New Haymount storefront opens with home decor and gifts

From monogramming and creating custom art to decorating homes for Christmas, Jennifer Britt said that she had so much business she was outgrowing her home workshop. Recognizing the need to expand, she opened the Pink Petunia, a new storefront specializing in gifts in Fayetteville last month.

The store opened on April 24 at 1325 Morganton Road in Haymount and features a wide variety of merchandise from vendors personally selected by Britt. She said she rotates through these vendors and brings in new products to consistently provide patrons with novelty gifts with the hopes of keeping them coming back for more. Britt said she achieves this by researching products that she hopes customers will love and purchasing stock from vendors, switching up the merchandise periodically.

"I'll have a couple of signature lines in my store that will always be there, but I really want to try to keep it spiced up and change it frequently so that, you know, my current customers want to come back and shop with me," Britt, 46, said Thursday. "I really tried to make it a one-stop shop with all the things you can possibly think of or need from home decor, general gifts, baby gifts, silk foils and wreaths ... I tried to make it as well-rounded as possible."

From hosting week-long showcases in her home and accommodating 50 to 100 guests throughout a week, to now seeing 100 to 150 customers a day since its opening, Britt said the Pink Petunia has experienced significant growth in the last six years since Britt decided to fully commit to what was once her side gig.

Britt said that the Pink Petunia aims to emulate the kinds of showrooms and merchandise that bigger retailers offer. To achieve this, the store features products from about 30 to 50 different vendors, which allows her to offer items such as paper products, gourmet food and art to her customers.

"I poured my heart and soul into working very hard, very long hours to find the right things that maybe are not currently in other stores here in Fayetteville, or what I've just heard ... my friends, family, the general public, my customers say they want to see," Britt said. "I really put a lot of thought into it to make it what the store is today."

How the Pink Petunia got started

Britt's experience in the gift industry goes back 21 years when she started as a national sales manager for five major gift companies, such as Mainstreet Collection and Mary Square. By designing and setting up showrooms for these companies at all the major gift markets in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta, Britt said she quickly learned what attracted the most interest from shoppers and the kinds of gifts they would look for in a brick-and-mortar location.

Britt said that she worked in product development, traveled to China to design products herself and managed a sales force on the road. However, after getting married and facing infertility issues, Britt decided to leave her traveling job and pursue in vitro fertilization to successfully have her daughter, Walker, whom she refers to as her miracle baby. Walker is now 4 years old.

As a new mom, Britt wanted to focus her time and energy on raising her daughter. However, she still wanted to work, and with her husband, Gary's, support, Pink Petunia grew from a side hustle into a full-time venture from her home. This allowed her to balance both her passions and be present for Walker.

"I wanted to be able to be there during the most important precious moments of my baby's life and I didn't want to miss a minute, and this allowed me to do both," Britt said. "I have grown it organically over the past six and a half years out of my home into a fantastic business."

The details

Address: 1325 Morganton Road, Fayetteville

Phone: 919-745-7481

Online: Find the Pink Petunia Monograms & More on Facebook.

Hours: Open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

Reporter Lizmary Evans covers growth and development for The Fayetteville Observer. You can reach her at LEvans@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: New home decor and gift shop Pink Petunia opens in Fayetteville, NC