Au Revoir, Belle Hall

Five years ago, we opened our store at Belle Hall with a lot of excitement and a healthy dose of fear. I was hoping that my vision of a store carrying mostly European products tailored to the Southern woman and her home would be welcomed in the Lowcountry. Our tag line: Lavender Hill Designs, Where European Chic Meets Southern Style. But would the customers like it?

In no time at all, we found that they did! We constantly heard how much customers love our store because it was so different from anything else in the area. We also heard how much they love the spa-like calm and peaceful feeling of shopping in the store. Some said the ambiance was like being in Europe for a short period of time. Each and every comment struck such a cord with me because it was exactly the atmosphere I had hoped to create. We had so much fun traveling to Europe and bringing home so many wonderful products for our discerning customers that work felt like a hobby instead of a job!

There was so much laughter and so many fun times with our customers during our time in Belle Hall, and we really felt like many of our regulars became more like wonderful friends than customers. While we enjoyed our time in Belle Hall, when our lease was coming up, we started looking around for another location. Belle Hall was great when we first opened, but we were now realizing that it was not the direction that we were wanting to go in. I had visions of an even more European feel to the store, in a more intimate setting. Did this unicorn of a place exist? Would our loyal customers and friends like it? Only time would tell!

I took one last look around our store at Belle Hall, and, like the final scene from Friends, laid my keys down on the ledge of my office and headed for the door one last time. With a final glance over my shoulder, thinking about the many wonderful memories made, I turned and headed out the door toward a wonderful new adventure.

To Be Continued…

-Tracey