On the Map

Editor's Note: I had the privilege of participating in Mary Carol Garrity's seminar on how to become a destination store in January at the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market. If you weren't at the standing-room only event, you can read her story here.— Bessie Nestoras

I was rushing about getting ready for work one morning when my dad phoned with a tantalizing proposition that stopped me in my tracks. An incurable entrepreneur, Dad wanted me to open a gourmet food store in my hometown of Atchison, KS, population 8,000.

The idea was absolutely nuts (to put it in 'food' terms). A disaster in the kitchen, I didn't know the first thing about gourmet fare. Besides, I was only 25 years old and had never run a business. But I also love a challenge, so within minutes, I decided to quit my job, move home and try my luck. Talk about snap decisions!

I'm glad I didn't know then the highs and lows I would face as I watched my shop go into a death spiral, then turn around and become one of the hottest destination stores in the Midwest.

Atchison is a charming, historic town that sits on the bluffs of the Missouri River. But when I moved back in 1981, it was facing hard times. Undaunted, I opened my store with great enthusiasm in a downtown full of boarded-up shops. I was probably the only one in town who was surprised when The Gourmet Corner was a total flop. On a good day, I rang up $100 in sales.

I knew I had to do something radically different, so I changed the shop's name to Nell Hill's, switched to home accessories and looked for customers outside the city limits.

Even though I didn't have the money, I rented a booth at the Junior League of Kansas City, MO, Holiday Mart. At the advice of my friend, I made my booth the tallest in the place so folks would notice it. To grab people's eyes, I built a custom canopy bed out of twiggy tree limbs inside the booth, then covered it with killer fabrics and laces (lace was very big at the time — mid-1980s). I then built my signature layered displays with accents, so the booth was beautiful and inviting. The first day of the show, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Customers packed into my booth, and at one point, 40 people waited in line to check out – more than ever visited my store on a good day.

Once folks saw my products, how they were arranged and small-town prices, they were hooked. I told them where my store was, invited them up, and they started coming in droves. They told their friends, who told their friends, etc. Soon after, carloads of customers started making the hour-long trek from Kansas City to Atchison. Encouraged, I did similar shows in Omaha and Des Moines, urging my new customers to road trip to Nell Hill's. Before I knew it, the store was full of folks from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and Iowa.

As the buzz about Nell Hill's grew, Hallmark Cards and Andrews McMeel Publishing started sending artists up to study our displays and merchandise. Not long after, the national media discovered us. We were featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Country Living and on NBC-TV's “Today” show.

The media splash further increased the regional draw, as did my venture into publishing. Always excited to share decorating secrets with others, I've published six books and do a weekly home-decorating column that is nationally syndicated.

Today, Nell Hill's has grown to include Garrity's Encore in Atchison and Nell Hill's in Kansas City, MO. Thousands of visitors still flock to our flagship store every year, with 95 percent traveling more than 100 miles to get here.