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Getting off on the right foot: Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats opens in Shepherdstown

By Staff | Apr 12, 2019

The entrance to Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats is located in the back of the first floor at 121 West German Street. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Visitors to Shepherdstown’s newest apparel shop, Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats, may be pleasantly surprised with an elegant shopping experience. While many customer-friendly shopping experiences have fallen by the wayside in favor of the quick shopping experience, this new business celebrates the joy of shopping, with tasteful displays of quality, reasonably-priced shoes and hats filling the room.

Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats Owner Honor Thomas takes her standard to another level, as she serves her visitors fresh cups of English tea in bone china tea cups and helps her customers slip into each pair of shoes.

According to Thomas, this quality experience is due to a lifetime in the service industry, including a few years employed at Nordstrom.

“I really like the idea of a salon, where you sit, relax, have some tea, try on some shoes, try on a hat. When we get to know each other and grow intimate and cozy,” Thomas said, mentioning her shop fills a gap in Shepherdstown’s shopping opportunities. None of the other shops in town are primarily shoe and hat shops.

“All of the shop owners have been very supportive, they’ve given out my cards to their customers. Shepherdstown has been very nice,” Thomas said, mentioning she and her husband moved from Charleston to Martinsburg last year, after her husband’s restaurant was sold. The couple is currently looking for a permanent home in Shepherdstown, and Thomas’ husband also plans to open a restaurant in town.

Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats offers a selection of reasonably-priced, high-quality footwear and hats. Tabitha Johnston

“Our oldest daughter came to school here and didn’t have a car, so we would drive back and forth to see her, and we fell in love with Shepherdstown,” Thomas said. “The restaurant was bringing us down, so we sold it and moved here in June, and decided to make a new life. I’m never moving again.

“This store has been my dream forever and ever, to have a shoe and hat salon,” Thomas said. “I really wasn’t going to do this so soon, but my husband saw the ‘for rent’ sign and had an appointment, unbeknownst to me, and said ‘I’ve found your place.’ I said, ‘I don’t know,’ but he’s the one who pushed me to do it.”

Thomas originally opened the shop with the idea of only offering items for women, but she soon realized there was a need to provide quality hats for men as well. She is regularly getting new products in, and is more than willing to work with customers to find the right shoes and hats for them.

The store will sell Eric Javits hats for men and women, which are SPF 50 and can be hand-trimmed to suit a variety of tastes. Thomas’ shoe selection for women is in the $100-$200 range, featuring shoes ranging from Vaneli sneakers to Bernardo sandals. Visitors can also find a colorful selection of vintage costume jewelry, steering wheel covers, sheepskin plush rams and hand-painted rugs in the shop.

For more information, call 304-539-3236, email honordthomas@gmail.com or visit the business at 121 West German Street.

Honor Thomas sells hand-trimmed, one-of-a-kind hats with SPF 50 sun protection. While she originally only offered women's hats, she will soon be offering a selection of men's hats, as well. Tabitha Johnston

Honor Thomas holds an unexpected item which she sells in honor of Shepherd University's mascot, a white ram made out of sheepskin. Tabitha Johnston