The Longs cut the ribbon on the newly renovated The Berry Patch. The Longs are longtime Newberrians, both Jared and Kristina Long were raised here and went to Newberry College. Pictured left to right: Jared Long, Paxton Long, Kristina Long and Hudson Long.
Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
NEWBERRY — The Berry Patch, LLC., 1220 Main Street, Newberry, officially opened their storefront on Oct. 1, 2021, and roughly six months later, they have already expanded.
Kristina Long, owner of The Berry Patch, said that her business actually began prior to 2021, she started the store online in September of 2017. In fact, the reason for the store was due to the Long’s family home looking like a warehouse, according to her husband Jared Long.
“People came by all the time to pick stuff up or try stuff on,” Kristina Long said. “People were also coming to drop stuff off on the porch, we outgrew that.”
The Berry Patch offers women’s clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts. Long said what sets her apart is that she tries to take high-end fashion trends and offer them to the community in a way that is an everyday look.
“My goal is, no matter what someone has going on in their life — vacation, special event — they can find it at The Berry Patch and it makes them feel good,” she said.
For example, Long says they offer items such as black dresses for funerals; they also have outfits for occasions such as baby showers or weddings.
“Wherever you are, whatever stage of your life, we have something to offer,” she said.
The Berry Patch currently offers sizes small through XL, Long said she does get the question of plus sizes and said she does want to do that in the future, but they are not quite there.
Since opening on Main Street, Long said they quickly outgrew their space, a large part due to the community response.
“The response from the community has been so wonderful, we wanted to go ahead and look forward and do the expansion so the store could continue to grow. We hit the maximum of what the front space would allow,” she said. “For big events downtown, it got crowded more quickly. We wanted a more comfortable shopping experience.”
Jared Long handled the construction, he said he started by adding in small storage in the back (somewhere to store orders when they arrive).
“She also needed more dressing rooms, I built all the furniture and knocked the wall out to flow easily in and out,” he said.
Kristina Long said the expansion allowed them to expand what they offer, including an expanded gift line, more fashion looks, and children’s books.
When it comes to what she is most excited about with the expansion, Long said the dressing rooms.
“We had a local artist Dantzler Long (no relation), she’s been painting the store windows and she painted murals inside the dressing rooms. We tried to incorporate other new businesses into our business, help them grow as well and give them an opportunity,” she said. “Someone locally makes our clay earrings (Kristen Miller) and other people trying to get their foot in the door, be helpful to them as they are to us.”
To keep up with The Berry Patch, you can follow them on their social media pages: Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest or on their website, shoptheberrypatchboutique.com.
The Berry Patch is open Fridays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Long said she hopes they will add more days in the future.
Reach Andrew Wigger @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.