Circle Y Home and Ranch wants to meet residents in the middle

On Wednesday, Rench sat down in the back of the store to talk about the trial-and-error of competing in a complicated market in Wyoming’s capital city.

“The community – the people – I think they come in, and they just are so shocked that a store like this is here,” Rench said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, this should be in Fort Collins,’ or, ‘Oh, this should be in Laramie.’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’s here.’

“We’re going to try to make it and have it be here.”

Rench is a major proponent of downtown community pride. Having grown up in Cheyenne, worked ranches in Cody and Fremont County, and been a small business owner in Arizona, she returned to her hometown and disappointedly observed that little had changed.

This is particularly true, in her opinion, when it comes to the lack of local presence on 15th Street. With multiple buildings abandoned or without any specific use, only a handful of storefronts facing the Union Pacific railroad tracks are operational.

In Circle Y, there’s a variety of amenities, like candles and desktop decorations, that are intended to make a house feel like a home – for a more affordable price.

The hope is that her approach will drive more business downtown and help change residents’ perception of the city.

“(Other stores) are very expensive (with) their prices. I think that people work hard; they reap what they sow,” Rench said. “I want to meet people in the middle, because it’s not just wealthy people that live here in Cheyenne. There’s a variety of people.

“I want a variety people to come to our store, and I want the prices to meet (them) where they’re at.”

With other well-established home stores in the downtown area, Rench had to make sure that Circle Y was offering something slightly different to the community. Where Rench said other stores in the area specifically go for a “Western style,” she’s looking to make the contents of the store reflect her own personal taste – which is decidedly not Western.

One reason Rench pursued a different style is because she doesn’t see 15th Street really as a hub of “Western” culture. In more recent – and prevalent – history, 15th Street was the first place that railroad workers flocked to when their shifts ended, and it is this crowd of blue-collar residents that she’d like to cater to.

Household goods, as she sees it, are a collection of modern farmhouse decor that contribute to a “cozy feel” more than anything else.

“There’s a lot of hardworking folk that come here that love it,” she said. “Even the out-of-state people find it to be a very homey, comforting, warm place that they like to call home, and that’s exactly my mantra.”