My husband and I took a much needed trip to the mountains this past weekend. We stayed in the lovely little town of Highlands, NC at the cozy Mitchell Lodge. I love the slower pace and the cooler temperatures in the mountains, it’s so relaxing.
Wherever we travel, I always visit the local bead store to pick up some treasures that might not be available in Atlanta. To my surprise I found no bead store in Highlands. The community seems to be the perfect place for a bead ‘lounge’. A place to not only purchase beads and findings, but a place to sit and work on projects with friends, host a girl’s night out, or take a basic beading class. A place that serves beverages and has all the tools needed to complete a project.
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| I love this sign in front of a favorite bead shop in Virginia. |
Highlands is a small town (3000 permanent residents) that swells to 25,000 to 30,000 seasonal residents during the spring to fall months. I call it the “reverse snowbird” flock. The town is at a very high elevation and is in one of only two temperate rain-forests in the continental US. The weather is mild in the summer months and the landscape is lush and green. The wonderful weather attracts retirees from Florida who want to escape the heat and hurricane threats of the summer months. Generally the retirees are well off, interested in the arts, and have a lot of free time. It is also a place for Atlanta folks to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a weekend. And two Universities have extension programs in Highlands so younger creative folks also live in town. I believe this would be a good demographic for a budding creative bead business.
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| I love this logo from a favorite bead shop in San Francisco that closed in 2009 |
SO, why hasn’t someone jumped on this yet? Why isn’t there a cool bead “lounge” in Highlands? I don’t have the answer yet, but I’m starting my research this week. I’d love to be the bead shop owner is this lovely place. Take a peek at my previous blog post about Highlands, NC by clicking here. Cheers!
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Oh, I love Highlands too! And I live in the Atlanta area as well! Where do you live? I live in Cumming, GA. Do you go Beadazzles in Sandy Springs? I took classes there these past few weeks with Sherry Serafini and Laura McCabe, both were wonderful! I do not make beads, but I do bead embroidery. Come see my blog and maybe we can meet up someday? Marcy
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mantle@piedmontcenter.com
Hi Marcy,
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you! I live in Midtown West (west of Howell Mill). Funny you should mention Beadazzles, I was looking for it recently and could not remember which shopping plaza it was located in, I have a feeling they may have moved the store since my last visit. I would love to meet-up someday. Maybe we could have brunch one saturday in the future. Thanks for stopping by my blog! Lori