In Business of Home ’s series Shop Talk , we chat with owners of home furnishings stores across the country to hear about their hard-won lessons and challenges, big and small. This week, we spoke with Amanda McClements of Washington, D.C.’s Salt & Sundry .

At the time of our chat, President Trump had recently deployed the National Guard to the nation’s capital, and McClements described the surreal sense of doing business in such a moment: “You see these memes on Instagram, like, ‘Hi, the world is burning. Buy my candles?’ You start to question what you’re doing, and how you’re contributing to your community.” Ironically, she first got into retail to escape politics, after a stint as a journalist. Ahead, she shares more about her journey, which has included three shops, a change-up

See Full Page