The exterior of Eclectic’s Bless Your Heart home décor boutique recently got facelift.
The store is now outfitted with a new metal awning, a sign above the awning and a vinyl logo sticker on the window. It’s a step up from the wooden easel sign that sat outside of the business before.
The owners, Amy Hibbs and her mother Melanie Evans, said the improvements were definitely needed. Prior to the new signage, Evans said customers would often tell her they had a hard time finding the business.
“Eclectic has become a destination spot for a lot of women,” Hibbs added. “A lot of ladies like to come and hit all of the local shops on the weekends. We get a lot of out-of-towners and we needed to make it easier for people to find us.”
The vinyl sticker on the window bares the business’s slogan ‘décor for your southern home.’
“We felt that it was important for people to know who we are and what type of store this is now,” Hibbs said.
The building where the store is located used to look much different. Hibbs and Evans lease the 100-plus year old building from Sylvia Worley, the niece of George Johnson who operated a hardware store in the building for many years.
Three years ago, Hibbs and Evans transformed the space from a hardware store into a home décor boutique.
“When people come who remember the hardware store being here, they always comment on how different the space looks now,” Evans said. “We’ve heard so many wonderful stories about how it looked when it was a hardware store.”
In the three years that the business has been located on Main Street, there’s been tremendous growth. There’s been so much growth that Evans and Hibbs hired four employees this year.
“They’re so knowledgeable about home décor and they do a great job of keeping the store decorations up to date and fresh,” Evans said. “The store never looks picked over or sparse and that’s because of them.”
The ladies completely redecorate the store to fit every season and holiday. After Christmas, the store will go back to its normal décor before transitioning to spring.
They even host Daily Design videos on their social media platforms four times per week. They provide viewers with ‘how to’ tutorials that address topics like how to put together cohesive mantle and table designs and ideas on how to decorate between seasons and holidays.
Hibbs said social media has been a blessing to the business during COVID-19. Their online sales make up about 30% of their revenue, and they ship to locations throughout the nation.
“Social media has really given us a lot of new customers,” Evans said.
But the business still finds ways to connect with their local shoppers. On Friday, Bless Your Heart is hosting the Ladies’ Night Out Open House from 6 to 9 p.m.
Every person who attends will receive a gift and have a chance to take advantage of a 20 to 50% off sale. It will be the store’s biggest sale since Black Friday. Free gift-wrapping will also be available.
Follow the business on Facebook at Bless Your Heart of Alabama, and on Instagram at Bless Your Heart of AL. Online shopping is also available at BlessYourHeartAL.com.
