HUMBOLDT — Dodie Copley maintains she’s a lousy salesperson.
So, what keeps her at it? Shopping.
“I’m a born shopper. And with the store, I can shop without guilt,” she said Thursday afternoon.
Bumping age 87, (July 29), Copley opened Dodie’s, a home décor store, in Humboldt this spring. It’s her third iteration in 25-plus years.
Copley’s passion for retail went hand in hand with her desire to boost downtown Humboldt in the early aughts. Beginning in 1999, she purchased a dilapidated 125-year-old building at 103 S. Ninth to create her Yesterday’s Treasures and over the next several years restored the buildings at 105 and 107 S. Ninth to expand her business.
By August 2024, Copley had sold the three buildings to Joe Works for his children’s business endeavors. “It was all done with a handshake. He was happy, and I was happy,” she said of the transactions.
It was then that Copley thought she would retire. “But I missed it so much that I couldn’t,” she said with a shrug. “It’s still fun. And as long as it’s fun, you do it.”
Copley’s new location is at the northern end of Humboldt, 1107 N. Ninth.
At 2,400 square feet, “it’s a perfect fit.” Its inventory reflects Copley’s personal tastes. There’s a deep blue velvet settee. Fanciful screens. Small tables and desks. Plush chairs and scores of prints, decorations and frames.
“There’s some new. Some vintage. If I wouldn’t have it in my own home, it’s not in here,” she said.
The colors are bold and bright, eschewing the once-prevalent frosty gray and taupe.
“I don’t go with fads or trends. I go with my gut; what’s pleasing to me,” she said.
As for her interior design talents, Copley said she “follows the Lord’s feng shui” in visualizing “how things should look.”
THOUGH IT’S been 10 years since she’s attended large-scale furniture markets, her inventory is continuously refreshed. She clams up when pressed.
“A retailer never divulges her sources,” she said with a smile.
Copley is anything but pushy and is happy to stay in the background when shoppers come in. “If it’s not pleasing to someone else, that’s fine.”
Maintaining, “I’ll never be an early riser,” Copley’s store hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
