Meet Grace Gordy Mohr & Julie Gordy of Honey & Hazel Boutique in Alpharetta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Gordy Mohr and Julie Gordy.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Grace and Julie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Grace – From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be in the fashion industry and went on to attend SCAD – Atlanta for fashion marketing & management. While in school, I had an amazing internship at Seventeen magazine in NYC along with other great opportunities in the industry. After college, I moved to Charleston, SC and helped open a couple new retail stores where I realized I would love to do this for myself. My mom and I had always talked about owning a store together and it seemed like the perfect timing.

Julie – My background was always in Interior Design and home decor. I owned two home decor stores when my kids were younger. Grace had always expressed an interest in having a store together that was fashion & clothing related. I loved the idea and told her to get a degree, get some experience and then we would see what happened.

Beginning Honey & Hazel Boutique
Julie – Unfortunately, my sweet mother (Grace’s Grandmother), Emily Hays passed away at 92 years young right before the store opened. That’s where the name Honey & Hazel came from, a tribute to her. She was a sweet Southern woman and called everyone dear to her a “Honey” and had beautiful Hazel eyes.

Our customers enjoy hearing the story of where the name came from, it really keeps the family theme of our store alive.

Grace – We opened our doors in April 2014 and can’t believe we are about to turn 4 years old! We have the best customers and really enjoy getting to know them, they have truly become part of our family. We have been so honored to have won “Best Boutique” for North Atlanta 3 years in a row and are excited to see what the future holds.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Julie – In short, the answer is no. As with any business, there are plenty of ups and downs and obstacles to overcome. We had a lot to learn in the beginning, but feel that we are rocking and rolling now.

Grace – Mom and I are both very creative minds so I think we struggled a little bit learning all of the analytical aspects in the beginning that you have to know to run a business. We definitely know WAY more now!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Honey & Hazel Boutique – what should we know?
Grace – Honey & Hazel Boutique is a women’s clothing and accessories store. We offer a unique merchandise mix and keep our products at affordable price points. We pride ourselves on having excellent customer service and because we are family, we treat our customers like family. My mom and I are best friends and it’s been so fun for our customers to see our interaction and end up coming in to shop with their mothers or daughters and everyone is able to find something they love.

Julie – Our target customers are women in their 20’s to 50’s, but we have plenty younger and older too. So many of our customers are mother/daughter duos that come in to shop together and both are able to find things and leave happy. That is really what Grace and I strived to achieve when opening the store. We are able to show how you can wear the clothing at different ages.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Julie – Grace and I are in the store every day, we are the face of Honey & Hazel and our customers feel like they can come in and we know them.

Grace – Honey & Hazel is different than other generic stores because we invest our time into getting to know our customers wants and needs. We go the extra mile to add that personal touch!

Julie & Grace – Due to the fact, that we are a family-owned business, it adds a level of trust that is different than chain stores and big department stores.

Pricing:

• Pricing under $100
• Shoes and Accessories under $50

Contact Info:

• Address: 7300 North Point Parkway, Suite 102
  Alpharetta, GA 30022
• Website: www.shophoneyandhazel.com
• Phone: 678-585-0065
• Email: shophoneyandhazel@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Abby Breaux Photography

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