherepko, summer is usually their slowest time of year, but in the new year, they plan several classes and they usually change the vendor based on the season.

“We usually come up with an idea, and we don’t repeat it unless there is a lot of interest, but we come up with new ideas all the time,” he said. “Everything wood in here is something we built. We do a lot of woodwork. There are a lot of unique items, handmade. We didn’t plan on (classes) until we got this spot, and we said ‘Let’s make this a classroom.’” In the summer, they try to get food trucks as well, according to Michalsky, and they pick the classes based on if they are easy or not so everyone can participate.

Cherepko said the best part of the classes is they give everyone the same materials and all the creations come out differently. After people decorate their items, Cherepko puts them together.

This Christmas season, they had people choose between wooden gnomes, sleds, skis, snowmen and more for their wood painting and decorating classes.

The vendor booths within the store vary, and they currently have vendor rental opportunities open and coming soon. There is a flat monthly fee, no commission fees and a three-month initial commitment. Then it is month to month and no need to volunteer time to work the store.

They also do not take any of the proceeds if a vendor sells a product in the store, and the only cost to vendors is the monthly fee.

The furthest vendor they have is 45 minutes away from the store, Cherepko said, and they usually stick with small businesses that sell craft items in the Greater Pittsburgh and Mon Valley area.

“We get such an array of vendors. We had one that was in a U.S. pageant. We had a florist who vended with us last Christmas season,” Michalsky said. “It is interesting to see what kind of vendors come in, and it’s a lot of good people. Since we are so small, we don’t like to have the same items from different people, and we don’t like to compete in the store.”

Michalsky said they have a little bit of everything, it’s for a lot of the vendors and they are always looking for new ideas for classes.

“We’ve been doing it for a little while, but we still are amateurs,” Michalsky said. “It started off well, and it’s building up the longer we are here. I think we are more than just a craft store. I would love to do this someday, full time, with Eddie, but we’ll see. We’re not there yet.”

The store is open typically from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. The store can be contacted at 412-510-1554 or hometi-que15131@ gmail.com.