One Eleven Main

A great gift store that encompasses the lifestyle of the Sandhills

By Crissy Neville  »  Photos by Mollie Tobias

A cookbook on display, Sip & Savor, almost got it right. Twist the words a tad to better explain the sense evoked, encounter felt, excursion remembered. Let’s try, see and savor; now that’s more like it. Not a book title, mind you, but what you’ll do upon entering the doors of One Eleven Main, a fine retailer of gifts, furniture and home décor in downtown Southern Pines. See, savor and let it seep in.

No mat is needed to say “welcome” here. The friendly flag, big front porch and sleepy cottage cat peering ‘round the pillars speak the inaudible. Opening the door, the “hey, there” and “come on in” adds verbiage to the sweetly southern vista. Like drinking a tall glass of iced tea, you are refreshed instantly with one step inside – no chain store or big-box merchandise anywhere in sight.

The treat is one for the eyes. Glass shelves filled with porcelain jars and candle votives. Picture frames and acrylic trays. Cutting boards and cutlery. Stemless wineglasses and assorted glassware. Custom furniture and fabrics. Bed and bath products. Stationery and books. Local favorite Fay Terry fine art. Gifts for men and special events. Jewelry, accessories and even baby gifts. Purveyors Julie Moore and Erin Reville offer a large variety of distinctive items in the small business that is their labor of love.

Already a mix of morphology, One Eleven Main is not the store’s address. Previously located at 111 Main Street in Aberdeen, the business partners derived the name to resemble, yet set themselves apart from the store’s locale. So, upon moving the successful store to Southern Pines, its moniker and thus, identity, moved along, too. Located at 710 S. Bennett Street since 2015, One Eleven Main is a mere block past the hustle of Broad Street but a world apart with its customer service and quality line of offerings.

Co-owner Reville explained why she and Moore, two transplants to Pinehurst and neighborhood friends, partnered to open in the first place. It was as one of mutual interest, and supply and demand.

“At the time, in 2009,” she said, “we thought there was something missing, retail-wise, in our town and general area, and that was a great gift shop with things for the home. We both were homemakers with families and we found ourselves doing a lot of shopping outside of Moore County. We thought, if we wish we had this type of store here locally, we probably were not alone in our thinking. We opened hoping to fill this niche. We had sales backgrounds and I also had experience in interior design. We thought it would be fun to be in business together; we have been that, and friends ever since.”

Adopting the tag line “We hold the key to your home” the savvy pair created a logo to match and jumped into business, despite the 2009 recession. They haven’t looked back since.

Their move to Southern Pines six years later after a successful start in Aberdeen was more about space and location, Reville said. Desiring a house as their backdrop rather than a sidewalk storefront and looking to increase sales and traffic, it was almost love at first site when the pair found the property on Bennett Street available.

Needing just a little renovating and some TLC, Moore and Reville soon had the cottage-style house showroom ready, with room to ramble. The owners keep ideas fresh by placing furniture pieces throughout to showcase room-design ideas; setting tables with stylish Vietri Italian pottery; decorating mantels and sideboards; artfully accenting walls. Their skilled touch is apparent in every nook and cranny of the circa 1935 cottage turned specialty shop. This touch can be brought to your home, too.

Moore and Reville take pride in the customer service and services that make One Eleven Main unique. One such service is their optional in-home design work. The women provide consultation on everything from color and style to arrangement and coordination, all aspects of interior design.

Part of this service is offering custom-made furniture and upholstery. One Eleven Main has a full line of furniture pieces available for order for every room of the home, with customization of fabrics from top-shelf companies Paladin, Lacefield Designs and Magnolia Fabrics. There is an array of fabric choices when ordering custom pillows, bedding and draperies or to use in recovering previous purchases. Likewise, the store has full monogramming services for purchases such as towels, napkins and quilts and engraving for items like picture frames, acrylic trays and glassware.

Brides love the store’s bridal registry and wrapping and delivery options, too. Moore and Reville also place special orders for disposable personalized products needed for the big day such as napkins, cups and hand towels and the custom-order thank-you notes for when it is all said and done.

Offering locally made and North Carolina original products are important to the retailers, too, and according to co-owner Moore, their “Carolina Crack” private label snack-mix is a top-seller.

“It is a small ticket item, and we sell cases and cases of it,” she said. “People also love the Ella B Candle Company out of Charlotte, too. We got to name our candles; we sell the Pinehurst, the Southern Pines and the One Eleven Main candle among other locally-referenced ones. They are very popular.”

The shop owners love decorating for a party, too, and Christmas is the best time to deck the halls. Their annual Christmas Open House, slated this year for Nov. 14-16 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day, is a must-attend event in town. Check them out the rest of the year for trunk shows, art exhibits, book signings, food tastings and for their Small Business Saturday event right after Thanksgiving.

Back to my prefatory musings, there’s just one element missing from my wordplay: See, savor and shop at One Eleven Main in downtown Southern Pines. There! Perfection at last.