We did it, but not alone

It has been a long time coming for this blog post!! We finally accomplished our goal of opening UpStyled Goods & Salon in late 2023. 

The idea for this retail store began in 2019. My husband Todd and I are second generation owner/operators of Trotters Sewing Company in Asheboro, NC. For 31 years, the family-owned business has manufactured cut and sew products for others, and through the years we wondered why don't we make our own products??

The idea for our brand ReTexstyled focuses on using leftover fabrics, scraps, dead stock rolls, zippers, thread, etc. collected at TSC, and use the materials to make new products. It is the best way for us to reuse & repurpose supplies and keep them from the landfill. And it is very exciting for us to see this "idea" come to fruition!

But the real hard work begins now among arising fears ... How do we market our new brand and store to a larger audience? How do we get more people to visit UpStyled Goods? How do we draw attention to our website? Will this make it in this economy? Will people like the items we make and actually purchase them?

I've had several people also ask why are we doing this? Some  jokingly said, "Don't you have enough to do?" Yes, of course we do! Wasn't one business enough for you? In many ways, YES, but then we wouldn't accomplish something we have discussed for years! Why did you invest so much in a small building? Because it's not for us ... It's for our daughters, grandchildren and future grandchildren. It's for local artists also trying to sell their goods. It's for the community, and to help a longtime salon stay open for its cosmetologists and their customers. And it's to be a part of something much greater than us... 

Downtown Asheboro has completely transformed and continued revitalization makes this area an amazing place to visit for shopping, eating and gathering. I remember shopping in Downtown Asheboro with my parents at Belk Yates and B.C. Moore. I loved going to the dime store to get popcorn. I also remember when the '80s came, and businesses seemed to move away from Downtown. A mall was built, and it became the place to be and be seen! Alladin's Castle was my new favorite place to go as a teen. But time progresses, and interests change.

As the editor of The Denton Orator, a new weekly newspaper, I learned quickly what it takes to operate a business. I worked continuously! A few years later, however, I LOVED my new roles of being a wife and a mother, and chose not to return to the newspaper. Time moved onward, and I became a working Soccer Mom. But then children graduate and you're left wondering what are you going to do next? 

So that brings us here ...  we are a wife and husband team with grown children trying to operate very different businesses with the help of many wonderful people ... a salon with the assistance of longtime cosmetologist Lori Hicks...  a brand with the help of Shea Davidson, our oldest daughter, and many other amazing people at TSC... navigating a retail store while supporting local artists along the way...all the while still running TSC.

It is not easy, and I have definitely wondered at times if we are crazy ... but I've also learned that doing anything good and important is never easy. Employing people and supporting local is important to us, and in anything you do, you are only as good as the people around you. We are grateful and know we wouldn't be able to do any of this without the support of the people around us. We only hope we are able to build something new that our daughters, grandchildren, future family members, our employees, and if we are lucky, others are proud of ... Stay tuned... Lori