HGTV star Mina Starsiak Hawk recently revealed that her Indianapolis-based home goods store, Two Chicks District Co., would close. However, she’s already planning its next chapter.
On Wednesday, Starsiak Hawk posted a clip of herself on Instagram with the accompanying caption/video summary of her statement: “I have some very exciting news and I am so grateful to everyone. While D|Co in its current form, is ending, I do have very, very exciting news.
“We are going to be relocating! An amazing opportunity came up, still in Indiana, just not downtown, and it was really too good to pass up. You will still be able to have a brick and mortar that you can come visit in Indiana, and we will still have our online store presence.”
She added, “There will be a bit of a lag while we’re getting everything moved over and going through this transition. We’re still closing the end of this year on December 31st. Then, we’ll be reopening in early 2024.
“So again, thank you so much for supporting Two Chicks District Co as long as you have, and please have some patience with us while we go into this next new chapter. So thank you for your support and shop the sale. It’s no longer a closing sale, but it’s a moving sale. It’s just me and my very, very small but mighty team and we do not want to move anything,” Starsiak Hawk added.
“We want to start fresh and it’s gonna be beautiful and we want you to buy all the things. So shop the sales now, they’re really, really good. It’s the best they’re gonna get. I’m super excited to close out 2023 with you and start fresh in 2024!”
Starsiak Hawk announced in October that Two Chicks District Co. would close at the end of 2023. “It’s been super challenging,” she told PEOPLE of her struggles making a profit while running the popular tourist attraction, which opened in 2020. “You have these amazing people that are traveling to the store and say, ‘We wanted to come, we wanted to see it. We want to support you.’ And then they buy a $2 keychain.”
In her estimate, at least 85 percent of the store’s visitors were not from Indiana and were drawn to the store by her show Good Bones, which just ended. It was “self-sustaining,” she said about the shop, but was “not in a great place.” For her and her husband Steve, with whom she shares two children, Jack, 5, and Charlie, 3, the decision was “super emotional.”
“When I first came home and told him this is what I want to do, he said, ‘Absolutely not. You’re not closing the store. You love the store. It’s your passion,'” she said. “I was like, ‘It’s not my passion anymore. It’s not bringing anyone joy. It’s not doing any of the things that I wanted it to do, so we’re not doing it anymore.'”
In the midst of this difficult situation, Starsiak Hawk soon found a “light at the end of the tunnel” when she was contacted by a man from Noblesville, Indiana, an area about 30 miles from Indianapolis, who wanted to collaborate with her on projects for his city. “He has businesses there, and he was like, ‘What can we do to get you to Noblesville?'” she said. “Is there a show to base out of here?”
“I mean, [Good Bones] was a giant commercial for Indianapolis, which was amazing,” says Starsiak Hawk, who, in 2007, co-founded remodeling company Two Chicks and a Hammer with her mother, Karen E. Laine, in the state. “I guess his thought was having Two Chicks and a Hammer in the neighborhood is good for the businesses,” she adds.
In Noblesville, Starsiak Hawk was “very nice” to feel wanted. She began learning more about the area and called her husband after attending a State of the City meeting. “I was like, ‘We can move to Noblesville now. I’m sold,'” she recalls. Her store will reopen in Noblesville next year, and she has already started looking at homes to renovate.
Starsiak Hawk also met with the mayor, Chris Jen, and was impressed with his redevelopment plans, which are “super respectful of the historic downtown.” She even included a quote from him to close out her Instagram post, writing, “As our population continues to grow, we see more and more people decide to live, work and play in our community. We’re excited to have Mina be a part of our Noblesville family.”
She told PEOPLE, “Finding this place that really wants us to come and is making it comfortable and welcoming and easy to come to feels kind of like a nice fresh start.”