It’s no secret that the economy in the Lowcountry thrives on tourism. But, a pocket economy has emerged based around small-scale production and manufacturing.
In fact, there are hundreds of these businesses popping up from Hilton Head Island to Beaufort, offering locally-produced goods of every kind. Monthly sat down with five of them to find out why it’s a good time to be “made in the Lowcountry.”
Ruff Life
There are plenty of reasons to start your own business, from the urge to be your own boss to the possibility of retiring young and rich.
For some, like Ruff Life founder Julie Nickerson, starting her own business began with a pooch, and continues with a spirit of giving and charity.
“I started Ruff Life out of an experience I had with my puppy Jack, who was rescued in Bamberg,” Nickerson said. “At six months during his growth spurt, he was developing a problem with his back legs, and with a very active puppy that didn’t seem normal.”
It turned out she had two choices when it came to determining Jack’s future: face the needle of euthanasia or undergo a costly hip replacement. Nickerson small budget had no room for the $5,500 price tag that came with fixing Jack’s legs, but fortunately for her, she lived on Hilton Head Island, a community known for giving.
“Our local community raised the money I needed to save Jack. It was such an overwhelming experience I had to find a way to keep the tradition going…or to ‘pay it forward,’ ” Nickerson said.
From that desire to repay this act of kindness came Ruff Life, a local clothing company that donates $2 to local shelters for each item sold. The shelters include the Hilton Head Island Humane Association and the Palmetto Animal League in Bluffton.
The fun designs of the Ruff Life T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts are proving to be a hit, and have made huge strides in helping Nickerson pay it forward.
“Last year, in the four months we were in business we raised $600,” she said, “And this year we have raised $450 so far with the hope of raising much more on the busy months to come.”
The designs combine Nickerson’s love of dogs and her love of Hilton Head Island, showing Jack the dog living it up island-style: golfing, playing tennis, kayaking and even kite surfing.
But Nickerson’s charity doesn’t end with dogs. She’s also turned Ruff Life’s attention toward the plight of the loggerhead sea turtles that lay their eggs on Hilton Head beaches.
“My next project I am working on is called Nite Life, which helps raise awareness for our loggerhead sea turtles,” she said. “I’ve talked to the Coastal Museum and they are on board with my idea. Two-dollars for each shirt sold will go in our Sea Turtle fund.”
Those shirts are in the works and should be available for purchase in July.
For more information on ordering Ruff Life products, visit www.rufflife.org.
The Lowcountry Store
No one needs to tell Ed Jerue, the owner of The Lowcountry Store, about the industrious nature of Lowcountry craftsmen. Since 2007, he’s been stocking locally produced items, from furniture to dolls to specialty food items at both of his locations in Sea Pines and in Frogmore.
“There are a great number of artists, craftsmen, growers and talented innovative wood workers that we provide outlets for their goods that meet our mix of products that we want in our Lowcountry Stores,” said Jerue.
He opened his first location in Frogmore three years ago, a venture founded on seeking out products from all over the Lowcountry and offering them up in one location. When one location turned out to be not enough to house all that local talent, he opened up his second store in Sea Pines in March.
It’s easy to see why an area bursting with so many quality goods could not be contained to just one shop. Browsing through The Lowcountry Store’s offerings, it seems you could get everything you’d ever need without leaving the Lowcountry. Step inside and you’ll find the signature “Not Adirondack” Lowcountry Chairs, custom floral designs by Rindy, a range of delectables from Lowcountry Produce, personal care products from Savannah Bee, and of course works from some of the area’s legion of talented artists.
“We only select goods and products of what we consider to be a high quality,” said Jerue.
The selection of exceptional products has attracted fans from across the country, giving local products a springboard to a national customer base.
“We’ve found that many of our products purchased by area visitors are reordered when they return to their permanent residence, and we ship products daily to meet those needs,” said Jerue.
This national shipping gives local manufacturers a huge advantage, one many would not be able to maintain selling the items themselves. That’s what makes the Lowcountry Store different; how it offers one place where locals can hang their shingle and get their wares to market. With so much in the offing from Lowcountry artisans, Jerue has several avenues for discovering new talent and products.
“We seek out products produced locally that are quality made and the best of the Lowcountry. Some of our products are sourced by artists that come to us, but primarily we select our products from the best of the Lowcountry,” he said. And the goods aren’t the only things local. The Lowcountry Store also depends on local buzz to help stock its shelves.
“We receive referrals from local residents for new products that they believe would be a good fit in our stores,” he said. “These referrals have led us to some of our best finds.” Visit www.lowcountrystore.com for more information.
Kandyland Kids
The very definition of a small home business, Carolyn Andrews has been making children’s clothing for more than 25 years right out of the house. And while her operation may be small (currently all of her custom-tailored children’s robes are made out of a workroom in her island home), her talent and dedication to quality are mile-high.
Andrews’ business started in Connecticut as Country Cousins, offering custom-designed and sewn girls’ dresses with stenciled pinafores. The business continued after her 1993 move to the Lowcountry, but was soon competing with her work as an interior designer. Until recently, Andrews’ keen eye for detail and yen for quality were put to work decorating Lowcountry homes with window treatments, bedding, and according to Andrews, “pretty much anything out of fabric.”
“I did that from 1995 up until last year when the housing market bottomed out,” Andrews said. Area real estate’s loss was a gain for area kids, as she was able to focus more on her children’s clothing again.
“I always liked children's clothing lines and am happiest creating them,” she added.
While children’s clothing in all its frills and lines was Andrews’ passion, she soon saw a great opportunity in the laid-back beach atmosphere of the island. Every kid who calls the Lowcountry home or spends their family vacation here is in and out of the water, be it on the beach or in the pool. Andrews’ robes give kids need something to cuddle up in after hopping out of the waves.
Her line of kids’ robes ready for the pool or the surf was born. Andrews began small, giving them away as gifts. With the addition of a website, a new stream of revenue was born.
“Everyone loves them because they’re machine washable, will last on a child for at least two years, and are absorbent after coming out of the bath, pool or the surf,” she said. The robes have proven popular, but for the time being Andrews still plans on making each one out of that same workroom that has served her well so far.
“When I start to get a lot of orders, I’ll have to hire and train someone,” she said. “If it gets too busy, I’ll have to find a place to set up shop and expand.”
But no matter how big her business gets, or how far her dream takes her, Andrews says her designs will continue to be made right here no matter what.
“I’ll still stay in the Lowcountry area as my base,” she said. “I've always loved running my business here. This is home to me.”
Bluffton Cornhole
Clayton Colleran and Curt Jacobi are a perfect example of the Lowcountry’s fertile creativity and talent for craftsmanship, but their business is centered around a unique bit of Yankee ingenuity: the game of cornhole.
Two cornhole boards are set 27 feet apart, each of which has a hole cored in it. Players take turns launching beanbags across the playing field, attempting to land one in the hole (or at the very least trying not to spill their drink). It’s a game that combines one part strategy and 12 parts fun, so it’s little wonder it found a home in the Lowcountry.
“Curt Jacobi and I started the business last year after we made a set of cornhole boards for ourselves and saw how well they turned out,” said Colleran. “We were encouraged by friends who also wanted sets for themselves but didn't want to pay the $40-plus on shipping from an online store, so Bluffton Cornhole was born.”
Those first friends purchasing Bluffton Cornhole boards quickly became a bustling customer base. Spurred on by word of mouth and by the growing craze around the game, the business took off. Expansion was quick, but quite painless, thanks to a few local connections.
“My brother and father operate a local cabinetry company called Full Circle Woodworking,” Colleran said, “and we were able to make use of their existing shop space to set up business, which was a crucial component.”
Now, each board is built from the ground up using nothing but local supplies. Everything, board and beanbags, is made in Bluffton, purchased from local building suppliers.
Orders began piling up almost as soon as the pair hung out their shingle, with businesses like Monster Pizza and Jock’s spreading the gospel of cornhole. The Bluffton Cornhole booth at the Bluffton Village Festival drew a huge crowd, bringing in orders locally and from part-time residents. Like many small businesses, there were growing pains.
“Our first few boards were durable and attractive, but were priced too high,” said Colleran. “We made a few changes and now have a really great product with a price-point that beats many of the online retailers before shipping is even factored in. The fact that local buyers do not have to pay for shipping is a great advantage.”
Bluffton Cornhole is a second business for both partners, which translates into long nights at the shop for these two. And despite the fact that they are a business divided (Colleran is a Clemson grad and Jacobi is pure Gamecock), they still gel when it comes to putting out a fine product. And it helps that they run their business in an area so remarkably receptive to local self-starters and craftsmen.
“Hilton Head and Bluffton do a great job nurturing the arts community,” said Colleran. “The fairs and festivals that allow artists and craftsmen to gather and show off their products to tourists from all over the country is a great thing for us. The Bluffton Village Festival was a huge success for our business, and we’re still having orders filter in from people who saw us there.
“You know our cost of living is really not that high here either,” he continued. “Sure, we have the areas where property is through the roof, but we also have a lot of communities where homes are affordable. … All that said, we live in a beautiful place, so what's not to like?”
Even though the product they make and sell has its roots on the far side of the Mason-Dixon, Bluffton Corhnole is a truly local business, and will continue to be no matter how far the cornhole craze grows. “Bluffton is home,” Colleran said.
Visit www.blufftoncornhole.com for more information.
Susu & John – The Beaufort Button Bonnet
Sometimes the biggest ideas just come off the top of your head. When Beaufort mother and daughter duo Mary Patrick and Janie Brooks McQueen were brainstorming ideas for a business, they probably didn’t know they were about to put the Lowcountry on the fashion world’s map.
“My mom and I were discussing business ideas, and she'd come across an heirloom bonnet pattern that had been given to her when I was a baby by a family friend,” McQueen said. “She'd recently made a few for baby gifts for friends' grandbabies, and they were a hit, so we decided to base the business around that bonnet. We immediately named it the Beaufort Button Bonnet.”
That was just over a year ago, but already the unique button design of that bonnet has snapped up some serious attention. But first, their business had to deal with all the details of any new business, getting established, securing patents and attracting business.
During the patenting process, McQueen says, they were given their first sign that they were really on to something with these bonnets. “When I went to copyright it, they very politely turned me down because the copyright office explained it's too functional an item to copyright,” she said. “So I decided to take that very positively — hurray, our bonnet is as useful as it is cute!”
They secured patents for some of the more novel elements of their bonnets, namely the unique way the bonnet can be rearranged, reversed and reconfigured to suit any look. The pair now distribute their bonnets (as well as the alliterative hit Beaufort Button Bucket for Boys) to retailers nationwide, a widespread following helped in no small part by attention from a certain star of Sex and the City.
“After Sarah Jessica Parker decided New York City was a perfect place for her little girls to wear Beaufort Button Bonnets, who can argue?”
A photo of Parker’s daughters, Tabitha and Loretta Broderick, sporting the bonnets brought an immense amount of buzz to the bonnets, garnering them the title of “Mini Must-Have” in the pages of People Magazine.
But no matter how many bonnets are snapped up, each one, along with the Susu & John’s full line of hats and diaper covers, is made right here in the Lowcountry on St. Helena Island. “I always joke that by producing them on the island, Betty Hodge, the primary seamstress, lets that extra whiff of Lowcountry sea air get into each item, for added authenticity,” McQueen said.
“When we got started, we felt the Lowcountry sourcing was an extra novelty that went hand in hand with the Southern-ness of our bonnet (although they're selling coast to coast), but now we remain committed to our American sourcing and helping employ other South Carolinians. Keeping the money where it's made, as it were.”
For McQueen, producing their line here is not just about the authenticity or the novelty, it’s about the unique character of those who call the Lowcountry home. “Lowcountry people are definitely an inventive, hard-working lot. They tend to do things themselves,” she said. “We didn't even consider looking elsewhere for manufacturing.
The first thing we thought was, ‘Who around here wants to help us make some bonnets?’ I think there's also the pride in craftsmanship. The Lowcountry does not produce shoddy products. So we're already in the land of those who insist on being the best, so why look elsewhere? All the talent you need can be found right here.”
Visit www.susuandjohn.com.
The Lowcountry is home to many creative people who produce their own special products. Here’s a list of a few of them:
- Le Cookery: A variety of local products, including Savannah Bee Honey, Carolina Rice and Charleston Tea. 785-7171.
- Pretty Papers: Social stationary, photo albums and more by local artists. 341-5116 .
- In addition to locally-grown produce, many local artisans’ products can be found at farmers markets: Hilton Head: 8 a.m.-noon Thursdays at the Mall at Shelter Cove Bluffton: 2-7 p.m. Thursdays at Carson Cottages in old town Jasper County: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, U.S. 17, 1/2 mile south of downtown Ridgeland
- Several local restaurants, including Red Fish, the Old Oyster Factory and Alexander’s developed Bear’s Island Farm, a garden near Colleton River Plantation which has become the source of a variety of fresh produce featured in the restaurants’ dishes. In addition to the garden, the restaurant group has forged relationships with local farmers markets and other farms like Three Sisters Farm, an all-organic farm in Bluffton.
- 4M Metals: Supplies of metal roofing components for the local roofing market.
- Designs by Cleo: Cool art jewelry and more. 342-7001.
- Hilton Head Ice Cream: Homemade ice cream with a variety of toppings. 842-6333.
- FACES spa has its own line of many local skin-care products. 785-3075.
- Lowcountry Paver: Manufactures and installs landscape pavers and retaining walls. 784-7104.
- And of course, local wild shrimp. It’s not only a tribute to our coastal heritage, it tastes great, too! For a list of restaurants and local spots to purchase wild shrimp, visit www.scshrimpmkt.com. One popular spot to buy local seafood is Benny Hudson’s, 682-3474.
