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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer 

COLUMBIANA – Shoppers on Columbiana’s Main Street are now welcome to stop inside and experience the newest store in town following the latest announcement from its owner and operator, Holli Pierce.

The Pink Sheep Boutique, a children’s clothing and gift store that has operated a successful online store for more than five years, has now opened its new physical brick-and-mortar location following a remodel of the building’s interior.

With the storefront opening for the first time to the public on Monday, May 6, shoppers were welcome from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to peruse all that the Pink Sheep Boutique had to offer. Pierce also shared that while the store will be open this week, the store’s “Grand Opening” will be held on Saturday, May 11.

On the business’s Facebook page, the announcement of the storefront’s opening was met with large amounts of interest and compliments, with many comments focusing on the work that had been put into the store and its entrance.

For Pierce, the opening of the business’s physical location is a major milestone and a harbinger of future success.

“This summer will be seven years that I have been (running the business),” Pierce said. “A lot of people think that I’m a completely new business—that I’m a new store just coming to Main Street, but I actually already have a well-established online business. I’m finally at the point where the online business can float my new venture in a storefront.”

Pierce grew up in the Shelby-Columbiana area, graduated from Shelby County High School and now lives just outside of Columbiana in Shelby.

“I had our first baby in 2015 and when she was getting close to turning two years old I just felt like I couldn’t find anything for her,” Pierce said. “I felt like there was nowhere to really shop that had everything that tickled my fancy. I couldn’t really find what I was looking for around here (in our area). So, I just started a store on a whim one night that was mainly (tailored for) my child—and to dress her.”

From there, Pierce’s small operation grew and became larger before having another child the next year after starting her business. She now has three children and has fully transformed her passion for dressing her own children into a marketable service she can roll out to others in the community.

“I love helping people dress their own kids,” Pierce said. “I love when people ask me for help in picking out an item—picking items out for pictures or a birthday or a gift. I just think it is fun.”

Going for a timeless style of children’s clothing that invokes traditional southern charms, she sources her inventory through Atlanta Market and AmericasMart, a wholesaler that proclaims itself as the world’s largest collection of wholesale gift, décor and apparel showrooms.

Pink Sheep Boutique’s brick-and-mortar location stands at 103 South Main Street, and has now joined Main Street as the store between Sweet Tweets Bird Supply and the Farm Company.

“I leased the building at the end of last year—this past December,” Pierce said. “It has taken us a while to get it ready and to get it up to my standards and to fit my vibe. (The store) has new floors, new paint and cosmetics upgrades. I’ve made it match my aesthetic with the white and the light pink and pale blues and all of that.”

Pierce has also been excited about incorporating her tastes and inputs toward the exterior of the storefront which has involved the planting of new flowers and maintaining the planters outside the front door.

“I know so many people already and one of the things that I’m most excited about is getting to be a member of the Main Street Board and just doing things to better Main Street,” Pierce said.

Pierce voiced that the store’s opening now serves as the ultimate mark of success for her business and that she has no other intentions to grow or leave the community she has called home. Pierce also hopes to see her store inspire others and causes them to join her on Main Street.

“I really hope that other stores are soon to follow and come to the vacant buildings that are there,” Pierce said. “I just really hope that once people see another new store come that others will follow.”

The Pink Sheep Boutique will be open for business from Tuesday through Saturday every week and will be closed on Sundays and Mondays. The store’s grand opening will take place over the course of Saturday, May 11. While parking is available on Main Street, Pierce has also reminded shoppers that parking is available behind the store as well.