Picking up the pieces: N.C. home décor retailer recovers after Helene devastates community

The Mustard Seed Market & Home, a retailer with two locations in Blowing Rock, N.C., is figuring out how to rebuild its business after Hurricane Helene devastated the surrounding community in western North Carolina last week. Its two locations include a garden center on Highway 321 and a full-scale home décor store located downtown.

Madeline Stewart, director of marketing and merchandising for the company, said the family-owned business was debating closing the store the night of the hurricane and did not expect the damage and impact the storm had on not only her business, but the community as a whole. “When you think about hurricanes, you think about the coast. The mountains were not prepared to handle four months worth of rain in three days,” said Stewart. “I remember sitting in my living room with our new puppy and watching my husband sprint across the street to find a bucket to start emptying water out of our basement before it flooded the rest of our home.”

Stewart described a feeling of helplessness that hits when you realize all aspects of your life are at the mercy of Mother Nature, but with such a strong community around, she said feels “blessed and grateful.”

Stewart said the Mustard Seed Home & Market currently has no power, service or running water, and has experienced extensive flooding. However, the building is still standing.

“As of now, we don’t know the potential property damage to the infrastructure, which will be a challenge moving forward at our garden center location since the Middle Fork riverbank behind the shop has been destroyed,” Stewart said on Tuesday afternoon. “We also lost two greenhouses and the road to our farm in Zionville due to a significant mudslide.”

Mustard Seed’s collection of furniture, which ranges from upholstery to antiques, “basically anything touching the ground” has suffered water damage.

“Considering how our community has fared, we feel extremely blessed! We have seen businesses completely destroyed, homes leveled and families uprooted,” Stewart said. When you put into perspective people who have lost everything and do not have access to food or water, it makes damaged furniture and plants seem almost irrelevant at the time.”

When it comes to inventory, Stewart said she feels the company came out untouched in the grand scheme of things.

“The most difficult thing for us is not having water or power, especially trying to keep $300,000 of plants alive and wanting to reserve water for the community. We do have a small water pump, so we have been able to use water from the river as well as hand water with watering cans.”

Stewart said she was thankful for the kindness of her sales reps and and growers. “We’ve had many of our vendors put our account on hold for products that are supposed to be shipping out soon or backordered, especially as we transition into the holiday season with inventory. The furniture and gardening community really is such a tight knit group of people and to receive the support and effort from all our vendors has been a blessing.”

Currently both locations of The Mustard Seed are closed until it is able to get power back. It is unable to run its POS systems, light the stores or do any significant cleaning but hopes to have power next week so it can begin cleaning and rebuilding, according to Stewart. It is a seasonal company with fall sales providing the main source of income for the home store, so the financial impact will take time to recover from, she added.

“We most likely will not be able to reopen for another few weeks and the chamber [of commerce] has asked for all nonessential businesses to remain closed to limit resources until power and water can be restored. Social media has been a blessing for us to keep in touch with customers and stay updated with our community when we have service. ”

Stewart said the company remains focused on its community and would rather offer its resources to help those around it who were heavily impacted before they start rebuilding their own business.

“We have been able to deliver fresh flowers, food and water to some of our neighbors as well as send our landscape crew out to help those impacted.  We’ve also started Project Community Roots [to prepare and supply a crew to help those in need] as a fundraiser to continue to offer help to our local community and raise money for families in need who have contacted our business.”

Mustard Seed’s third annual Sip N Stroll event and book signing with Myquillyn Smith, The Nester, was supposed to take place Oct. 18th and 19th, but plans are now up in the air.

Stewart added that she is looking forward to the upcoming High Point Market. “While we won’t have the purchasing power we usually do, I’m excited for the normalcy of seeing our friends and sales reps and attending the CEU events with designers and retailers.”

See also:

Why locally produced goods are so important to Madeline Stewart | People to Watch 2023

Curated collections make Mustard Seed Home memorable

Southeastern retailers assess and help after Helene hits region