Brevard artist Eron Hare was contracted to paint a mural for the River’s Rest tiny home community, which will be open soon for vacation rentals on Hwy 19 South in Bryson City.
Mae|Blu carries a variety of beauty products that are less toxic and health conscious.
Hannah Herrin has opened a new shop full of dresses and other décor, named Selah.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
New business is afoot in Swain County, with new lodging options as well as a store for women’s clothing and home décor in the mix.
Businessman Mark Fortner is working on some properties, including at the industrial park where he bought land from the county last year, and the old Rosewood Inn on Main Street.
The property at the industrial park will be used for Fortner’s own companies, HMC Paving & Construction and Espinoza Trucking & Hauling. What was once the Rosewood Inn will be turned into storefronts and will also retain some rooms to be rented out as an extension of the Stonebrook Inn, which Fortner also owns.
Similarly, there’s a new building going up on Slope Street, which is owned by Rusty McLeod of Reservation Tire. The new building won’t be a Reservation Tire. McLeod, speaking over the phone, said it would be rented out in the future once construction was finished.
“It’s just a rental building,” he said. “It needed to be remodeled.”
Tiny homes
Meanwhile, heading west on Highway 19 South toward Ingles, one runs across the River’s Rest tiny home community, which developer Charles Gonzalez said will operate something like a communal rental area for those looking for something near town.
Brevard-based artist Eron Hare is finishing up work on some mural artwork that Gonzalez said will round out the development.
“He’s done one wall already,” Gonzalez said on Monday morning, March 11. “The whole wall will be a nice mural with themes showing animals you can find in the area like owls and deer. They’re tiny homes. They are what they are – but we’re trying to make them as cute as possible.”
Hare was on site Monday morning putting the finishing touches on a mural wall at the front of River’s Rest, which was colored in bright, lurid blues and greens and depicted the wilderness in the Smokies.
“I wanted to reflect the beauty of the local landscape,” Hare said. “It’s got a nice bright color, it’s cheery, it feels welcoming.”
Hare also did the mural for the railroad in town.
Workers were finishing up some of the fire pit area that will act as a common area for the tiny homes, which Gonzalez said will be finished next week. Ultimately, is close to open and plans to begin taking reservations next week, Gonzalez said.
Women’s clothing and empowerment at Selah
On Everett Street, a new shop full of dresses and other décor, named Selah, has opened in recent months. Owner Hannah Herrin said she wanted to sell clothing, accessories and home goods targeted at women.
“We try to have something for everybody,” she said. “The goal is to uplift women and encourage young women in the community. Mental wellness and mental health are very important.”
She said body image was a concern and the Selah store was a way to communicate that they “want anyone to be encouraged to be who they were created to be.” Faith is a big concern for Herrin, who said the store name, Selah, comes from the Bible. “It means pause or reflect – that’s why we chose the name,” she said.
Herrin said Christian faith is a big motivator for the store in general. Part of that is having all kinds of sizes for the dresses, “from small to 3X,” she said, since “God says we’re enough.”
“We try to be size inclusive,” she said.
The store opened recently and Herrin said future plans will include adding an online store where people can order the products from anywhere and incorporating seasonal collections and themes like an upcoming Easter theme she said they’ll be adding.
Herrin said the shop would be trying to appeal to locals as well as tourists.
“There are a lot of locals in this time of year,” she said. “We’re really grateful for the locals. It’s a prominent tourist town, but locals will see a new store and come in to see what we have. We’re trying to keep things reasonably priced. We’re trying to offer a lot of different products and keep locals and tourists interested.”
New tea and beauty products
There’s also Mae|Blu, a new tea and beauty products shop located at 300 Everett Street where the former Appalachian Tea Company was located until it closed last year.
Mae|Blu owner Sharla Stoltzfus said the idea behind offering numerous hot and iced tea brands, including Boba Tea, as well as an array of beauty products like skin creams and other things, was to offer products to enrich health in various ways.
“We like to offer cosmetic brands that are less toxic and more health conscious,” Stoltzfus said. “Tea is good for your skin and your heart, so they work great together.”
She said she tries to make sure her beauty products are as healthy as possible, avoiding ones that use toxic products to enhance the smell or other such elements.
Stoltzfus is a licensed aesthetician and had been selling products online, wanting to expand. When Appalachian Tea Company closed, she got the idea to sell tea, too, as it was something not abundant in town.
“I hated to see the other place close,” she said. “I love tea and drinks and wanted to have an opportunity that we don’t already have, something where you can’t just walk down to Walgreens or down the street for.”
The shop also offers a back lounge area that Stoltzfus said is still having work done on it, but there are tables and chairs for people to sit with drinks. Soon, she said, she wants to offer yoga classes in the space as well.