English Transplant Helping Decorate Buffalo Homes

Tracey Huggins is a native of North London, England, but she told WIVB-TV that she has lived in Buffalo since marrying her husband in 2009 and considers herself to be every bit of a Western New Yorker.

She knew this would be the perfect place to open her own passion-based business Huggins Home Decor & Design because this is home.

Tracey has always had a fire for design and woodworking, but she credits the Queen City and local incentives with giving her the chance to pursue it full-time.

“There was the fear of launching out on my own. And then one day, I was like, ‘I can do this,’ and applied for the competition ‘Queen City Pop-Up’ and I was successful,” she says. “And then from there, it was like absolute history, and that was in 2017. And I just couldn’t go back. It was like, ‘This is what I need to do.'”

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The Queen City Pop-Up, as a point of information, is a competition run by Mayor Byron Brown and the Buffalo Development Company that offers small businesses and startups the chance to operate a storefront with six weeks of free space in downtown Buffalo.

“Despite the pandemic, things have ben turning around,” she says. “We launched not only the home decor boutique, but we also do classes. We do makers and crafters classes. So, we make boards, we paint boards, we do pillowcases and stuff like that, wreathes, and then I also launched my upholstery business.”

Tracey has also made accommodations for those who choose to stay home. She mails out all online orders and shoppers have the option to drive by and pick up.

She feels becoming a small business owner in Buffalo is one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

Huggins Home Decor & Design is located at 2218 Kensington Avenue.