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Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Favorite Laundry owner Kim Anderson stands in front of the store’s former Mt Laurel location. The children’s clothing boutique closed its doors May 15 to transition into an online shop with seasonal shows around Birmingham.
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Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Favorite Laundry owner Kim Anderson stands in front of the store’s former Mt Laurel location. The children’s clothing boutique closed its doors May 15 to transition into an online shop with seasonal shows around Birmingham.
Favorite Laundry, a Mt Laurel children’s clothing boutique, closed its storefront location May 15. Founded in 2009 and owned for the past three years by Kim Anderson, it will be evolving into an online shop and will sell at seasonal shows in the Birmingham area.
“People are shopping more and more online instead of coming into brick-and-mortar stores, so I felt like we could get a bigger reach going online,” Anderson said.
The lease for the space was up in January. Anderson said she had been thinking of closing the location for a while and said this seemed like the right time to do so. Her children are now 9 and 11, and she is looking forward to taking the summer off and spending more time with them. After working every day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., she thinks the new arrangement gives her the best of both worlds.
She spent her past few weeks in the store selling the remaining inventory and fixtures. While she will miss having her space and the relationships she has made with her customers, they have understood her decision.
“The response has been really positive,” Anderson said. “The customers understand people are shopping online more. I’m going to miss seeing them every day and watching their kids grow up, but they know this allows us to spread out a little and have more time with our kids.”
Anderson said she is excited about her first venture in e-commerce, with all items being sold on their newly designed website, favoritelaundry.com. She is partnering with Meagan Barton in Charlotte, North Carolina, to help as she transitions to online only.
“Meagan and I have known each other for a while,” Anderson said. “She moved there from Birmingham and wanted to start something fresh. Everything just came together. It’s exciting.”
The website will feature the Favorite Laundry brand, with personalized T-shirts being the No. 1-seller. They will also add separates and other items in the future.
“It will be our brand,” Anderson said. “We’ll still be offering personalization, monogramming and heat press. Customers can go on the site and pick what they want personalized. We will continue to accommodate people who need something different and specific.
“The designing, press and printing will all still be done by us,” she continued. “We are making that part a home-based business. I’ll still be designing and working with customers on custom pieces, monograms and heat-press personalization.”
In addition to the website, Anderson will continue the company’s social media presence, posting on the Favorite Laundry Facebook and Instagram.
While all of the items will ship from Charlotte, Favorite Laundry may offer front porch or in-town pick-up in the future. For now, all orders more than $40 will be shipped for free.
Anderson still wants to be around people and build relationships beyond just online. She plans to do seasonal shows around the area such as Cottontails and Christmas Village, adding that despite some nervousness, she is looking forward to it.
In the meantime, she said, she will enjoy her flexible schedule and time with her family.
“The Mt Laurel neighborhood is so quaint and cute,” Anderson said. “We loved being out here and the uniqueness of it. Our customers have been very supportive. We will miss them, but we will still be around.”
For more information, go to facebook.com/favoritelaundryclothing.
