Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Peterson. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Though it took a few years and various detours to get there, Heath and I are living out our dream of owning a paint and flooring store with a design center. We opened Blue Mist Paint and Flooring in May 2022 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and have been making strides in improving the business since.
Growing up states apart, me in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Heath in northwest Indiana, we both had the inkling they would own our own business someday. I loved interior design so much even as a kid, I built cardboard doll houses and collected clippings from magazines such as Better Homes and Garden and Southern Living. I aspired to put my love for design to use for others as an interior designer but, life circumstances led me to shelve that dream for a time and join the healthcare industry.
Heath worked in construction in high school, but he also changed directions and earned a business degree, and began working for Reebok after college. After a series of moves with that company, Heath left Reebok and opened Blue Mist Homes, which offered remodeling and construction services.
We met in July 2020 and found they had a lot in common, including a desire to open a home improvement retail operation that offered interior design services. With Heath’s background in construction, painting, and flooring and my love for design, a paint, flooring, and design store was a natural choice.
“Our values and dreams lined up,” Ashley says. “It made sense to jump into this project together.”
While it hasn’t been easy, we are building the business they’ve always wanted, providing needed products and services, connecting with the community, and learning the ins and outs of the industry along the way.
It takes a village.
Even with backgrounds in construction and retail, we quickly learned the importance of building a bench of vendors, wholesaler contacts, and industry colleagues to grow the business and become successful. When we opened our first store in 2022—completely self-funded without any loans—they intended to only sell cabinets. As we met and networked with more people in the industry, more doors opened for the couple to go beyond cabinets and offer tile, tiling tools, paint, paint tools, flooring, and soon wallpaper.
“We started taking classes from different vendors to learn more about their products and the retail side of the industry, which led to us bringing new products to the operation,” Ashley says. In December 2022, we joined a buying group to expand their product offerings. And the growth isn’t stopping there; they are currently talking with companies to bring in hardware and other home improvement products.
“We went from thinking we were going to only sell cabinets to becoming a full-service home improvement store,” “It’s been a little crazy!” We are still getting the retail side up and running, so, were still taking on select construction and home renovation projects from their other business until we can no longer do both successfully.
Our renovation and construction clients frequently asked about learning different DIY skills, which led us to come up with the idea of offering classes in the store. Being able to offer something different with these classes has brought new customers into the store and established the operation’s legitimacy in the industry.
We hosted Blue Mist’s first DIY class in January 2023, which covered drywall patches. The class was open to women only and taught basic skills like filling nail holes, patching small holes in drywall, and filling in holes made by anchors from hanging pictures. They gave out a gift a pink DAP product that included putty and a putty spatula. We also served a spread of pastries and coffee.
Along with bringing people into the store, the classes have been a great way to expose their business to the community and allow them to be an advocate for other painters in the area. We typically try to promote classes both on our website at Bluemisthomes.com and online on Facebook.
“We hope to build relationships with people in the community who will consider shopping at our small, locally owned store for their paint and flooring projects,” Heath says. “We want to share our knowledge, skills, values, and character to show the community we are the people who care about every customer’s project.”
We have recently seen more homeowners coming to the classes and have had several young and upcoming contractors attend who are trying to build a business in the trades.
“We will always teach a pro as long as they are humble enough to want to take the class,” Heath says. “You can always learn new things in this industry. There are always new ideas and innovations coming out to help your complete projects more efficiently and achieve better results.”
Class offerings include tile and backsplash, drywall repair, drywall taping, painting, paint finishes, cabinet finishing, flooring installation, staining and basic plumbing.
“If it’s in the home improvement industry, we want to offer it at some point,” Ashley says. “We also want to keep the classes free or inexpensive to make them more accessible to more people. If there is a cost, attendees will go home with not only knowledge but some type of gift, like the putty we gave away for the first class.”
I am passionate about adding classes for kids in the future. My 10-year-old son Chance is interested in DIY, and I have included him in different projects around their home and the store. Even if he doesn’t go into a trade as a career, I feel it is important for him to learn DIY skills to get through everyday life.
“I always tell Chance, ‘You can be whatever you want to be, but I want you to learn some skills, “Having those skills gives you a sense of pride for a job well done and you know you can take care of yourself.” The store’s fast growth hasn’t been without challenges. As we work through those challenges, they are constantly looking for ways to learn and grow.
In January 2023, having only been open for six months, we decided to move to a new location to better serve customers. They had been operating out of the construction business’s location and chose a new storefront just down the road. The new location has created a welcoming space for customers to shop. I have incorporated antique tools, paintbrushes, and paint cans, along with paint chips and design books into the decor for a Mercantile touch and inspiration to customers.
“When customers shop here, I want them to feel nostalgia for their parents’ or grandparents’ homes and shops where many of them learned how to paint or how to build something,” she says. “I want to do everything I can to make them feel welcome and stay in the store for as long as possible.”
With a big-box paint store down the street and several other home improvement retailers in the area, getting the word out about Blue Mist has been challenging. We have experimented with different avenues to advertise and continue to try new ideas. Currently, I have been frequently updating the store’s website, and my interior design website Blue Mist Interiors, using some good ole fashioned grassroots marketing and utilizing social media to let customers know about the store and its offerings.
Chance is featured in some of the videos we have posted on social media, talking about different products and DIY skills, and will continue to create these videos to engage with customers. Chance also has some big ideas of his own for the store; he wants to add snacks and drinks that customers can purchase and enjoy while they browse.
I am building my knowledge through industry groups, online courses, and other educational opportunities to better serve customers. I recently earned an Interior Design Business Certificate and International Color Consulting Certificate and I plan to take more interior design classes, as well as classes on home improvement and DIY skills.
“For me, whether you paint professionally or are a paint retailer, staying in the know on all aspects of the industry is important and establishes you and your operation as legitimate in the industry, “Even if I’m not in the store, I’m always working, constantly thinking of ways to get better and make our business better.”
We are living our dreams, growing our business. and hope more people find out we are here to serve and help. We want to bring in more flooring and paint options to become the go-to place for service and quality home improvement products. We want to see the store space grow and create jobs for the community by hiring more employees.
“I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing because it came so naturally,” “I hope our community can see that there are options outside the big-box stores. There are great independent businesses like ours here to serve them.”
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Growing a business is very hard when people still don’t know that we exist and sometimes people still don’t have the faith that there is a much better option than buying from your box stores such as Home Depot and Lowes. You would be surprised at the superior quality of the products and services we offer.
Did you know we offer free carry-into-your-house service on flooring!! You don’t have to lug heavy boxes of flooring from the shelf to your cart then to your car then to your home! We do that for you!
We also deliver paint to your job site and offer pro accounts just like everyone else!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
What sets us apart from everyone else in this industry is our vast knowledge of the products and services we sell, we know everything from the way it’s made, to how it’s installed and used.
You also are coming to someone with advanced education in the industry as well as someone who genuinely cares about your project. I am sorry but, you will not find that at the box stores. Those are usually people off the street with little to no knowledge and simply taught how to push some buttons on a paint dispenser.
I am most proud the offer quality brands at unbeatable prices. I am also proud to offer interior design services.
Everyone should love the home they have been blessed with.
What’s next?
Business growth, more networking events in the community to let people know we are here with servant leadership hearts to help you.
Contact Info:
- Website: Bluemisthomes.com
- Facebook: Blue Mist Paint & Flooring
