It’s a family affair at Rustic II Refined. Most days find Hailey Minten working with her mother, Kerry Minten, and sister, Chelsey Tourville, at their seasonal boutique in Five Forks where they work “within 20 feet of each other,” according to Hailey Minten, creating something special.
Across the country and the state, the family has worked together to create a business that means more to its customers than items on the store’s shelves.
Each brings a different strength to the operation, from Tourville’s design skills and Hailey Minten’s business focus to mom Kerry Minten’s ability to do “everything,” according to Hailey, who said her father also gets in on the work.
“We call him Maintenance Man Dave,” Hailey Minten says.
Kerry Minten opened and ran a store in Wisconsin, before the family moved to South Carolina and settled on the coast, where Hailey started school at Coastal Carolina University.
Hailey fully credits her mother’s vision and determination in opening that first store with inspiring all that has come since. After the move, she and her mother opened a shop in Myrtle Beach. And when Hailey graduated and Tourville finished interior design school in Wisconsin, the family decided to make Greenville their new home. While they considered opening a business downtown, they ultimately chose the Five Forks area of Simpsonville five years ago. It has become a community favorite for shopping and connection.
“We have three categories: home decor, gifts and apparel,” Minten says. “That changes through the seasons. We always like to keep it fresh and change it up all the time.”
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Displays offer design inspiration, from rich fall colors to sparkling holidays to summer sunshine for graduations and Mother’s Day. Throughout the year, the family team listens to customers and offers new inventory based on their requests – like expanding their apparel offerings.
“The three of us are also the buyers,” Minten says. “Because we're working in the store every day, if someone says, ‘Hey, we're looking for this,’ we know the next time we buy to look for that. Our customers definitely are influential here. We do really strive to get the brands and the trends that our customers are looking for.”
But the reality is that customers can shop anywhere. Minten says the personal connection many find at Rustic II Refined is what creates community and turns shoppers into friends.
The family is working toward expanding to a new location, creating a spot with both a larger storefront and space where people can gather and connect over a class or fun evening out. For now, they get creative, both in what they offer and how they celebrate each other and their customers, like doing a limo tour of displays of Christmas lights with proceeds benefiting a nonprofit and participants making memories together.
“They always come to us as their safe space,” Minten says. “On Saturdays, it's kind of touching – they come in because they get a cup of coffee, and they're like, ‘I just need to debrief.’”
From rough weeks at work to the loss of family members, customers know where they can turn to find a listening ear and whatever they need to help with gifts, events and more. Minten says one customer came in recently following the loss of her mother, shopping for items that resembled her mother’s style.
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“It’s things like that that I feel like we're helping the community through – the really highs, like weddings and baby showers and gender reveals and things like that – but we're also helping them through the lows,” she says. “When you're coming here, we form a connection. I feel like that's really the community that we've created. So many people know my dog by name, so many people know my dad by name. I just feel like creating that community, not just a business, is very important, because they're buying from our family, not just what’s within the four walls.”
Shop in the store or learn more and shop online at rustic2refinedsc.com.