Annie Hilliard didn’t leave her dream for a business on the backburner but the name she gave it was placed there. Three months ago Annie launched The Backburner, a kitchenware consignment shop reports HometownAnnapolis.com.
“Who can really spend a fortune at William Sonoma right now?” Hilliard said. “We have high-end kitchen stores here, like William Sonoma and Sur La Table, but there wasn’t anything for a lower budget.”
The Backburner is tucked in the rear of a commercially zoned house on Bay Ridge Avenue, accessed from a gravel drive off of Chesapeake Avenue. Her share of the converted house is the old kitchen and dining room, which Hilliard thought was fitting.
On eclectic baker’s racks, cupboards and chrome shelves, Hilliard displays anything from the newlywed gift, never even removed from a box, to a set of retro cups and saucers with which the previous owner was ready to part.
Among the finds last week were a Professional Kitchen Aid Mixer, which might retail at $300, priced at $199, and a barely used stainless steel wok, usually about $80, that Hilliard is selling for $50.
Another unique aspect of the business is the selection of handmade aprons, sewn by Hilliard’s mother, that pair bold brightly colored prints and trims. The styles are similar to the retro-chic aprons available at Anthropologie, which tend to retail between $24 and $38, but Hilliard’s are either $18 or $28.
“It’s my hope that the store provides young and old a more cost-effective way of clearing their homes and finding kitchen and dining essentials,” she said.
Photo from The Backburner