Tom and Anne Connor were a busy working couple spending too much time in their car battling Dallas’ infamous rush-hour traffic. The decision to move to Colorado came easy for them. “We’d been coming to Colorado for vacation and everytime we came, we said we have to figure out a way to live here,” Anne said. The Connors made a list of towns in Colorado that had businesses for sale. “Telluride was at the top of our list,” Anne said. “We had this picture of us at the top of Bridal Veil, it was a special place for us. We looked all over Colorado and Telluride just seemed right.”

The day the Connors called a real estate agent in Telluride was the day Dakota Home Furnishings came up for sale, so they purchased it. After talking to customers at Dakota about the need for high-end kitchen items, the Connors started envisioning a kitchen supply store with the upscale flavor of national retailers such as Williams-Sonoma and Chef. “We saw a need not being filled in town,” Tom said. “We got an overwhelming response from our customers at Dakota. We took a list of ideas they gave us and went to market.” Panhandler opened last August with an impressive array of kitchen gadgets, cookware and gourmet foods. “The store has evolved as people come in and give us more ideas,” Tom said. “It’s become not our store but Telluride’s store.” Before they became owners of two successful businesses, Tom Connor was working as a buyer for Macy’s and a regional sales manager for Guess Jeans and Anne was a x-ray tech. But Tom had always wanted to own a business. “I had retail and wholesale experience, and access to the best retail people in the country,” Tom said. “The only experience I had was in shopping,” Anne said. But good taste is just as valuable as experience and Anne and Tom share a keen-eye for what customers will like. “We’re drawn to the same things, we have similar taste,” Anne said.

“We basically get what we like and hope everyone else likes it,” Tom said. They also study the latest trends. They watch the Food Network, subscribe to all major cooking magazines and pick up tips at trade shows. They also spend a lot of time perusing on-line shopping sites and catalogs to ensure they keep the same prices as major retailers. “We love what we do,” Anne said. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t do it.” The Connors said they don’t miss much about the city. They get their city fix when they go to market three or four times a year. “We’re always ready to come back though,” Anne said. “We love the outdoors, and how Telluride inspires us to go outside.” They don’t miss their old jobs much either. “I miss the people I used to work with,” Anne said. “But I have customers now rather than patients.” The couple’s two golden retrievers can come to work with them now and time that used be spent in traffic is now spent on the slopes.