new house. new baby. new store.

I mean, let's just knock it all out in one year right? I even went so far as to also add in a new {used} car a few weeks ago too. So yeah, as of 2015 I. AM. DONE. Next year I will sleep! 

So yes, in case you've wondered why the blog has been so slack this month. Here's why...

The idea to move Sugar all began almost exactly one year ago, last October, when I was approached while having lunch at Howards Deli (now our new neighbor) in Uptown Greenwood. A guy explained he was buying the conjoining historic building next door and turning the bottom into three retail spots with five floors of residential condos up above.  He asked me if I would be interested in moving my store into one of the new retail spaces. I kinda looked at him like he was crazy, because it seemed like such a big feat...but before even thinking {which I tend to do} I said "YES!" I had no idea about the rent price, no details, nada...and I knew of course I could change my mind {no contract signed} but I wanted him to know that YES I indeed would LOVE to move Sugar to have prime visibility {we were tucked away on a tiny street in Uptown, not on the main road} and I also wanted {no, needed!} more room. When I found the first location for Sugar, on 203 Waller Avenue, it had just been a boutique owned by two women who had womens apparel targeted to 40-60 year olds and everything was already set up. Racks in the walls, check out counter, dressing rooms, etc...all we did was paint and voila! It was so cost effective, which is what I needed at the time, and served me well but the thought of finally being able to DESIGN "my" store from the ground up seemed like a dream come true. So that's what he did...he put me down for the corner spot and then I waited and I watched...and I held my breath.

Flash forward through lots of waiting and demo and construction and planning later and the last weekend of September we MOVED.

October 9-11 weekend we celebrated our efforts filled with blood, sweat, and tears {no really, there were all during this process} with a super fun and fabulous Grand Re-Opening!! 

(postcards we sent out)

Here she is! Our new "store sweet store". This building was one a textile plant, a bank, even JC Penny at one time! Lots of history, which I love. Someone needed to do something with it because it certainly was too pretty of a building to go to waste. They have done an awesome job.

To say it was craziness trying to finish up last minute details in a hurry, is an understatement. Let's just say I learned to use the hubs drill real quick! There were a lot of 12+ hour days!!!

The signage went up at the last minute before the grand re-opening and a huge thanks to Signs by Chris in Greenwood!

Here's a peek at the inside. I absolutely could not have done it without the help of my friend and interior designer Sarah, at Dwell Chic. I would have LOVED to have used her for my home, but never found the {eerrrrr} extra money to do so, but for my business I knew it was an investment I had to make and it seriously was the BEST money spent. She is wonderful to work with and with me having a baby and all this Summer (you know, minor detail) I really could not have done all this without her! She was actually expecting too and just had her little boy a few weeks ago. That means she did all of this (ok, not her but she was there every step of the way with the installers) all while 38-39 weeks pregnant. Huge kudos to all of us hard working mamas out there. There's NOTHING we can't do right????

We realized the bottom shelving was a tad too low and will be raising that up soon!

Just last night we added a gorgeous mirror in between the two dressing room opening and also more hooks to this space. Oh and jewelry hooks above the jewelry table. It's like a new house, it never ends and takes a while to get "settled".

Then is was time to PARTY!!!

(tees designed by BeachBallBellies out of Columbia, SC)

(cookies made by Aly Smith of Anderson)

With some of my sweet Sugar gals...couldn't have done it without em!

We've had a few more additions to the new spot. For instance, today the electrician came back to add more lighting, cameras are to be installed this weekend...again, it's like a new house...it never ends.

More boxes to be unpacked too, but we certainly are enjoying our new space...

Photos by Abby Williams Photography

For more photos of the new store, check out this fun video HERE and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to our Grand Re-Opening weekend or stopped by within the past few weeks.

We did it ALL for our super sweet customers and look forward to many many years at 334 Main!