Hidden Gems: Meet Deborah Slobin of Le Shoppe Too

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deborah Slobin. 

Deborah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in Michigan, but moved to Miami Florida in my early 20’s and lived there for over two decades working in the food distribution business. I moved back to Michigan over 10 years ago to assist in the care of my aging parents and was seeking a career change. My friend Julie and I opened up a small 3,000 square foot resale consignment business where we sold clothes, accessories, and home décor. It wasn’t long before we realized that our space wasn’t big enough and that there was tremendous opportunity for growth in our business. Julie and I partnered with Leslie Weisberg, the owner of a local estate sale business, and opened up Le Shoppe Too, our 17,000 square foot showroom where we specialize in iconic 20th-century furniture, art, and home décor. We have since expanded our estate sale business, Changing Hands Estates, and partnered with Terri Stearn of Detroit Fine Art Appraisals to open Le Shoppe Auction House. We are thrilled to have found success in our business model, we are now listing our inventory on 5 platforms online, selling and shipping worldwide, and are excited for future opportunities to expand our businesses further. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, but we are grateful for our challenges as every roadblock generates new opportunity for growth. Since we opened up our first resale shop nearly 10 years ago, we have struggled to find the right team, and the right space to run our business. We struggled to find our footing in the e-commerce space, starting and closing online stores on multiple platforms. Thankfully we have now cultivated a core team who we trust and adore, and have found success online having thousands of items of inventory listed across 5 platforms where we sell and ship worldwide. 

We’ve been impressed with Le Shoppe Too, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Le Shoppe Too is the largest showroom of Iconic 20th-century furniture, art, lighting, and home décor in Michigan. In addition to our retail consignment business, our location in Keego Harbor is also the home base for our estate sale business, Changing Hands Estate Sales, and our auction business, Le Shoppe Auction House. We specialize in the consignment and resale of mid-range to high-end iconic 20th-century furniture and art with an emphasis on funky, eclectic, modern designs. In addition to featuring our items in our 17,000 square foot three-floor showroom, we also list our inventory online where we sell and ship worldwide. What sets us apart from our competitors is that we offer multiple avenues of sale to our clients. We might host an estate sale for a client, reserve a few pieces to bring to the retail showroom for retail consignment, and if they go unsold for a period of time they can be liquidated in an auction. We also work closely with Terri Stearn of Detroit Fine Art Appraisals, who has the highest accreditation an art appraiser can receive, so all of our consignment items are thoroughly vetted for authenticity. 

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
We love that our city has an accommodating close-knit community and a lot of beautiful Michigan lakefront views. What we like least about the city is the lack of public transit and transportation infrastructure, being that we are quite a way from Downtown Detroit and any major freeways. We have seen the area develop considerably over our years in business here and are excited to see what the future brings. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.leshoppetoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leshoppetoo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leshoppetoo/