In November 2021, Abby Curnow and Amanda Offill, two sisters, started an online boutique because they couldn’t find the clothes that they liked locally. They’d talked about opening up a boutique for a long time, but never thought that they’d actually find the courage to go for it. Then, one day they were sitting on the couch talking about it and decided that they were going to jump in. They felt the worst that could happen would be that it doesn’t work out, but at least they could say that they tried. When sales took off online, they opened a brick-and-mortar store in Smyrna on Lowry Street just down from the new Red Bicycle Coffee House.
“It was never in our plans to have [a brick-and-mortar store] this soon,” said Curnow, “but God had other plans for us! Originally from Illinois, we moved here to Tennessee in elementary school and have lived here ever since. Now, we can’t ever imagine leaving Tennessee. We’re members of Lifepoint Church in Smyrna, where we’ve gone the majority of our lives. We’ve gained friends that have become family from there and without some of those people, it wouldn’t have been such a smooth process opening up our boutique. We’re so incredibly thankful for the people that God has placed in our lives.”
Their target market is all females in all different sizes, all different body types. They are not sure what they would call their style but throw out the idea of “modern chic”. They’ve always loved fashion, and they would come up with outfit ideas, but could never find the pieces they wanted to pull them together in stores, so now they shop for their favorite styles and have them available for people with similar tastes in fashion. They hope everyone loves them as much as they do.
“I think what makes our store stand out is the style of it,” said Offill, “and the fact that we carry sizes for as many body types as we can.”
They chose to open their store in Smyrna because there aren’t many small business places to shop for unique clothes and they wanted to bring something different to the town for people to enjoy.
“Three hot styles for this fall are shackets, high neck shirts and denim jackets,” added Offill. “Rompers have been the most popular item of the summer along with body suits.”
They have put a lot of thought into everything about the store, including their name. They wanted it to have real meaning and not just pick something because they thought it sounded cute.
“The ‘grit’ part comes from our love of the outdoors,” explained Curnow. Starting at a very young age, we’ve always loved to be outdoors. We’ve spent a lot of our time growing up bike riding, going on walks, four wheeling, hiking or just exploring and climbing the tallest things that we could find. The ‘grain’ part comes from our faith in Jesus. The verse ‘Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains’, is our favorite verse and a mustard seed, being something tiny — a grain of something — is where that word came from. We firmly believe that we wouldn’t be where we are, or have the opportunities that we’ve been given, without Jesus. We truly give him all of the glory.”
The sisters feel that they have an amazing community in Smyrna, and what they love most is getting the community together while supporting other small businesses around them, especially those that haven’t ventured out to a store front yet. They love to host fun events that allow these vendors to set up their merchandise in the store, get to know people in the community, and get their name out there.
“From the beginning,” explained Offill, “we have wanted our place to be a place of comfort and somewhere that people can just feel joyful.”
Having big personalities also makes them stand out. They love making true, genuine connections with the people who come into the store.
“Life is too short to be serious,” said Curnow, “so we definitely make the most of every day and just have fun. We love to just be ourselves, even if it is embarrassing at times! If you meet us in person, you’re always going to get the real and raw version of us.”
“We’re two sisters that are two years apart and have grown up attached at the hip,” added Offill, “loving all the same things, especially all the girly things like hair, makeup and clothes. This is a dream come true for us!”
Grit + Grain
7 North Lowry Street
Smyrna, Tennessee
(615) 625-2144
Facebook: Grit + Grain Company
Website: https://gritgrainco.com/
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Monday
