Something New in Store
Bliss and Birch Brings Big-City Looks to Local Shoppers
Jada Miller Young is no stranger to getting a job done. But after a 20-year career in construction and 10 years running her own commercial maintenance and janitorial business, owning a boutique clothing store wasn’t something she had on her to-do list.
When she launched Bliss and Birch on Ardmore Avenue in December 2023, it was primarily an antique and home decor shop. But, as she spoke to local leaders and listened to her own customers, it became clear that there was another need the store could serve in the community.
“As the customers would come in, they’d be like, ‘We need this, we need that,’ and it all resonated around clothing,” Jada says. “So as a couple of months went on, I got rid of my furniture and brought more clothes in. And now I’ve gotten rid of most of my home decor and it’s more seasonal than year-round.”
The pivot opened new opportunities for Bliss and Birch but also threw a wrench in months of pre-planning. Suddenly, Jada found herself running a retail business for the first time in an industry she wasn’t familiar with.
“Clothing was definitely not something I had in mind. I’m not a girly girl,” she says. “But one benefit with the transition is that it has brought me back to the girly side of things. And that’s fun.”
Different Styles
To help her tackle this new challenge, Jada knew she would need a team that was plugged in to the fashion scene. She turned to Jenny Miller, who has 10 years of experience in the boutique industry, as her stylist and buyer to follow the top brands and latest trends. She hired recent University of Tennessee graduate Jana Owen as her marketing manager to help grow the business fast. And she brought on summer interns to bring experience with teen trends and social media.
While Jada wanted to bring plenty of style experience on board, she knew she didn’t want Bliss and Birch to focus exclusively on young shoppers. “I had an idea of what the other stores carried, and I made sure not to carry that,” Jada says. “We carry clothes that range from children all the way up to the elderly. We have business casual, clothes you can wear to church, clothes you can wear to a concert—just a multitude of styles.”
Often, Jada’s team will put together a list of new items to order and go over them together to get a range of tastes and opinions before adding to their inventory. The store’s WK&T fiber service ensures they can keep those shop pages, emails, social media and music apps open at the same time without any slowdowns. But what has surprised Jada more than anything else about retail is how flexible her business has to be.
“It changes from day to day, and you can never really get a pattern of your shoppers,” she says. “You have to learn, and you really have to be there. You have to be open because every day is different in the retail world.”
New Experiences
While getting her new business off the ground has been a challenge, it has also been a great way for Jada to reconnect with the community she grew up in. After 15 years living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, she returned to Ardmore in 2020.
“I’m from here. So, funny enough, when I moved back, I knew everyone, but I didn’t know anybody anymore,” she says. “So, it’s been fun reconnecting with people that I knew years ago plus meeting people from Ardmore and other places.”
More than anything, she loves being able to give local shoppers the opportunity to find the brands they want without being forced to travel to Huntsville, Birmingham or Nashville. Some of her favorite moments over recent months have been watching shoppers who have never seen some of her products in person get that experience at Bliss and Birch.
“We sell Louis Vuitton vintage handbags and that’s something where people come in and say, ‘Oh my gosh, can I see that? Can I feel that?’” Jada says. “Because it’s something you never really see out of Ardmore. It’s great to watch. That’s where I really get my enjoyment.”
Published with permission by ATC.