In Business of Home’s series Shop Talk, we chat with owners of home furnishings stores across the country to hear about their hard-won lessons and challenges, big and small. This week, we spoke with Stevie McFadden, the owner of Richmond, Virginia–based design firm and store Flourish Spaces.
McFadden calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur,” having begun her interior design business on the side while working as a consultant 10 years ago. Her foray into retail has also been a series of go-with-the-flow decisions: The showroom she opened in 2020 for clients to try out investment pieces quickly became a proper decor store, which led to the need for a new location, which led to a pivot in merchandise when she and her staff realized how much access customers wanted to customization. Ahead, she explains how her store functions now, how she staffs, and why she wouldn’t mind a bit of relaxation in 2025.
Has the store always been in the same spot?
No. It was kind of a post-pandemic thing: I owned a building in a neighborhood called Jackson Ward, which is closer to downtown Richmond. Richmond is like a lot of older cities, in that the downtown is not quite what it used to be. There has been a push for a while to revive the Arts District, so I originally bought that building to house my interior design business. I wanted to be in that part of town: It’s a beautiful, converted row house shop situation. But as I grew, I realized that before [clients] made a big investment in a sofa, their husbands wanted to stretch out on it to make sure they could nap properly.
This is a long answer to your question—I’ll land this plane!—but people spent so much time shopping online during the pandemic that the ability to touch and feel something in person resonated. Once I’d made the investment in the showroom, it felt silly not to try to capitalize on it a little bit with retail. But it was not a good environment for retail—people in Richmond love the promise of parking. Last summer, one of my team members threw out the crazy question: “I know you own the building, but does that mean we have to stay here?” Three weeks later, we were signing a lease in a part of town much closer to our clients, with a parking lot. We opened our doors on November 1, 2023.
Can you tell me how the shop functions with the customizable design elements?
The concept when we opened was nice, quality lines that were typically trade-only. But as people came in and saw our design studio, they’d see wallpaper and fabric samples and say, “Wait a minute, can I look at that?” We realized people were missing the ability to pick all of those layers. We got into a concierge drapery program: We have two different partners and our local workroom, and people can order a ready-made, quick-ship product, or they can choose patterns, pleats and lengths with our workroom.
[When it comes to] fabrics and wallpaper, we try to do unique and local and pick the things that might be harder to discover on your own. We’ve got two artists in Richmond who design their own wallpaper, and people can do something highly custom that way. Most recently, we began carrying Little Greene paints, and we’ve added rugs. We work with local [artisans] to make dining tables and foyer tables. We opened up a “pillow bar” where people can pick size, fabric, fill and finish details.
Then there are the “necessary luxuries,” as I call ’em: the candlesticks, diffusers, frames, art and coffee-table books. As we have layered these things in, I realized [the shopping experience] needs to be a design-supported sale. People are looking for gut checks or validation of their selections. We have an in-house designer whose role is to lend that expertise and support.
Aside from that one designer, how have you staffed the store?
My first criteria when we opened our doors was I wanted this place to feel very accessible. I’ve been in those stores where you walk in and feel like either, “Oh, I don’t know what I’m doing,” or “I am not Money Bags McFadden.” A big piece of [accomplishing that accessibility] is the team. I looked first and foremost for people who can offer a sense of hospitality, who make [customers] feel at ease right away. That’s hard to train. I’ve got a fantastic team of women who love beautiful things. They appreciate design, even though they are not trained designers.
The second part of that is training, training, training. That is slow-going. So we love our reps, who have made an investment to come in and train us [on the product], give us refreshers. It goes hand in hand with working with our on-staff designer, because you really only learn that stuff by repetition. So [the salespeople are] very comfortable being that first point of contact and then directing: “Let’s pull Berry in here and get her expertise on this.” It’s worked out nicely to have that tag-team approach.
How is the store arranged?
We’re still trying to figure it out. I have six to eight vignettes, and within those are the lighting, rugs, furniture, and all the decorative accessories and pillows. But if it’s only in situ, that can also be confusing to people. “This is beautiful, but can I buy this?” So we’ve tried to find ways to make a few of something available on the shelf. I mean, Ikea’s got it right. “Oh, I see how this can look in my house. Now make it easy to find it, see the price and buy it.” I try to strike that balance between making it easy but still special. Again, it’s not making it look like, “Am I allowed to go in there?” Signage and supporting materials have been [helpful], but at the end of the day, it goes back to those team members.
Who are your typical customers?
We do sell to the trade, and that is slowly increasing. We are cultivating that part of the business. With the architecture community and some developers, we do large-scale procurement for projects, and we’re starting to do that for smaller interior designers. They can still make margin, but they outsource that to a mix of our shop team and our design team—so they can bring clients in, look around, sit on things, and know we’re going to work through them, not their clients, so that they can still get their share. That’s been great.
The others, it’s a lot of people who have worked with designers in the past and they’re like, “I want personal touches on my house,” or “My designer did a beautiful job three years ago; I just need one or two things to freshen up.” Then there are people who really want to do it themselves, so we can become a trusted partner.
What is your sourcing process like?
I spent a couple of years zeroing in on the providers of those foundational elements, and so we have great partnerships. That came from [spending] a lot of time at High Point Market, and developing relationships with my reps. We have a pretty narrative focus on what we carry in the shop for furniture. It’s the same thing locally—years of developing relationships. With some of the other elements, it is spending a lot of time on Instagram and Etsy, going to art shows, scouring. All that’s to say, it’s casting a wide net and it’s a crapshoot.
For a long time, I thought about what would sell. What are people going to love? And then I said, “If it’s something I would not put in a client’s project, then it doesn’t belong in my shop.” I’m looking for the things that bring me joy, that I would love to share with people. That has been a much less stressful way of sourcing—trusting my own gut. Surprisingly, I’ve had much more success with it. I have to remind myself sometimes that people do pay me for my opinions, so I should trust those.
How do you handle customers who shop the store, taking note of brands and buying them online for cheaper?
I think you can set up your business one of two ways. We can assume that’s the default and try to guard against it. Or I can accept there will be a small few people who do that, and I’m trying to offer value beyond that. What we have to offer is a different experience than just the lowest dollar on a piece of furniture. They’re getting not just a product, but inspiration and education and empowerment. Those are the three things I really want people to feel when they leave our store. “Oh, I can combine these two patterns, and here’s why it works.” Then they love it, and they feel confident in what they’ve done, and you can’t price-shop that. Right?
And for every person who’s going to shop you online, there are those who say, “I know I can get this online, but I want to support local.” Those are the ones we’ve got to focus on.
What’s your own favorite category?
Pillows, because I get to scratch a design itch that’s very broad. Those who [had the means] used to change out their drapes and rugs with the seasons, and I don’t think most of us have the time or pocketbooks for that. But anybody can change out their pillows. I love textiles, and pillows are a way to introduce a little dose of fabulous textiles. It’s a low-risk, high-reward purchasing situation.
Do you do any events, and can you tell me about your holiday planning?
We have started doing some events—mostly hosting for other people, which has been fun. We had a great event with a local garden club this week. They wanted to have their end-of-year meeting in a pretty place where they could drink wine. We did it in conjunction with a florist who plants out a lot of our vessels, and they did three tablescapes for the holidays. People voted on their favorites, and it was super fun. So we’re doing more and more events like that.
We also do a lot of give-back days with a nonprofit, where we’ll give a percentage of our sales to that organization. I feel like it’s an awesome way to support our community. It’s our first year really doing [the holiday shopping season]. We were just moving in last year. Honestly I’m worried right now that I didn’t order enough Christmas [product]. I underestimated people’s fervor to deck their own halls, perhaps! So we may be undertaking a different holiday planning exercise next year. We’ll see. We’ll figure it out, coach!
What is the Richmond design scene like?
First of all, Richmond’s a beautiful city. It’s full of beautiful neighborhoods and old architecture. From a design perspective, I described the vibe for many years as very traditional, very classic. Lots of family pieces and brown furniture. Now you have a lot of people who have moved to Richmond from other locations, and with that came an infusion of different tastes and styles. We’re seeing a desire for eclectic things. So I would say now it’s a very classic base with a lot of color or pattern or interesting art and found objects sprinkled in. In Richmond, per capita, the interior designers per resident [ratio] is probably pretty high. There have not been a lot of stores [geared toward a shopper] that’s not working with a designer. [With] my peers who have opened shops within the last five years, it’s very collegial. We try not to overlap, and they do a lovely job too.
What are some of your hopes for the future of the business?
Well, speaking plainly, at some point I would like the graph of how hard I work and how much I earn to invert. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m 50—why did I start a new venture at this age?” That’s not an inspiring answer, but it is God’s honest truth.
We are working really hard on our processes and our training so that I can … I don’t want to say “take my foot off the gas,” but I want to do more of that unique sourcing, and thinking about the brand creatively, and getting our message out more. I love the idea of being able to source more globally. I travel a lot, and I dream about what it would look like to integrate some importing into my sourcing strategy. But I love my [interior design] clients so much, and we’re usually with them for two, three, four years while we’re doing their whole house. I don’t want to lose that. I want to have that small focus but be able to reach more people in that same personal way with the shop.
What’s your favorite day at the shop?
I love Fridays. That’s when we get a lot of random foot traffic, people taking a longer lunch. It’s a little chaotic, in the best way. Talking to customers recharges me. Inevitably, I end up merchandising the store and moving things around. I’m sure a lot of designers would relate to this: We get into doing this work because we love designing, so getting on the floor, moving stuff around and styling, it feeds that need.
