Zack and Courtney Cross look through their menswear inventory at their Ringgold, Ga., boutique clothing store Southern Charm on Monday. They are opening a second location at Hamilton Place.Two years after opening a small clothing boutique in Ringgold, Ga., a North Georgia couple is adding a second store in Chattanooga with hopes to enter other Tennessee markets in the future.
Courtney and Zack Cross, a couple from Chickamauga, Ga., who were active in Greek life while studying at Kennesaw State University, turned their fashion interest into a retail venture in March 2013 when they opened Southern Charm Clothing in a 1,000-square-foot outlet in Ringgold. Within six months, they relocated to a 4,000-square-foot storefront just a quarter mile away, and in May the couple will add a second store at The Shoppes at Hamilton Place.
The stores feature preppy Southern style men's and women's fashions such as what Courtney and Zack Cross wore in college, including Vineyard Vines, Southern Tide, Judith March and Lauren James.
"We were active in sorority and fraternity life at Kennesaw State in Atlanta and while we were there we fell in love with these brands, as well as boutique clothing myself," Courtney Cross said. "These brands were pretty well saturated in Atlanta, but there just wasn't anything up here in North Georgia offering these brands."
The brands are not offered by big-box retailers, and the Crosses are trying to capitalize on their unique offerings, as well as their local ownership, to appeal to customers looking for the Southern preppy style.
"I think people appreciate the fact that we are locally owned and independent," Cross said.
The Crosses were looking for a second location because of high demand from Chattanooga, where nearly half of their business at the Ringgold store already comes from.
"The new store helps us to be closer to our Chattanooga customers, and with the highest per capita income coming to these shops, we think the Shoppes at Hamilton Place is an ideal site," she said.
Construction has begun on the new store, which is being built in the site of a former Sweet Peppers Deli that closed last year.
Dan Wolfe, general manager for Hamilton Place, called the new boutique "another exciting addition we are thrilled to welcome."
The Ringgold store includes a five-person staff, in addition to Zack and Courtney Cross, and the new store will have a comparable staff.
"Our long-term goals are definitely beyond just Chattanooga and we see other opportunities over time in other parts of Tennessee," Cross said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.