Kelly Rhoades is documenting the entrepreneurial heartbeat of Meadville through her ongoing Facebook series, Meeting Meadville. Published weekly on her page, Kelly Rhoades Photography, the feature blends portraiture and conversation to highlight the individuals operating the city’s small businesses. The series has cultivated strong community engagement and visible support for Meadville’s business community.
This weeks spotlight features the owner of Hatch Hollow located at 945 Market St, Meadville.
Meeting Meadville with Kelly Rhoades
Week 19 of Meeting Meadville features the wonderfully creative Hatch Hollow! Heather Fish is the brilliant mind behind our local art store. Well, really it’s SO much more than just an art store. Heather has put together a delightful combination of art supply store, art gallery, and co-working space. It is evident that she has put in a lot of work to bring her vision to life and offer us all a welcoming space with a strong sense of community. Plus, how great is it that we have a dedicated place to buy our kids’ art supplies and gifts?!
Here is a glimpse into Hatch Hollow:
Tell us a little about your business!
“Hatch Hollow is a hub! We are an art supply retail store, a gallery space, a coworking & event space, and most recently kickstarted our incubator kitchen space hosting Cattail Cafe. On the first floor, in the retail space you could find a variety of drawing & painting supplies, books & craft kits, greeting cards & wrapping paper, school & office supply, resin, bookbinding & printmaking supplies, and most recently added: yarn and embroidery thread. The Cattail Cafe order window is located in our gallery space which has a new exhibition every 6-8 weeks. There’s always something new and we have several open-calls for artists throughout the year. The second floor is our coworking space. Our coworking community started in 2018 and we have around 30 remote workers as members. We have private offices, a conference room, kitchenettes, and a variety of shared workspaces for members. The 3rd floor is a ballroom that we are working to revitalize into a beautiful downtown event space. But that’s likely a few years of work ahead!”
What inspired you to start your business?
“When I first started working from home in 2017, I yearned for a focused space to get stuff done that could also foster a sense of community. In 2018 I opened a coworking space with about a dozen members and we have grown and expanded since then. Hatch Hollow opened in 2022 on Chestnut St with the inclusion of art supply and the gallery. I took the opportunity to purchase 945 Market St in Meadville in November 2024 and we opened here on January 31st. My goal is not only to expand our offerings and ways of building community, but to also steward our beautiful building. I love old buildings/homes and take a lot of pride in bringing spaces back to life. It benefits everyone.”
What is something that makes your business unique?
“What makes us unique is the variety of offerings we have at Hatch Hollow and that the community really is leading the ship here. Everything I do is fueled by the needs and desires of the Meadville community. You want certain type of pencil-I’ll order it; you want to show your artwork here- let’s schedule it; you want to try your hand at opening a cafe-try it here; you’re lonely working from home-come meet us!”
In your opinion, what is the best thing about Meadville?
“Meadville wants to see good things and deserves good things. It’s a place that has survived due to hard work and an everlasting belief in this place. People show up for each other & are willing to put in the work. I’m originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I chose to stay in Meadville after I graduated from Allegheny because it was the place with people I wanted to work with and work that I wanted to be apart of.”
Which Meadville business, aside from your own, is your favorite?
“You will always find me frequenting: The Meadville Market House , @Tattered Corners New & Used Bookstore , Blissful Meads , Taco Factory Mexican Cuisine , Fox’s Sew & Vac, Trolley Antiques -the list goes on & on. There’s so much to do and enjoy in Meadville.”
If you’re out and about downtown, be sure to stop in check it out!!
You can scroll through the visual story using the gallery below. You can also see the original post on Kelly Rhoades’ Facebook Page here. (Be sure to Like and leave a nice comment too!)
Kelly Rhoades is helping to Make Meadville through her work on this project. If you’d like to see Kelly’s full portfolio of work and book a session, go to her website at www.kellyrhoadesphotography.com
