Two Ansonian moms to open boutique in Wadesboro

WADESBORO — Two Ansonian moms and full-time employees are set to add business entrepreneurs to their resumes as they patiently await opening day of their first boutique.

What started out as just a joking conversation ended up becoming a reality for Brittany Smith Powell and Hailey Brock Howell, the new owners of Willow & Vine. The best friend duo first found an interest in this line of business while buying clothes for their kids. They decided to try selling kids clothes as a business and, in just one day in May, the two filled out paperwork and received their business tax ID and thus Willow & Vine was born.

Receiving the tax ID was the easy part. Coming up with a name presented a challenge, Powell said, because they needed to find something that they want to be on everything that represented their business. They settled on a subtle reference to the co-owners’ children.

“Willow and Vine is named after our daughters,” Howell said. “Willow is Johnsie’s birth tree and Vine is Stella’s.”

With the name chosen, the women started with selling children’s clothes online, and then it quickly grew to include women’s apparel. Since starting in May, the pair have already shipped clothes out to customers in California, West Virginia and Ohio.

“We honestly thought the address was wrong when we went to ship it,” Howell laughed. “I messaged her and said ‘Hey! Is your address right?’ and she responded that she was from California!”

Now, Powell and Howell are set to open their store the first week of October.

The search for the perfect location took weeks, almost leading the two to open in South Carolina. But both Powell and Howell knew they wanted to open up in Anson County, their home.

The store, located at 502 East Caswell St., was not move-in ready initially. The carpets were dirty, drop ceilings made it look like an office space and the green and gray coloring was not the ideal color palette for a boutique.

But Howell explained her vision to Powell and together they knew this was the spot.

The mellow pink and white walls now bring in comfort. Wood furniture and wood ceilings, which they discovered while remodeling, gives the space a rustic chic style, offering an escape from the busy road outside. There will be dressing rooms in the back, chairs, vines and soft music to make one feel comfortable while shopping.

“Our goal for this is for people to come in and forget that we don’t have a Walmart or a Goodies, ” Powell said. “We want them to come here and have an experience.”

They don’t want people thinking they are going to “the old Johnson Insurance building,” they want people to know they’re going to Willow & Vine.

While putting together the decor, Powell and Howell discussed their visions of continued growth. There will eventually be a men’s section, pushed by both of their husbands, and more contracts with vendors, allowing the two to offer more clothing options.

“We essentially want Wadesboro to be our home store,” Howell said. “But our main goal is to branch off and have stores in other counties in the long run.”

That long term goal will most likely coincide with the two leaving their current full-time jobs as a nurse and social worker. Even though they both love their jobs, they see this business becoming a full-time gig, especially after experiencing COVID-19 taking away the joy of being a nurse.

“We want to be that face (of the business), we want to be present,” Powell said. “When you walk in, you will see one of us — if not both of us — at all times.”

Instead of relying on pop-up shops to interact with customers, they can now do that at the permanent store which they said will help them get a better understanding of what to order and allow them to build relationships. For them, it is about those connections that will set them apart. With everything they do, they emphasize it being from their family to the family of their customers.

They pick up on each other’s needs, just like the two finish each other’s sentences. If one is busy with her job or her kid, the other will pick up the slack, allowing them both to be able to juggle working, being a mom and running a business.

The most likely hours for Willow & Vine will be Tuesday through Thursday 4 to 8 or 8:30 p.m., Friday will be 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday will be open all day, according to Powell and Howell.

“We’re excited to be here, not only because it is our hometown, but we think they are doing a wonderful job of redoing and adding businesses and we want to be part of that,” Howell said. “We want something for the people of Anson County to be proud of too.”