We had the good fortune of connecting with Kendall Linderman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kendall, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
In 2019, I had a stirring in me to pursue something I was passionate about. My husband and I had collected vintage furniture since early in our marriage. Friends and family would often ask us to source furniture for them, and we thought, “Maybe this could be a business?!” So we asked our friends, Ashley and Micah Bentley, if they wanted start up a vintage furniture side hustle with us in our garage in the middle of the Arizona summer, and they accepted! We started with $500 each couple, bought as many pieces of furniture that we could, and I started an Instagram, @moddesert. We were very intentional with the posing and staging of each piece, making sure they looked like they could be INSIDE your home. We have always kept our prices fair because it’s been our passion to have quality vintage pieces that everyone can afford.

What should our readers know about your business?
Mod Desert has always been a business focused on the client. Every piece of furniture is rare, unique, and has a story- it’s lived a life of 40-80 years! Mod wants to continue that story through the lives of our customers, so we strive to give them as much history we can discover about each piece: the maker, when it was made, where it came from, how we received the item, etc. We pick things that we love, and that love is shared to our customers. We have become friends with many of our followers, and enjoy interacting with everyone.

After Covid, we could no longer manage the store from my home and we decided to get a brick and mortar store. We knew there would be risk involved, as having a building means lots of overhead costs, more time invested, and pressure to have an entire store filled with product! But we took the leap and opened in Winter 2020. We still mainly focused on online sales, but were able to be open one day a week to the public since Ashley and I were still stay at home mothers. This model was successful for several years! In May 2023, we had the opportunity to move to Historic Downtown Glendale, which had always been a dream, and we joined up with Matt Young with Cactus VHS, a vintage clothing store, to do so! There is always a ton of risk and work, physical, emotional, financial, when moving, but we feel settled in!

Mod Desert is a store that really focuses on sharing things that are loved, and everyone really receives that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So let’s keep it West valley! I would start our day at coffee at Driftwood Coffee in Old Town Peoria and if the weather was nice, I would INSIST we grab some Pearly’s Dinner across the street (a new food truck). Then if it’s a Saturday and hit up one of the many local farmers markets, and make the drive down Grand Ave to Downtown Glendale to show them around! There’s so many shops to explore on 58th avenue and Glendale, and unique drinking and dining options. Then in the evenings I would go to Easy Tiger Bar in Glendale, for some unique bar food and delicious cocktails!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to thank my co-owner and dearest friend, Ashley Bentley! I don’t have words to what she means to me inside and out of our business, and is definitely the sister I never had. Her husband, Micah, has also played major roles in keeping Mod Desert going, and I adore their entire family. Of course my husband, Gavin Linderman. He pushes me to work hard, never give up, and keep focus. He played a very active role in the business at the beginning, and still helps when he has the time!
My church, Axiom, that has supported my business from beginning to present ( five years now!) in so many ways. By making purchases, giving encouragement, or visiting me at work, so many folks have shown me love from Axiom.

Instagram: ModDesert

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