400 Rustic Station: A Destination Shopping Experience

Kimberly Kollasch has always enjoyed helping people and using her creative talents. From a young age, she dreamed of being a cosmetologist, a dream that came to fruition as she went to cosmetology school and went on to a successful thirty-two-year cosmetology career, working in many different areas and levels of the cosmetology industry, including owning her own salon business, being a traveling make-up artist and serving on the Iowa Board of Cosmetology Arts & Sciences. In her spare time, Kim enjoyed the creative hobby of refinishing furniture, so much so that it turned into a sideline business refinishing furniture
pieces for clients.

In 2015, on one of their evening strolls through beautiful downtown Whittemore, Kim and her husband Ron Kollasch passed by the old gas station where Bev and Gene Walker had a furniture restoration business. The Walker’s had decided to close the business. Kim and Ron could not fathom seeing the building vacated and potentially deteriorate, so they jumped at the opportunity to purchase the building for Kim’s furniture restoration hobby. In addition to her love for furniture restoration, Kim has always had a passion for décor and design, and her mutual passions evolved from a hobby to a business. After investing a lot of elbow grease to renovate the former gas station, 400 Rustic Station
opened in 2016. Adding home décor to complement the furniture restoration was in the plan from day one. The business has since phased out the furniture restoration since it commanded so much of Kim’s time; now, the business features home décor, custom signs, take and make kits, and seasonal décor boxes. 400 Rustic Station was well-positioned for the pandemic this past year. Kim had developed and launched a full-service e-commerce website prior to the pandemic shutdown. The website
enabled the business to continue to thrive and flourish, offering convenient shopping access and take and make kits that customers had previously created at in-person workshops.

400 Rustic Station has grown loyal clientele well beyond their beloved Whittemore community, reaching many other Iowa communities and making it a destination shopping experience. Shoppers are assured unique, affordable, and custom-crafted décor to fit any style, budget, and season! Kim continues to grow and diversify the products and services, and through her participation in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Iowa program this past winter (as referred by the Tietz Entrepreneurial Center), she has honed her business skills focusing on metrics and goals, and the styles and trends most desired by clients.

Transitioning from a successful cosmetology career to owning a creative home décor business, Kim continues to learn valuable business lessons, and she is humbled by the outpouring of support she receives from her family, community, customers, and network of business peers gained through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Iowa program. Each day Kim and her staff at 400 Rustic Station get to fulfill their life-long joy of creativity and helping people style their spaces with beautiful and uniquely crafted home furnishings.

Check out 400 Rustic Station in Whittemore or online at www.400-rs-home-design.myshopify.com/.