EP# 340: From Boone Mall to Bridal Bliss: How a Local Clothier Serves, Adapts, and Shows Up

Weddings don’t wait, and neither do the people who keep them on track. We sit down with Louella South of South Specialty Clothiers to unpack how a 4,000‑square‑foot local store in the Boone Mall became the place that solves milestone moments—bridal gowns, bridesmaids, prom, homecoming, tuxedos, better ladies’ apparel, Meryl Norman cosmetics, and Brighton jewelry—without missing a single event in 42 years.

Louella shares the unlikely origin story from teaching to retail ownership, then opens the curtain on what “customer service” really means when dates are fixed and emotions run high. From back‑door pickups and doorstep deliveries during Covid to a manager driving a forgotten scarf to Charlotte and last‑minute tux drop‑offs in Hickory, the team’s promise is simple: show up, communicate, and finish the job. We explore how smart post‑pandemic hours improved results, why App State pride powers black‑and‑gold assortments, and how community work—food pantry support, Humane Society fundraisers, and a breast cancer awareness giveaway tied to the Wilma Redmond Fund—builds trust that no ad can buy.

Behind the scenes, supply chain savvy makes the promise possible. A long‑standing New York buying office, a Top 10 Prom network, and vendor accountability allow the store to say “we’ll get it” and make it true. We talk pricing integrity despite tariffs, sourcing that favors Canadian partners, and the art of sending customers out the door fully styled—dress, jewelry, makeup, and shoes—so the look is complete and the stress is gone. If you care about small business grit, event‑day logistics, and the craft of local retail that still outperforms big‑box convenience, this conversation offers a playbook you can use.

If this story resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves great service, and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find it.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place

(00:02):
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Marty.

SPEAKER_01 (00:11):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to the
Good Neighbor Podcast of WesternNorth Carolina and East
Tennessee.
So I am very excited to have avery special guest in the studio
with us for the first time,actually.
And I'm sure you'll be just asexcited to learn all about this
person and what they do becausetoday it is my distinct pleasure
to introduce to you your goodneighbor, Miss Luella South, who

(00:32):
is the owner-operator of SouthSpecialty Clothiers.
Luella, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_02 (00:37):
Thank you.
Thank you for inviting me.

SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Well, we're thrilled to have you.
Like I said, very excited tolearn uh all about uh your your
business.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
what you do?

SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Uh we own a specialty store uh in in the
Boone Mall, and we carry avariety of products.
Um we're a large store, 4,000square feet, and we have uh, you
know, our main our main goal isto provide customer service, uh,
excellent customer service toour to our uh customers, and we

(01:16):
um carry a variety of products.
We carry um uh better ladies'apparel, which is our number one
category.
We also carry Meryl NormanCosmetics, we carry Brighton
Jewelry, we carry um men'stuxedos to purchase our our our

(01:36):
sell.
Uh we also carry men's suits, uhwe carry bridesmaids, bridal
gowns, um, prom homecoming.
We just finished our homecomingseason uh this week.
Uh Wataga High is having theirtheir prom this weekend, so our
prom sales are our um homecomingsales have slowed up some this

(02:01):
week.
So I think one thing that'shelped us stay in business so
long, over such a variety ofproducts that that meets a lot
of needs.
We're just about the only personhere for those um type of um
goods.

SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
Very good.
Well, and of course you got theuniversity right there too, as
well.

SPEAKER_02 (02:20):
Sure, sure.
So um almost 20,000 students atour university.

SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Wow, and I think Homecoming's coming up for App
State too.

SPEAKER_02 (02:29):
It is, it is.
Awesome, awesome, and we have awhole yeah, we have a whole rack
of black and gold.
We we really support ouruniversity having having my
masters from there.
Uh, you know, we love App State.
We think that that uh they'rejust the best.
Uh and they just um uhinaugurated their new uh

(02:51):
chancellor, Heather Norris, andshe will be a great asset to the
the to the university and to thecommunity.

SPEAKER_01 (03:02):
Go Mountaineers.
Yes, absolutely.
So uh Luella, how did you getinto the the uh uh clothing
business?

SPEAKER_02 (03:12):
Well, I taught uh in community colleges and regular
public schools for 11 years, andthen my husband went into real
estate and uh he uh ran acrossthis store for sale in the mall,
and uh it it seemed to be likean exciting adventure for us,

(03:33):
and the owner says we'll takeyou to New York, introduce you
to our buying office, and itjust seemed like something
exciting to do, but neither ofus had had any experience, but
we uh have really beensuccessful with it, so I'm very
thankful for that.

SPEAKER_01 (03:51):
Wow, very good.
Well, what are some myths ormisconceptions in the clothing
business?
I'm sure there are some.

SPEAKER_02 (03:58):
Uh, the misconception is that it's all
fun and games if you're anowner, but actually we're only
closed three days out of theyear, which is Christmas,
Thanksgiving, and Easter.
And so you have to have a reallygood group of dedicated
employees to stay open.
We used to stay open till 9 p.m.

(04:20):
Now we stay of after COVID, wejust stay open till from 10 to 6
and 1 to 5 Sunday, but uh mostof the stores in the mall are do
stay open till 8 or 9.
But we found out we did as muchor more business just staying
open till 6.
So now we close at 6.

SPEAKER_01 (04:41):
Well that that makes sense to me.
Yes.
Um so uh outside of work, uh youwork a lot, it sounds like
outside of work.
What do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_02 (04:51):
Well, uh I'm very involved in the community, uh,
having served on several boards.
Uh we just did a a uh fundraiserfor the Humane Society.
And you know, uh we have a I'mvery supportive of the Health
and Hunger Coalition here.
We have a food pantry we stockoutside our our door uh for

(05:15):
people who might need food.
Um, you know, I like to ridebicycles, not motorcycles, but
bicycles.
Uh I like to hike, uh I like totravel.
Um, and you know, I uh I'm veryinvolved in my church.
Um I like to uh uh to helpothers and uh be involved in my

(05:35):
community as much as I can.
And we like our store, uh welike to support something every
month.
This month we're supportingbreast cancer awareness, and uh
we will offer a giftcertificate.
If you have our breast cancersurvivor, you can come in and
register for a hundred dollargift certificate, and there'll

(05:56):
be a drawing at the end of themonth.
Uh and we also yeah offer a abox there if you would like to
donate to the Wilma RedmondFund, which she was a local
nurse who passed away withbreast cancer.
So we uh we are very much wantto help the community and be a
part of the community.

SPEAKER_01 (06:17):
Wonderful.
Well, thank you for that.
We we appreciate your effortsthere.
So um let's switch gears forjust a second.
Can you describe a hardship or alife challenge that you've gone
through and overcame, whetherpersonal or professional, and uh
how it made you stronger in theend?
Does anything come to mind?

SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
Well, COVID was very uh very stressful, you know.
We had brides that needed theirdress and had changed their
wedding just to maybe a familywedding at the home rather than
a big event, and later they weregoing to have a big event.
So we could not close duringCOVID the mall and everything

(06:55):
else was closed, but we we uhworked out of our back door
basically, and uh brides andbridesmaids were calling us
about their dresses, and we wereable to not miss an event.
And you know, the people who useMerrill Norman, you know,
they'll go without shopping, butthey won't go without their

(07:16):
makeup.
So somebody was there uh uh, youknow, at our normal business
hours to answer the phone andtake anything out the back door
that was needed or deliver it.
So that was very stressful.
And then, you know, we movedfrom we used to be down uh near
Hobby.
Well, Hobby Lobby, when HobbyLobby came, they offered to move

(07:39):
us up near Belk.
And so uh Hobby Lobby took ourspace down at the end of the
mall uh across from Bath Body,and we moved up near Belk in the
old Hallmark spot.
So that was very stressful too.
Uh, you know, when you havespecial events uh like tuxedo

(08:01):
rentals and um you know, bridaldates you have to meet, portrait
dates, and and be ahead of thegame with in time for these
girls to get their alterations,uh it becomes quite stressful
when you know you you can't beclosed.
And and there's a lot of peoplecounting on you, and we've never
missed an event.

(08:21):
You know, uh I know that one ofmy managers took a scarf.
Uh uh a girl was in a weddingand forgot the scarf to her
dress.
She actually met her inCharlotte and took the scarf to
her.
Recently, we delivered sometuxes to um Hickory because one
of them came in so late, we hadto deliver it down there uh uh

(08:44):
the next morning.
So, you know, you're at themercy of these companies getting
goods to you on time, and umthat that can be can be very
stressful.
And then of course um now wehave tariffs and we've tried not
to raise our prices.
Uh, you know, most of ourclothes come out of Canada, and

(09:06):
they have not imposed manytariffs on us.
We have had some 5% tariffs outof China, but that has not um
that has not affected our retailprice.
We've just tried between thecompany absorbing the tariffs
and us absorbing them, we'vetried not to raise our prices.

SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
That's wonderful.
I hope you can continue to dothat.

SPEAKER_02 (09:29):
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (09:30):
Um, so Luella, if um if you could think of one thing
that you would like ourlisteners and viewers to
remember about South specialtyclothiers, what would that be?

SPEAKER_02 (09:42):
I would like for you to remember that we uh because
we are locally owned and becauseI have a great passion for uh
making the customer happy, uh,we try to do our best uh with
customer service.
We will go the extra mile foryou.

(10:04):
For instance, we often hearsomeone say, Well, I've been
everywhere, I've I've been in ahundred-mile radius, and I
haven't had the best uh, Ihaven't had any luck finding
anything, and very poor customerservice.
But when I came here, uh I hadexcellent customer service, and

(10:24):
you found just the dress Ineeded.
And, you know, we dress themfrom head to toe with uh
jewelry, uh, makeup if they wantit, jewelry, the dress, and the
shoes.
So uh when they leave, they havea complete outfit, and we are we
are honored that people uh youknow give us so many compliments

(10:45):
about that, that we um we followthrough uh on what we need to
do.
And uh, as I said, we've nevermissed an event in 42 years.
Even when UPS was on strike,that was another stressful
situation.
That was a while back.
We were running all over theplace taking tuxedos and doing

(11:06):
all sorts of things, uh, tryingto not miss an important date
because you know you only haveone chance to make the wedding
right.
If you miss that chance, you'vemissed it.
So we want to want the c we wantour audience to know how
dedicated we are to doing theright thing and and um following

(11:30):
through on what whatever theyneed.

SPEAKER_01 (11:33):
Customer service is the to me is is the the deal
breaker or the deal maker.

SPEAKER_02 (11:38):
Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
And I think it is for a lot of people.
So it sounds like you've gotthat under control.
Absolutely.
So uh well, for those of us whoare uh, you know, maybe have an
event coming up.
I know my daughter's got uhhomecoming uh next couple of
weeks, I think.
Uh what uh uh how can we learnmore if we're interested in

(12:00):
potentially uh coming by tocheck you out?

SPEAKER_02 (12:03):
Well, uh we um we do have homecoming dresses.
We have short and long.
Uh our main prom season, youknow, is in the spring.
Start dresses start coming infor the 25 year in or 26 year
excuse me, in December.
So uh uh, but we still have a westill have a whole wall of prom

(12:24):
dresses.
So we are and if we can't if wedon't have it, we can get it.
You know, we have a New Yorkbuying office who uh we've been
a member of since we opened thestore since we have been in the
business.
Um so we can get almost anythingthat you need, and we can get it
fairly quickly too.
So, and if not, we have anetwork of stores we deal with,

(12:48):
either with Top 10 Prom or withour buying office in New York
that can get almost anythingthat you need.

SPEAKER_01 (12:58):
Very good.
So if you don't have it, you'llget it.

SPEAKER_02 (13:00):
Yes, yes, we can get it.

SPEAKER_01 (13:02):
Absolutely.
Yes, wonderful.
Well, Loyla, I can't tell youhow much I appreciate you taking
time out of your busy scheduleto spend some time with us and
tell us all about what you doand the wonderful things you're
doing there in the community.
Thank you for that.
We really appreciate that.
And uh we wish you and yourbusiness and your family uh all
the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 (13:21):
Thank you so much.
Have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 (13:24):
You two, thank you so much.
Maybe we can have you backsometime.

unknown (13:27):
Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (13:28):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to GNP Tri-Dash Citiesdot com.
That's GNP Tri-Dash Cities dotcom or call four two three seven
one nine five eight seven three.