After opening the doors to her store Thursday, Rebecca Brown greeted customers as they browsed through racks of clothing.
While shopping, they smelled the aroma of fresh coffee brewing and tried to find the perfect outfit. As the owner of Rebecca’s of Clinton, it’s something Brown loves to do.
“Everybody here is well trained in knowing what works for different body types,” Brown said. “We do clothing, accessories, shoes — the whole package. When they leave, ladies will walk up to us and have us cut tags off to pay for things and they walk out in full dress for whatever their event is. I think that sets us apart.”
After many years of running the store and boutique outlet in downtown, Brown is looking forward to having more success with more space at 1129 McKoy St.
“I love it and I’m excited about it,” Brown said about outgrowing the Wall Street location. “I think it’s fantastic because we can offer more. We’re really strong on customer service. We do appointments for fittings and we’ve outgrown the ability to do that there.”
Rebecca’s began 12 years ago as a children’s shop. After a few years, mama’s match clothing for parents and their children.
“That led to an explosion of ladies,” she said about adding more clothing for women.
Later, she married her husband, Dodd Brown, who brought in men’s clothing and operates the department, which also includes outdoor accessories. Some of the brands are Southern Tide, Southern Marsh, and Old South. Local collegiate wear is included as well.
“It’s an old cliche to say that we’re customer-friendly focused, but we are,” he said. “It’s a family business and it’s local. That’s what makes us different.”
Along with selling women, men’s and children’s clothing, Rebecca’s wants to host fashion and trunk shows on a runway set up in the back. One of the shows is scheduled for Sympli featuring representative Denine Mackie hosting for the Canadian company. It’s scheduled for noon and 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3.
The new McKoy location, which sat vacant for several years, provides more floor space and parking. The Sweet Shop, featuring a variety of candy, is a new edition. It includes tables for visitors to enjoy coffee, chocolates, candy, craft sodas and Dippin’ Dots ice cream inside the store. The Brown said community groups such as book clubs are welcome to have meetings there. Free WiFi is also available for customers. Tuxedo, party and prom dress rentals are also available.
“We got more things coming that haven’t got to the floor yet,” Dodd said about expanding.
In the meantime, many customers are enjoying the new ambience of Rebecca’s of Clinton. One of those customers was Teretha McNeil.
“I patronized them downtown and this really nice,” McNeil said while leaving the store with bags in her hands. “I like it.”
