Our Story

 

Terra Verde is a 30 year old clothing and lifestyle boutique located in the heart of Downtown Colorado Springs owned by Leah Fitzgerald Riehl and Carrie Hibbard. We offer trendy women’s clothing, jewelry, handbags, accessories, home décor and gifts. Our goal is to create an experience that is more than just about the products we sell. We want our store to be full of community, fun, inclusive, and hope every customer walks out feeling better than when they came in. 

Carrie and Leah bought the store from previous owner Chris Sondermann in January of 2020. While we have faced many difficulties and hard decisions through the Covid-19 Pandemic, we have succeeded because of the strong loyalty from our customers and community. 

 

The following is from an article written in The Gazette on Feb 20, 2020: 

"A popular downtown Colorado Springs retailer has changed hands, but hasn’t changed the way it will do business. Sondermann founded Terra Verde in 1992 with her then-husband and became sole owner in 2007. She began considering retirement a few years ago, but said she didn’t want to close the business. Instead, she sought a new owner who’d be loyal to customers, the downtown community and the store’s staff, which includes more than 20 personal stylists and sales associates. In 2016, Sondermann approached Hibbard and Riehl, who immediately were interested in buying Terra Verde. “I didn’t have to look very far,” Sondermann said. “Right in my own backyard were Leah and Carrie. They had the perfect complementary skill set. From the very initial presentation of the idea, they were so positive and the thought of just closing, really, there wasn’t room to entertain that.”

Riehl, a Colorado Springs native, worked at Terra Verde as a summer intern in 2011, graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor’s degree in fashion and merchandising and then joined Terra Verde full time. She was promoted to store manager in 2016.

Hibbard a fifth-generation Springs resident, is part of a downtown retail legacy. She’s a descendant of the family that founded the Hibbard & Co. department store, which operated on Tejon for more than a century before closing in 1996. She worked 12 years for Starbucks, training employees and traveling around the country to open new stores. Baker also was a business manager for Picnic Basket Catering in the Springs before she joined Terra Verde as financial officer in 2016."