What’s Happening: New Thomasville boutique offers women’s and baby’s clothing | Business

It might seem odd to put a boutique for women and babies clothing inside an auto glass tinting and detailing store, but that’s just what Sarah and Matthew Major of Thomasville did.

Sarah Major, a former stay-at-home mom, decided to fulfill her dream of owning a boutique by opening her Graceful Glow Boutique in the former waiting room of her husband Matthew’s business, Major Aesthetics, which performs auto window tinting, ceramic coatings and other auto detail work at 100 E. Main St.

With no large exterior sign of its own yet, the boutique can be a little difficult to find unless your eyes catch through the large windows the sparkle of the elaborately decorated Christmas tree and clothes hanging on the walls inside.

Major Aesthetics has a prominent sign on the front of the building.

“Everyone tells me I need a sign,” Major said.

After giving birth to their daughter about a year ago, Major went through a bout of postpartum depression. While she had been thinking about opening a boutique for a while, postpartum robbed her of her confidence and ability to make plans for the store.

Then she finally got on the other side of postpartum, and with the encouragement from her husband, she decided to go for it.

“We didn’t take long to plan this,” she said. “It took about a month. We love getting on the ball. When we have a dream, we go after it.”

With a sense of style and a love for looking good as a former beauty pageant competitor, Major began ordering women’s and babies’ clothing and accessories to fill the 500-square-foot space. She offers girls’ and boys’ baby clothing and lavishly decorated hair bows for girls.

With the women’s clothing, she carries everything from casual graphic T-shirts and blue jeans to sequenced jumpsuits and party dresses in sizes small to 4X. There is also jewelry, key chains and more accessories.

“I want this place to have a positive atmosphere,” said the South Davidson High School graduate, who grew up in Denton. “There will be no judgment here. Sometimes when I go into other stores, I feel like I am being judged because I don’t have on their clothing. You can come in here in sweatpants. They’re comfortable. I wear them, too.”

Because the boutique is in a small space, smaller than most single hotel rooms, Major makes use of every inch. She has rods on the back wall so she can display clothing vertically going up the wall. There is also shelving and tables full of clothing and accessories. Major said that she will look for a larger store space in a year or so if things go well.

Graceful Glow Boutique is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. The store has a Facebook page where Major posts new arrivals. The phone number is (336) 847-6852.

A college student from northern Davidson County placed second in a collegiate agriculture competition held in Virginia.

Austin Brigman, a sophomore at Ferrum College and a North Davidson High School graduate, was the first runner-up in the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s 17th annual Collegiate Young Farmers Discussion Meet, held Nov. 15 at Virginia Tech.

The Collegiate Discussion Meet competition simulates a roundtable committee meeting in which discussion, cooperation and active participation are expected from each contestant. Competitors are judged on their discussion skills, understanding of important agricultural issues and ability to build consensus.

In this year’s competition, seven Virginia-based college students discussed four pre-determined topics — diversifying farm portfolios; competing for agricultural land; engaging diverse agricultural communities; and how the Farm Bureau can help increase domestic energy production, minimize loss of agricultural land and protect private property rights.

In the final round, the four finalists shared ideas on how county Farm Bureaus can encourage involvement from young members, along with ways young board members can help their county Farm Bureaus plan for the future.

Jana Lee, a junior at Virginia Tech, earned first place. Other finalists were Anne Katherine Martz, a freshman at Virginia Tech, and Will Henley, a sophomore at Virginia Highlands Community College.

Brigman is majoring in secondary education agriculture and hopes to teach high school agriculture and coach tennis. He grew up in Lexington and fostered a passion for agriculture in his high school agriculture classes and FFA. Brigman also competed in last year’s Collegiate Young Farmers Discussion Meet.

“It’s a great experience overall,” he said. “It helps me work on my public speaking skills and get involved in agriculture more.”

The state winner is awarded a $500 prize courtesy of Southern Farm Life Insurance Co. and VFBF Young Farmers. Lee and Brigman earned a travel package to the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Collegiate Discussion Meet to be held in March in Denver, Colorado. All competitors earned cash prizes from VFBF.