Mar 29, 2009

Pottery store owner holds breath, throws future to expansionBy Kristy Eppley RuponTheState.com

Donna Green started looking for a bigger place for her Southern Pottery business more than a year ago. A plot of land on Huger Street at $1 million was out of her price range. An old, neglected house downtown needed too much work.

But she finally found the perfect spot, a 2,070-square-foot house on Devine Street for $450,000 with large windows, a fireplace and an outbuilding. Green opened her new gallery Tuesday after painting the walls, replacing the roof and clearing the overgrown brush out of the yard.

Green’s business grew about 20 percent in her first year while on Rosewood Drive but leveled off the next. She is hoping the move will make her gallery more visible.

Green is taking her transition slowly, though, because of the recession. She had planned to convert the two-story garage into a studio, but reconsidered after estimates for adding a kiln room came in at $15,000.

For now, the studio, which she uses for classes, will remain on Devine Street.

Sitting in her open, airy gallery, Green admits she is nervous about expanding her business in this economy.

“It’s made me rethink some things that I wanted to do here,” she said.

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