1 of 26

After operating as an online store for the first seven years of its existence, Pink Sheep Boutique officially set up shop on 103 south Columbiana Main Street in May 2024. Now, nearly a year later, Pierce continues to offer the perfect, cozy shop for customers to purchase children’s clothing. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

As you enter the doors of Pink Sheep Boutique, you quickly get a feeling you’ve entered somewhere special. A sense of calm and peace immediately washes over you as your eyes dart about and peruse each of the meticulously placed items that are adorned in tranquil pastels. Although you haven’t exchanged a word yet, you can already tell one thing about the shop’s owner: she loves her job.

“I wake up every day and love what I do,” Owner Holli Pierce said. “There’s never a day that I wake up, and I don’t want to go to work.”

After operating as an online store for the first seven years of its existence, Pink Sheep Boutique officially set up shop on 103 south Columbiana Main Street in May 2024. Now, nearly a year later, Pierce continues to offer the perfect, cozy shop for customers to purchase children’s clothing.

Full of pink, blue and yellow pastels, Pierce aims to equip the shop with a timeless style of clothes that invoke a traditional southern charm. While she sources the goods from various retailers to stock the shop and online store, Pierce has one important metric when it comes to buying all of the items that line the shelves of Pink Sheep Boutique.

“If I would not put it on my own children and I don’t love it, I don’t buy it for my store,” Pierce said.

While Pierce enjoys the day-to-day routine of running her own store, it took years of effort and the help of friends and family to make her long-harbored dream a reality.

A lamb’s first steps

A true Shelby County native, Pierce grew up in the Shelby area attending Elvin Hill Elementary, Columbiana Middle and graduating from Shelby County High School. She went on to have her first child in 2015 and one year later, she encountered a problem. No one nearby carried appealing clothes for her child to wear.

“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.”

One night, her newly found conundrum quickly reached an epiphany. She would open up a children’s clothing store and use that as an excuse to dress up her child. However, she would need a name for her new operation.

“I knew that I had to come up with a name and I love animals and I love the color pink,” Pierce said. “It’s been Pink Sheep Boutique since the very first night I thought about it and it just popped into my head.”

Starting out, Pierce knew she would need two things in order to get anywhere: clothes and a website.

Pierce proceeded to go to the market and pick out all of the clothes that she liked best—making sure to order ahead for the next season.

“Since I started in the middle of summer, I didn’t really get anything until like fall or Christmas and then I could pretty much just go to market and find what I like and I started stocking,” Pierce said. “I didn’t have a lot of quantities when I started out because I didn’t want to keep a bunch in stock.”

She and a friend then worked together to figure out the process of setting up an online store and building a presence on the web.

“Neither one of us knew really anything about doing a website but we just googled and researched and figured out what I needed to do,” Pierce said. “I had all my Facebook friends and family that I know follow me at first and then the community around here is just very supportive, so they share your stuff and you gain followers.”

Over time, Pink Sheep Boutique found success serving customers all over the United States. A special joy for Pierce came in the form of customers opening their online orders and sharing photos of their kids in the merchandise. Finally, her quick little whim was a reality.

However, her entrepreneurial spirit wasn’t quite done yet as she had one more dream to fulfill.

“I knew right away I wanted to open a brick-and-mortar store,” Pierce said. “I’ve dreamed about it for so many years. I just knew that I wanted to be in Columbiana. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I love Columbiana.”

One day, her mother happened to drive through Columbiana Main Street and noticed a sign that said, “For Rent” so she quickly told Pierce. And although the location would need some improvement, it was nothing Pierce’s husband couldn’t fix.

“So, I reached out to the guy that owns the place and he told me that I could do what I want to make it pretty for my store,” Pierce said.

Pink Sheep Boutique finally opened its doors on May 6, 2024 followed by an official Grand opening on May 11. With one more dream accomplished all was well until a month after opening, she ran into one final problem that was quickly resolved.

“When I first opened, I did not have any help,” Pierce said. “It was just me all by myself.”

Fortunately for Pierce that help walked through the doors in June and has continued to come in ever since. Emery Glaze soon became Pierce’s “No. 1 employee” and the rock she could rely on.

“Everybody that comes in here knows Emery,” Pierce said. “I could not do half of what I do if I did not have Emery.”

Living the dream 

Now, nearly 8 years after starting and nearly a year after opening a shop in Columbiana, Pierce still loves getting up and coming to the store each morning.

“I’m glad to be able to do something that I truly love,” she said. “I love meeting all the new people that come in here. I love seeing all the people that are excited to come in just for my store.”

Aside from an unlimited supply of baby clothes for her own children over the years and a steady way to make a living, Pink Sheep Boutique stands as the accomplishment of a dream for Pierce that she is able to continue living in each day. It’s an occupation that is continually rewarding in the best way possible.

“I work so hard in here to pick out all this stuff and to offer what I think is the cutest,” Pierce said. “And then other people love it too and think it’s cute and they put it on their children and they show me. It’s just very rewarding.”

More Columbiana

Shelby County Schools to close on March 31 due to severe weather

Pennington earns no-hitter over Boyd-Buchanan as Shelby County finishes Knoxville tournament 2-2

Shelby County Commission approves funding for Valleydale Road widening

Nominations open for Shelby County Tourism and Recreation All-Star Awards