SIDNEY — There’s a familiar face with a new name in the Shelby County real estate market.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty has opened a satellite franchise office in Sidney and Sandi Shipman has joined the company as an agent. The new office is at 110 E. Poplar St. in the Murphy on the Square building.

“My father-in-law had Shipman Realty. I started selling real estate 20 years ago. For me, it has been the perfect job,” she said recently. Because house buyers tend to look at houses in the evenings, Shipman was able to be at home as her children grew. She and her husband, Mark, were “spouses selling houses” for many years. Now, she is “wild about real estate.”

“Berkshire Hathaway was the perfect opportunity to expand my market. A big plus in Berkshire Hathaway is services they offer, the training,” Shipman said.

Her new office is decorated in leopard print knickknacks — and Slinkys.

Shipman recounted that she and her brother had visited the Murphy store when they were little. They opened boxes of Slinkys they had not purchased and were caught playing with them on the steps to the store’s basement.

“Busted,” Shipman laughed. The incident became a joke between the siblings into adulthood. When Shipman would talk to her brother, who had moved out of town, he’d say, “I’m coming for a visit. Let’s play Slinky.”

Now, the Realtor walks down those same steps to her office every day.

“I told my brother, ‘Next time you come home, we can play Slinky,’” she said. “When I come in here, it’s pride of knowing that I have childhood memories here. Berkshire Hathaway is a franchise, but it’s hometown Realtors.”

The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise is owned by David Mussari, of West Chester. He also has 25 offices across Ohio.

“We’ve worked really hard to have a statewide footprint,” he said. “Sidney is a market we’ve been looking at for a couple of years. WE have an office in Troy and one in New Bremen. We’re expending up the I-75 corridor. When we go to a market, we identify agents to come aboard. Sandi really was the catalyst. We came to Sidney to be able to better service clients in Sidney.”

Jeff Apple, who is based in the Troy office, is the regional manager for Sidney. Vanessa Gosorn is the business coordinator and a Realtor. Clay Wildermuth is a sales associate.

Shipman has seen technology radically change the way people buy and sell houses. The Internet allows buyers to shop nationwide. Virtual tours are commonplace. But, Shipman said, the goal is the same: 100 percent customer service to customers.

The new firm will celebrate its opening with a ribbon-cutting, Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m. and a Business after Hours reception for Sidney/Shelby County Chamber of Commerce members.