Feb 15, 2009

Lumberton shop offers a personal touchBy Rebecca LoganFayObserver.com

I love this.

Somebody on my beat — yes, the shopping beat — actually has hired additional employees over the past two months.

In Lumberton.

Rock on.

That would be Jennifer Hickman, an owner of Girlees and Brothers Too, which recently has gone from about seven employees to 10 as Hickman and crew gear up to expand into the wholesale business.

You may know Girlees from the whimsical, funky retail shop in downtown Lumberton. You also may have seen Hickman — with her personalized items such as party tubs and glasses — at craft and gift shows, including the Holly Day Fair in Fayetteville.

It’s through these venues (and by word of mouth) that Hickman has landed not only traditional shoppers but also other shop owners as regular customers.

Hickman said she sells to about eight stores in the Carolinas and Georgia.

The Watermelon Patch, inside Mopheads salon on Ramsey Street, is one of them.

Xan Hunter, one of the owners there, orders from Hickman. Hunter said Hickman got her rolling along with a lot of the personalized items that she and her crew now do themselves.

Both women said personalized items are hot — and only getting hotter.

“A lot of people give them as gifts. It makes it seem like you really thought about it and put some effort into it instead of just running out and grabbing something,” said Hunter.

Personalization can do wonders for plain items that store owners may find at market, Hickman said.

“Or, you know, a lot of these stores have inventory that’s been sitting there for six months and hasn’t sold well,” Hickman said. “We can give them the opportunity to put those polka dots on them, personalize them. And suddenly, they’re flying out of the store.”

Hickman said she’s stockpiling supplies in a warehouse down the street from Girlees. She’s waiting until spring for a full launch of the wholesale business, which will be called Dots & Doodles.

With her in that venture are Scott Walters, Brant Allen and Darel Burney of Signlogic in Elizabethtown. Hickman said Signlogic is able to mass produce the product needed for personalization.

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