Hey y’all!
Saturday, November 25th was Small Business Saturday, a day in which community members are encouraged to shop local and support small businesses.
This day was also the grand opening of a new shop called The Amsden in downtown Versailles, KY where Emily Riddle and her husband, Alex, are co-owners. They completely renovated the historic building, built in 1890, and restored the character of its original design.
Emily is the mind behind Miss Molly Vintage, a vintage boutique in Lexington. She has her own blog as well. I follow her on Instagram too so I have been obsessing about this opening for months now!
Below are some photos of the beautiful detail of the renovation:
The Amsden is a unique space that includes a coffee shop and retail area, called Gathered Mercantile, where vendors can rent spaces to sell their own items. Upstairs is more retail space as well as a bourbon bar coming soon!
Some of the vendors of Gathered Mercantile include: Shop Twenty Something, Kindred Spirits and Co., Designs by Ali Rose, Blush Box and Co., Kayla Weber Art, Lexington Design Co., and many more! Items for sale range from home decor items, Christmas decor, clothing items, jewelry, design prints, and my personal favorite, a fresh flower bar!
Before opening The Amsden, the Miss Molly Vintage shop was located at Feather Your Nest in Lexington, a retail space comprised of multiple vendors. Emily said, “As soon as I started planning the retail portion of the Amsden, I knew a collection of local vendors, makers, and artists would be the core of the space. I’ve always loved featuring and promoting other local brands through Miss Molly Vintage and have wholesaled many of the vendors who will be featured at Gathered Mercantile. Giving each vendor more of an opportunity to have a permanent space that they can really make their own is an important element of our store.”
Guys everything in here is so beautiful!! Here are some photos from their opening:
One of the things I love about small businesses is how personal they are in that the owner is right in the middle of everything. With larger businesses, owners are more likely to be behind the scenes. I got to meet Emily at the check out and she is the absolute sweetest!! I’m not kidding when I first saw her I kinda freaked out inside because I’ve followed her for a while it was almost like meeting a celebrity haha.
I literally wanted to buy everything in the shop, but I obviously don’t have enough money for that with my college student budget, so I bought this adorable pine wreath!
The grand opening went better than they could have ever imagined, going through over a month’s worth of supplies the first day!!
I have a dream about opening up my own shop one day so I wanted to ask Emily some questions about how she got her start. Her answers are below:
- How did the idea of opening your own store go from dream to reality?
“I have always had the dream/idea of owning my own business since I was a little girl. The problem was narrowing down my many ideas and passions. I was patient and wanted to wait until the perfect time and opportunity. I think it worked out for the best because I was able to develop a good following through social media and really get people excited about the businesses. The Amsden building had been for sale since we moved to Versailles but after the price was cut in half, we made an offer before we even knew what to do with it! After walking through a few more times, I developed a vision for the space and felt like it was the right fit for my first storefront.”
- How did you get your start blogging and how did you become more “noticed”?
“I started blogging in 2014 after deciding to leave my part-time job and focus on Miss Molly Vintage full-time. At the time, Miss Molly Vintage was just my booth space in Feather Your Nest, but I knew I wanted to expand the shop to online and add a blog and decorating services. I really didn’t feel like I got “noticed” until I started posting about our home renovation last year and people really latched on to that.”
- What advice would you give to someone who has the dream opening up their own store one day?
“Be ready to work! I enjoy all aspects of the retail business but some are definitely more fun than others. I’m learning to delegate more, especially with tasks that I don’t enjoy as much or am not as good at. Mostly, if you are passionate about something and believe in your vision, you are bound to succeed.”
You can view The Amsden’s website and Emily’s blog at: https://www.theamsden.com and http://www.gatheredky.com
Get out and visit The Amsden at 151 S Main St in Versailles!
Don’t forget to support your local small businesses!
xoxo,
Alyssa
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