Last month Virginia Beach got its own West Elm! We were contacted to come out for a private, guided tour of the new store with a few other local bloggers in the area:

Kristen - Staying Anchored

Jonna - Naturally Glam

Christina - christinaprock.com

(Check them out!)

Nicole Sutliff, Director of Public Relations at West Elm, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was in town for the RSVP Grand Opening party and offered to take us through the store before the event started later in the evening. We got to leisurely walk about the store and Nicole answered any questions we had about the product or the store itself. While we strolled along I thought about how nice it is to have a West Elm in our little town. The closest store we had was in Richmond and it closed a while ago. When that store was open, it was a regular stop for us when we visited Marleigh while she was attending VCU. It was always nice to browse around, actually sit on furniture or touch textiles; actually seeing something in front of you is totally different than a photo in a catalog. When we were shopping for a bed frame we could spend time sitting on different models to see which one was right for us. Again, the benefits of having this stuff in front of you.

While we were touring the store, new employees were applying finishing touches and construction for the grand opening. It was fun watching them get last minute instruction on how the night was going to work. West Elm Virginia Beach is also featuring local artists in the store. It was cool seeing our friend, Cassie Rangel of Twittering Bird and others who showed up to support her. Check out her prints, we've bought a few for the house and as gifts to others. The caterers showed up and got champagne and finger food ready, positioning themselves for easy access. When the doors opened there was a line waiting to get in, eventually the place was packed with curious, excited people.

I wanted to mention some of the other local artists that were featured during the opening:

Maple & Belmont

The Perch Shop

They plan on bringing more local talent to feature in the store and tonight (April 30, 2015) they'll be launching their West Elm Local initiative which is kind of a pop-up shop in the store featuring local art and products. Should be fun and I heard Handsome Biscuit is catering it! Check it out!