The ribbon is officially cut for Lotus + Birch in downtown Newberry. Pictured is the Goodwin-Hemphill family, left to right: Talan Hemphill, Chris Goodwin-Hemphill, Justin Goodwin-Hemphill and Kaia Hemphill.
Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
At Lotus + Birch, you can purchase custom pillows made with local town names and coordinates.
Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
NEWBERRY — Downtown Newberry just got a bit more botanical, but not in the way you think; Lotus + Birch is a new home and lifestyle store at 1411 Main Street.
“I am just happy to be here, to be a part of the community. From day one, when we came to scope y’all out, it’s been a beautiful journey we are able to do. We are here to bring you something new, something hip, something trendy. We offer home decor, furniture, our 15-year old daughter makes all of our wax melts and candles in store. I have amazing florals done by hand from a really good friend of ours in California. We also do custom upholstery, custom pillows,” said Justin Goodwin-Hemphill during the ribbon cutting. “We are really excited to be here and be part of the community.”
Goodwin-Hemphill said they are focusing on the newest and trendiest furniture and home decor on the market.
“We carry multiple manufacturers with the hottest selection of bedroom, living room, dining room furniture, along with upholstery including sofas, sectionals and occasional chairs, all offered in leather or custom fabrics. We have new and vintage home decor, made in the USA and imported from India and Europe,” he said.
As previously mentioned, Lotus + Birch offers candle and wax melt lines in store, which are made by Goodwin-Hemphill and his daughter, Kaia Hemphill.
Goodwin-Hemphill also said they offer one-of-a-kind, handcrafted faux floral and succulent arrangements from Devine Doors in Turlock, Calif. The custom pillows in the store are made by Allie Studios in Sacramento, Calif.
“They are available with any location and coordinates, they are also solely made for us here in Newberry,” he said.
Some of what is offered at Lotus + Birch plays into Newberry’s art community. Goodwin-Hemphill said they brought in his sister-in-law, Angela Gall, with Winding Willow Designs and will have her art exclusively at their store.
“Winding Willow will have available small wish necklaces filled with dandelions, hand painted art on live edge wood boards and repurposed wood pallets, decorative cement candles and a wide variety of oyster wall art, blessing beads and more,” he said.
When it comes to the name, Lotus + Birch, Goodwin-Hemphill said the name represents his daughter and son, Talan Hemphill.
“Lotus + Birch was created as my interpretation of the divine feminine and divine masculine, the sacred polarities that exist in all of creation (male and female, yin and yang, earth and spirit, heart and brain). It represents my daughter, the lotus flower, and my son, the birch tree. Represents the softness and the hardness of what design is based on,” he said.
As to bringing Lotus + Birch to Newberry, Goodwin-Hemphill said the universe brought them to Newberry.
“We had a six-year plan to move after our children graduated; at the same time, we wanted to give them new experiences and a different perspective on life and surroundings,” he said. “So, I started researching cities and searching for buildings and places to live on the East Coast, knowing we were never going to retire in California. As I was conducting my search, my computer froze on Newberry and the Carpenter Building, which I fell in love with, looked up Newberry on Google and newberrychristmas.com came up and I knew it was meant to be. We came to Newberry for a week in July and knew immediately we were home.”
Now that they call Newberry home, the community has already welcomed them. Goodwin-Hemphill said they have been very well received and gained support from other local businesses and the community.
“The feedback we have received has been that Lotus + Birch is what Newberry was needing. Our signature scent we make in the store has been so popular we have started shipping them out of state; I believe due to the light floral scent met with an undertone of wood and earth,” he said.
Mayor Foster Senn echoed this during the ribbon cutting, where he congratulated them on their opening.
“What a beautiful store, we are delighted y’all are here. To me, this is a destination store, bringing people from other places to downtown Newberry to do business with y’all, but also shop downtown,” he said. “Lotus + Birch will help our entire downtown business community, and it is just what we need.”
To learn more about Lotus + Birch, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or on their website www.lotusbirch.com.
They are open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Reach Andrew Wigger @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.