Photo by Wing Ta
Heather and Brad Fox have it all going on, and neither a pandemic nor an early winter are slowing them down. Realtors and designers with their real estate and renovation company Fox Homes, the couple with two young kids are also the HGTV stars of “Should I Stay or Go” and owners of Foxwell, a new home décor shop in Edina. They also recently purchased a new home, which—of course—they’re renovating themselves. Midwest Home featured the duo in our Jan/Feb 2020 issue, and Heather found a few free minutes to catch us up on how the Fox family has been doing since.
Midwest Home: How are you, your family, and your businesses faring?
Heather: Honestly, things are going well. There was a time in early March when we wondered what might happen. Would our business survive? Fox Homes has a lot of employees, and we wondered how we would keep them all employed and what that would look like. We had many sleepless nights. Strangely enough, all of the businesses we’re involved in grew and continued to be busy. This summer, the real estate business was actually nuts—one of the strongest summers I’ve seen. On the renovation side, well, everyone wants to do projects, which is awesome, amazing, and extra challenging because, of course, they’re living in their homes during these projects. It’s been a year! We did not expect our businesses to grow in 2020, that’s for dang sure.
What about your new shop, Foxwell?
We were hoping to open in April, but that didn’t happen. We opened mid-June and were pleasantly surprised. We worked at having a good, approachable price point for our well-made, artisan products. As a result, everyone who comes in can find something that fits into their home. We have a good blend of comfortable modern. In fact, the store is going so well, we’ve been talking about the potential of slowly and very conscientiously opening a second location.
What are your best sellers?
We’ve been laughing about how we’ve become a candle and pillow store. Everyone seems to walk out with one or the other, both of which are warm and comforting. People are in their homes so much now that something as simple as changing a pillow can freshen their home décor. And having a new scent in the home engages the senses and make your whole home smell amazing. It’s a little early, but we’re already heavily into the balsam and cedar realm.
Tell us a bit about your new house.
Brad and I joked we would never move, but then we found this strangely incredible house just up the street. It’s a 1980s contemporary, and not in a good way [laughs]. It was used a lot for entertaining. The kitchen, oddly, is completely closed off in a back corner, and the bedroom on the main level has two baths and two closets and an office inside of it. Opening it up has been a challenge, but that will make the finished remodel more rewarding. We’re excited to see it all come together in 2021, because it’s one of the weirdest houses we’ve ever seen.
Are you working on a new show with HGTV?
Our show is airing right now on Saturdays at 7 p.m. CST through November. If [HGTV] wants another season, we’re excited to do one. Right now, we’re enjoying a bit of down time from filming as we work on all of our other businesses.
