hen owners Judy and Bob Collins met, while summering on Cape Cod with their families over thirty years ago, it was love at first sight. Maybe the romantic natural setting of the Cape had something to do with it. Or maybe they saw in each other the complimentary ideals, lifestyles, visions, and principles that would later bless them with a loving marriage, wonderful family, and a highly successful business. "We promised ourselves that we would live on the Cape and raise our family here", Bob says, "and that dream came true".
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 Judy used her artistic background and began Peach Tree Designs in 1978 with her friend, Debbie Binig, as a wholesale decorative painting business that was based out of Judy’s home. The wholesale business thrived with their hand painted items selling in such magazines as Orvis and Neiman Marcus. Needless to say, Judy’s home was bursting at the seams. So when her son Troy came home from school one day and asked, "Mom, when you’re a Grandma, are you still gonna do Peach Tree?", Judy knew it was time to move the business out of the house and down the street to Barnstable Village.
By the early 1980’s, Peach Tree Designs had evolved into an impressive home retail decorating business, Judy’s partner had retired, Bob had come on board, and the Collins’ had begun their very successful enterprise. Bob’s background in sales, and knowledge of antiques and reproduction furniture, was a huge asset to the rapidly expanding business.
Over the past twenty-five years, Peach Tree Designs has branched out of Barnstable Village, with successful store locations on Main Street in Falmouth and Mashpee Commons in Mashpee. But they finally settled on an historic 19th-century Victorian house on Route 6A in Yarmouthport, as well as bustling downtown Fifth Avenue South in Naples, Florida. Ten years ago, their daughter Stacie helped open the Naples location (which has since doubled in size), so it is truly a family affair.
Nothing about the store suggests haste or "good enough". Everything is done with an eye to perfection. Prints are hung with art gallery precision; great attention is given to lighting; displays are immaculate; merchandise is carefully handpicked with style and quality in mind. Essentially, the Peach Tree principle is the "how" of putting furniture and accessories together. Judy refers to the impeccably arranged displays in the stores as “vignettes”. The eclectic mix and juxtaposition of the vignettes are so clever that each appears to be a theater set. "Bob and I are sticklers for details", says Judy. "We want our customers to look at a display and visualize how it would transfer to their home".
Customers appreciate their attention to detail, and over the years the business has grown from strictly retail to retail and interior decorating. Kathleen Crockett, who has been with Peach Tree for nearly twenty loyal years and manages the store in Yarmouthport, collaborates with Judy on interior decorating projects up north. While Ann Hoffman heads that division in Naples. Jobs can range from consultation regarding furniture placement to complete home decorating and installations.
An extremely loyal staff, consistent selection of unusual merchandise, and reliable quality and service, are all testaments to over twenty-five years of success. Judy and Bob appreciate that people come to shop at Peach Tree, but they also love that they come to their store to enjoy their vignettes and to gather decorating ideas. That refreshing attitude has cultivated a loyal following. The Peach Tree “family” has created a welcoming home design environment where people come to shop and visit. |
