Boutique expands with shoes and men in mind

One of the coolest additions to Blake & Brady's expansion is the men's corner upstairs, says Chris Sullivan.

It's a bare space now, but a couch and TV will entertain men and children while the women in their lives shop at the Anderson boutique.

“I'm in that same boat," Sullivan said. “I can't do the shopping thing."

He and wife, Sissa Sullivan, like to do the business thing. Their store, in downtown Anderson, will double in size on May 2. A 1,100-square-foot-loft will hold denim and 50 styles of shoes. “When you get a box of shoes it's enormous," Chris Sullivan said. “You're getting one box with 12 pair. People were buying them like crazy, but we didn't have anywhere to store them."

The upstairs addition is an almost mirror image of the store's main floor, Sissa Sullivan said. The loft last housed an attorney's office cluttered with walls and forgotten furniture.An original 1898 hardwood floor lay beneath old tiles.

“It's like people came home from the Civil War, and they laid this floor down," Chris Sullivan said.

A wood bar will be used for after-hours parties. At least two dressing rooms will be to the side of the new space.

Word-of-mouth advertising and an active Blake & Brady Facebook page have led to a growth that has spread throughout the Southeast, California and soon, Ireland.

“It's nice to hear our names on a lot of people's lips," Sissa Sullivan said. “We want everyone to succeed in this town."

Much of the boost happened in the last year, and the Sullivans hired six more employees to meet demands.

Orders from such high-fashion locales as California amused Chris Sullivan.

“It's funny because I know they can find this stuff there because we get it from there so we receive it from California then model it and ship it back," he said.

For all the closings that plagued downtown through the winter, the opening of Mellow Mushroom on Monday brought hope, Sissa Sullivan said.

“Downtown is really starting to boom," she said. “It's showing people that downtown is definitely a place to be, which is nice."

A year ago she never imagined she'd be this close to meeting her goal of shipping to every state.

“My expectations have been met 10 times over," she said.