C.S. Post featured in Better Homes and Gardens
from the Salina Journal

C.S. Post might be an old-fashioned general store, but it has attracted the attention of several modern magazines.

The store, located in downtown Hays, is featured in the October issue of Better Homes and Gardens, on sale last week.  The story (on page 78) not only praises this "emporium of fine goods," but is even more impressed with the variety of merchandise that can be ordered through the store's Web site at www.cspost.com. 

"The editor loved the photos she saw on our Web site and wanted us to send more," said Chuck Comeau, who co-owns C.S. Post with this wife, Shirley, and a second store in Plainville called Pineapple Post.  The store also carries a variety of unique kitchen and bath products, candles, soaps and body powders, picture frames and mirrors, plants and garden accessories, cookware and a wide array of rings, necklaces and bracelets.

Chuck Comeau designs upscale furniture, including chairs, benches, tables, ottomans and sofas.  Dessin Fournir, Palmer Hargrave, Girard, and Classic Cloth are all Plainville-based businesses owned by the Comeaus.

"We try to cultivate a lifestyle with our merchandise, and many products we offer are hard to find," Chuck Comeau said.

The Web site not only impressed Better Homes and Gardens, but similar magazines such as Homestyle, Victoria, Country Living and Country Home.

"We send out press kits to magazines all the time," Chuck Comeau said.  "Then they might call and say they're doing an article on bed linens or upholstery covers, and they'll ask if we can send them samples to photograph.  The editor at Better Homes and Gardens loved our upholstery and wanted to see more.

"Our Web site is so important because it allows everyone anywhere to access our store.  When they see what we provide--interesting products and good service--they pay attention."

Chuck Comeau feels fortunate to be featured in Better Homes and Gardens.  The magazine has a circulation of 7.8 million and is available at newsstands and grocery stores nationwide.  The increasing magazine coverage, along with a story published in the July 26 edition of the Salina Journal, has steadily increased the Web site activity, he said.

"People are spending more time on the site--there have been 8,000 visitors who have spent more than 15 minutes on it," he said.  "Interestingly, many of these hits originate from the coasts.  I know we ship a lot of merchandise to both coasts."

Chuck Comeau believes many people from the East and West coasts are enamored of Kansas and its people.

"They think it's a luxury the way we live here," he said.  "There have been New York editors who have come here, looked at the sky and didn't see tall buildings for the first time.  They were blown away by it."

Chuck Comeau credits his staff and buying team for helping make the store a success and said he would never move the store anywhere else.

"We have a team here that has great ideas and a great sense of the aesthetic, and after two years, it's starting to take hold in other places,"  he said.  "Shirley and I travel and buy things from all over the world, and we ship to markets from Paris to L.A.  Many metropolitan areas don't carry the products we have, so this is where we want to stay."