“My daughter and I started Beaus and Belles in January 2020 as an online store. I have been in the retail industry for many, many years serving in different roles including General Manager. A dream of mine for quite some time was to open up my very own store. My daughter was also very interested in the idea of owning a store, so we decided to partner together to form Beaus and Belles.
After our online store got started in January 2020, we decided to take a leap of faith and open up a brick-and-mortar store in Hartsville during the beginning of COVID in May 2020. We are coming up on our one-year anniversary in Hartsville!
When we were looking at where to open our brick-and-mortar store, one thing that was important to us was to be in a town that had the same small-town feeling as the town I raised my daughter in. We wanted to be in a place that embraced the shop local mentality and had a true sense of community. We absolutely fell in love with Downtown Hartsville the minute we visited. We thought this would be the perfect spot for our storefront.
We truly enjoy the one-on-one connections that we make with customers when they visit our store. We have the opportunity to get to know them on a personal level and become involved in the big occasions in their lives. Whether it is making a mad dash into the store to quickly find the perfect last-minute outfit or even those that come to us early on with a vision of what they are looking for. We are able to serve these customers and make planning for their life events so special.
We try to go above and beyond at Beaus and Belles and go the extra mile to make someone’s shopping experience special in person and online. We pay attention to detail when orders come through our website, too. Presentation means a lot to us and we take the time to carefully package orders before sending them out the door. Beaus and Belles has also been known for sending gifts to our regular customers and those that leave reviews. We want them to know how much we appreciate them.
We have online customers all across the United States and even in other countries that we have been able to reach through our Brand Rep program. We started out with 10 and have grown each month since launching the program. These reps are people that love Beaus and Belles and want to share their finds with their friends. This unique way of marketing helps us get our brand out even further than what our own network could do. It has been fun to watch that grow and have new people that believe in us and our brand.
People often think that we are just a clothing store, but we are so much more than that. We offer a large line of gift items including self-care items, greeting cards, home items, and so much more. Since we are not from Hartsville, we truly enjoy getting to meet new people that come in the store to see what we have to offer.”
-Lauri Dunn, Co-Owner Beaus and Belles Boutique