Renee Barfoot is the Moss Haven Mom behind the Re:vive Foundation. (We wrote about her last year when she teamed up with some Moss Haven daughters to help neighborhood families in need.) And now, she’s one half of the new venture Maidee’s.
Maidee Shirah is the name of Barfoot’s late great-grandmother, whom she called “Mima” (Mee-maw). “She was from south Georgia, a sweet Southern lady that loved antique stuff and always had a brooch or what she called ‘ear bobs’ on,” Barfoot says.
Barfoot always dreamed of opening her own gift shop, and recently she and her cousin, Kristi Randle from Nacodoches, decided to go for it. Their focus is vintage gift items and antiques, and the name Maidee’s seemed to fit perfectly, Barfoot says — “it sounded little a little timey boutique in a small town somewhere.” They decided that “if Mima would like it, then we can carry it,” she says, “upscale-type products that a small-town Southern girl could appreciate and afford.”
The cousins had planned to open a storefront in Lake Highlands, but at the beginning of the summer, their investment fell through. So for now, the storefront has morphed into craft shows and an online boutique. The website is live but still under construction — a note at the top promises it will be up soon and states: “Girl, you caught us with our britches down!” Barfoot says the website will be a place to preview Maidee’s items until their first show, which will be Market in the Meadow on Oct.15-16.
Barfoot says that “there has to be a nonprofit piece” to Maidee’s, and once it becomes a storefront, she and Randle plan to create “Lawson’s Wall of Hope,” named for Maidee’s husband and dedicated to letting customers support their favorite charities. Some version of this will be part of the craft shows, too, Barfoot says, not to mention that she’s still going strong with Re:vive. Her current effort, which launches this week, is collecting State Fair tickets and coupons for neighborhood mothers and their children who are victims of domestic abuse. It’s called “Fair-y Godmothers,” and if you have any to donate, just contact her.
