Established in 1972, The Hall Tree has become one of the most exciting enterprises in the fashion-conscious Carytown area. While owner Joan (pronounced Jo-an) Williams never envisioned an operation quite so large, the idea for a clothing consignment store occurred to her long before The Hall Tree came into existence. The seeds for the business were planted when she was a teenager living with her family in Frankfort, KY.
"I always had a passion for clothes. When I was in high school in the 1940s, clothes were very stylish and I was sewing constantly and working to buy more clothes," she recalled. "But I really owe a lot of my early appreciation for expensive, good-looking clothes to my aunt, Fannie Melton."
"She lived in Washington, and since she could afford all the best designer clothes, each season she would send a huge box of marvelous things her daughters had outgrown to me and my sister. They were all last year's clothes, but still in perfect condition, and we treasured them. Years later my respect for good clothes became the basis for my business."
Williams' pickiness may cause consternation for those bringing in the clothes, but it has won her the loyalty of shoppers such as Carol Misenheimer.
"I've been shopping here since 1982," she said. "I absolutely love it. The appraisers take only next-to-new, stylish clothes. That is why I shop at The Hall Tree, because I love buying quality clothes."
Another longtime customer, Jane Paden, admits to being won over by what Williams calls pickiness.
"I used to travel to New York and Washington, DC for my clothes. But The Hall Tree has been, for the past eight years, my favorite stash for clothes I can only get in New York and Washington. It is my Madison Avenue. It is like a favorite restaurant."
For Paden it is Williams' good taste in selecting clohes that brings her back again and again. "Joan won't take just anything. It has to be in style and in good shape."
Paden regards The Hall Tree as one of the undiscovered jewels of Carytown.
