Nomenclature is the manner in which names are assigned. We collect names and titles and then we reveal the story behind that name.
When I was six years old I had a shop in my grandparents’ garage. They had a penny farthing bicycle stashed in a corner, some old shelves they had pulled out of the barn before they moved to town and a plethora of magical bibs and bobs whose usefulness had long since expired.
I spent hours in the shady cool room, loving the smell of old, playing restaurant with the mortar and pestle, moving the “stock” around to impress grandparents, Marg and Cam when they inevitably came to pull me out of the magic and drag me to lunch.
Having spent years working for others I had almost forgotten my childhood desire to be the shop lady. The grim reality of all the vintage clothing and antique goodness I had accumulated over time was my wake up call. How could I not find homes for all the treasure I had saved from certain doom? Fate agreed and the hunt for a location was on.
The naming of a business is tricky. Success or failure can be yours simply based on whatever title you assign to your endeavour. Would I still be open or have two shops if we had named it “stuff and junk”? I think not. I had married a few years prior to opening the shop and gave up my fine Scottish surname for something a little more obscure – Huizenga. I have made peace with this decision all these years later as Mrs. Huizenga is the perfect name for my shops.
Mrs. Huizenga is one of those names you can’t quite pin down. Is it Japanese? Spanish? It is in fact Dutch, Frisian if we are splitting hairs.
I recall first hearing the name and immediately picturing some wonderful gypsy woman who would come to your house and teach you to play piano. A woman of tinkling jewellery and embroidered skirts who smelled faintly of cedar and wasn’t ever angry that you hadn’t practised enough. I always hope that others make up their own character for the name, that there are thousands of imaginary Mrs. H’s running around in people’s heads making them laugh.
The fact that you would never pick me out of a line up as being Mrs. Huizenga also has a certain charm, but I am a Mrs. Huizenga for modern times. You can prove it to yourself if you come for a visit…
- Catherine Huizenga, Owner of Mrs. Huizenga
