Holly’s House discount store opens in downtown Bay City

BAY CITY, MI – For years, Holly Sturgeon has operated her discount retail and bin store from wherever she has had the space for her inventory.

This included her garage, her pole barn and, yes, even her home.

But after months of working toward opening a storefront, the name of her business, Holly's House, is more symbolic than literal. That's because she has her first retail location at 108 3rd St. in Bay City, next to Bay City Antiques Center and across from GT Homestead and Intermission Deli.

"I'm feeling relieved to have more space than what our home offered," she said. "And I'm excited to see what the future brings so that we can continue to expand."

Holly's House sells liquidated pallet items. When big box stores are overstocked, or when they rotate items for the season, people like Sturgeon go and purchase pallets of items and are able to resell them at discounted prices.

For the past few years, Sturgeon said she has been operating her business exclusively online, using her Facebook group Holly's House as her virtual shop. The hundreds of messages she received on the daily were from her customers, claiming items and arranging how and where to purchase them.

Two days after opening Monday, Nov. 11, Sturgeon said things have been steady.

"It was consistently busy, but you know, we have a big online presence. Plus, we're starting to get the trickle of people walking around from downtown, which is nice," she said.

"I feel like when people walk in, it's not what they're expecting initially. You know, they're thinking like, fancy boutique, but once they see the prices, they're like, 'This is the greatest thing ever.'"

A storefront was always the goal for Sturgeon, who expected to be elsewhere at this point just a few months ago. But when plans for another physical location fell through, she was excited to move into the space on 3rd Street.

"It kind of just worked out," Sturgeon said. "I feel, like, serendipitous."

The Holly House storefront will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It will also be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and closed on Tuesdays.