Ashley Menetre, owner of The Nest Artisan Market in Tryon, has officially expanded her business to the location next to Landrum Hardware in downtown Landrum (formerly occupied by the Carolina Foothills Artisan Center).

Sly Fox Boutique, formerly in St. Luke’s Plaza next to Huckleberry’s in Tryon, has relocated to the back of The Nest, according to Sly Fox owner Megan Hill. Both The Nest and Sly Fox held a grand opening reception at the new location at 214 E. Rutherford St. on Friday, May 27.

“It got started about a year after we moved here from Atlanta because we wanted get away from doing art shows,” Ashley said, referring to when she and her husband Beau, the co-founder of the Polk County Film Initiative, relocated to Tryon. “The best thing I could think of was to create an artisan market for other artists. We wanted to have more of a brick and mortar situation.”

Rather than artists having to travel to festivals and shows, Menetre said she wanted to have a “brick and mortar” shop local for artists to display their works. The Nest has been in its Tryon location for a little more than a year and a half.

“There are no set booths, so it’s more a cozy and warm retail environment,” Menetre explained. “We wanted to expand to Landrum because we noticed that they had a big arts community down there so we thought that it would be a good fit and that our neighboring store would be good for local artists to have another place right down the road to show their items.”

Creating a brand out of The Nest is also a reason Menetre expanded into South Carolina.

“We are trying to create a brand out of it, which could possibly expand into other little towns,” Menetre said. “We’ll do that in the future, but not right now. We’ll just try to stick with two shops but you never know what will happen five years down the road.”

The bottom floor of the shop is the clearance section of the store and Menetre said she will also do “Art Escape” art openings where a new artist will be featured down there along with their works once a month on either the last Friday or Saturday of the month. Classes will also be offered by local artists in the downstairs area.

A sign in the storefront of the Landrum location asks for new artists and crafters who want to have their works sold at The Nest by calling Menetre at 404-319-1052 or emailing the store at thenestoftryon@yahoo.com.

Being a single mom, Hill said not having to commute almost every day each week will be easier on her when she begins living in Asheville.

“I purchased a home in Asheville, and it’s easier for me to be in with Ashley so that I only have to commute down two days a week as opposed to six or even seven days,” Hill said. “That was big in the decision making process to relocate to Landrum. I’m even looking in maybe having a second location, but nothing definite yet.”

Hill said she opened Sly Fox in Tryon in September 2014 to great reception, and mentioned she made people upset when the store moved to Landrum.

The boutique offers women’s clothing, accessories, home decor and pieces from local artists including, but not limited to, Lori Heckelman, Becky Collins, Jim Shaver and Mason Joye.

“A friend of mine pushed me into doing it, and I thought Tryon needed something like a boutique,” Hill said. “It’s going to be successful with the artisan market and the boutique together. It brings a lot more people in. If you’re looking for art, you could say, ‘Oh, that’s a cute top back there,” and go look at it or, “Oh, I like that painting.’”