Shutters and Chandeliers fills gift shop niche Mount Pleasant
Liz Walters poses in her store, Shutters and Chandeliers, located at 112 E. Broadway St. Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Nov. 20, 2018.
When it opened in downtown Mount Pleasant four months ago, Shutters and Chandeliers filled a void for gift shops and home décor stores.
The store opened on Aug. 13 by Liz Walters, who has lived in the Mount Pleasant area for most of her life. It’s located downtown, 112 E. Broadway St., and specializes in home décor, gift items and accessories.
Despite being only open for a few months, Walters said she has been surprised by all the business she has received so far. Walters said the recent lost of stores like the Mole Hole, Emma's Boutique and the Basketree in the downtown area most likely created the interest the store has received.
“I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of traffic that has come through the shop,” Walters said. “Downtown lost so many little shops in the last few years. (When) people saw something new come in here, it was curiosity to see what I’m offering.”
Lisa Hadden, a regular of the store, said there used to be a gift shop in the same building and said the store is a great alternative.
Walters had been thinking about opening a store for ten years, but the decision to finally do so was made in February, she said. After working retail and office jobs for many years, she decided it was time to move on and run her own store.
“I was in retail for a long time,” Walters said. “I felt like that part of me is done and I want to be my own boss.”
Walters knew she wanted the store to be a décor shop based on her experience in floral design. She wanted to sell items that had little bit of European, wine country, barn house and French aesthetics to them.
The inside of Shutters and Chandeliers sits at 112 E. Broadway St., Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Nov. 20, 2018.
Most of the items Walters sells online and said she tries to sell them at fair prices so everyone can come in and buy something. Items for sale include lamps, lanterns, wall art, wine racks, mantles, Christmas tree ornaments and of course, shutters and chandeliers.
One customer who has purchased a chandelier from Walters was Jenny Bluhm, who currently lives in Mount Morris. Around a week after the store opened, she spotted a bird-cage chandelier hanging in the store and absolutely loved it. Bluhm said the chandelier fits with her house’s aesthetic and looked unique. She came back the next day to buy it.
Both she and Hadden said the store is a very clean, uncluttered environment and that Walters is very helpful and friendly at the store. Hadden really likes that the store is local.
“I didn’t have to leave the community to do my Christmas shopping,” Hadden said.
Shutters and Chandeliers sits at 112 E. Broadway St. Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Nov. 20, 2018.
Walters wants to start helping customers by doing on-site consultations. She said that she gets advice all the time from customers about home décor and would like to expand that to going to people’s houses in her spare time to help them pick out decorations. She has yet to do any but has experience with consultations when she was a floral designer.
She said she also wants to hire an employee or two so she can go buy items in California and bring them back to the shop to sell.
