I think most people know that The Shoe Hive, The Hive, and now Yellow Jacket are a family affair. Since 2003, when I opened the doors at 115 South Royal, my dad has been my partner. Not only have we been in it 50/50 financially, but he has always done all the accounting and so much more. A few years back, my sister became involved as we hoped my dad would finally get to enjoy some of his retirement. Ironically as Rebecca and I became more self-sufficient as small business owners, our older brother decided it was time for him to become an entrepreneur and open the largest Playa Bowls in the country. He already has plans for more doors.

So, my dad basically just switched his time from one set of kids’ businesses to another. Having my sister help has been a game-changer. Let’s just say she is the ying to my yang, which means she is really good with numbers. And, at the end of the day, retail, or really any business big or small, is math.

Earlier last spring Rebecca, my younger and wiser sister, said, “you know we have to find a bigger space.” Despite knowing she was the smarter one of the two of us, I emphatically said “no” - possibly recedes by a curse word. I loved our space with our big windows and bright light. And I really didn’t want to deal with moving. It is a lot. Imagine how bad moving your house is and then contemplate a municipal permitting process layered on top.

Then, literally, a few weeks later, a building came on the market (that I was hoping a very close friend would buy) that would be the perfect space. Boom, it was happening. In the end, someone else bought the building, and so we were back to square one.

Okay, this is a long story to basically say it is a weird twist of fate; I ended up knowing the person who bought the building, which is now our new location at 315 Cameron.

Well, I am happy to announce that we are opening the doors to our new space. I must say, thanks to the magic of the designers and artisans at Ivy Lane Living, and it is gorgeous. I mean, the tile work alone is something you have to see to believe; you have to just come see the tile. We are still waiting on some things (we did this all pretty quickly, after all), but we were not going to let perfect get in the way of progress. Besides, maybe knowing there is still work to be done will keep folks coming back. Look for another post just on the design of the space.

We have twice as much space and even offices and space where we can check in all the merchandise without doing it in the middle of the sales floor. You won’t even have to watch us fill all the web orders while you shop - which will be a switch for our frequent clients.

Since the open date was a bit of a moving target, we couldn’t plan a big huge party, but we couldn’t let it go by without a little celebration. So, this Friday from 4pm to 7pm, please come by to sip, shop, and see the new space! We will have bubbles and macarons from Alexandria’s own Mixed Macarons. If you can’t make it at night, come by in the morning on Friday or Saturday from 10am to 2pm for our espresso bar.

We are so excited to share this great space with everyone. We also have so many great new items in as well from some of our favorite designers like TIBI, Hunter Bell, Veronica Beard, Xirena, and great new lines like Stella Pardo and Sabina Savage. It has been such a whirlwind, but it is finally here!