Southern Comfort

Located about 20 miles north of Atlanta in historic Suwanee, Ga., Ambiance Interiors & Gifts is owned by mother-daughter duo Pamela Reeves and Christi Tullis. Since moving to their current location in 1999 they've firmly established Ambiance as the local source for elegant, exotic and exquisite merchandise, with a reputation and personality to match.

When Tullis joined her mother's business, it was operating as Pamela Reeves Interiors out of an 1860-something property that had served as the pair's home since 1984. Located next to the store's current location, the house once belonged to Reeves's great aunt and uncle, who operated a cabinet shop on the property. The admiration expressed by friends and neighbors for the decorating touches Reeves used to transform her home into a showplace eventually led to so many requests for decorating assistance, she decided to go at it full time. Within six months of launching her design business, Reeves became so overwhelmed with work that she asked her daughter to join her, "in order to keep my sanity."

As the design business continued to grow, Reeves found it more and more difficult to locate product for her clients. "Running here and there to find accessories or whatever I needed for a project... fabric companies wouldn't have enough yardage, accessory stores wouldn't have the right lamp," she recalled. It was then that Tullis suggested a road trip to the AmericasMart showrooms, where, according to Reeves, it all finally came together.

Two years later, Reeves moved the store into a house she bought from a neighbor. "He joked that I had so much stuff I should buy his house." Twenty-four hours later, they agreed upon a price. "The house sits on one acre, so keeping the property in pristine condition and the gardens stocked with merchandise is a job within itself," Reeves added.

The shop's pale pink exterior and hot pink trim play to a well-defined brand image the women developed to differentiate their store, a place where customers are "guests" and employees are trained as "concierges." "We're in guest relations; referrals and word-of-mouth drive our business," Reeves said. All packages are wrapped in the store's signature polka-dotted gift wrap, trimmed with handmade ribbon roses and die-cut gift tags. "Our polka-dotted Hummer H2 matches our signature gift wrap," she added. "Life is never dull when you drive a polka-dotted Hummer!"

At Ambiance, life is never dull, period. Reeves loves to entertain and Ambiance is her party palace. "We have tea parties in the garden, with linen-clad tables and a guest speaker, usually someone who has authored one of the books we carry in the store." Tullis's teacup poodle, Bella, is the co-host for Yappy Hour, when a doggie fashion show highlights the latest from The Prissy Pooch, a room devoted to things for the canine crowd. Throughout December the store offers Free Lunch Thursdays for holiday shoppers.

And then there are the fashion doll parties for the local tween scene, presided over by Tullis's 11-year-old daughter Macy. Macy also serves as head buyer for the store's Girl Power Room, a project that came to life when she and her grandmother decided Ambiance needed a special place to put a new collection of "Big Girl" things. "The two of them painted the small closet bubblegum pink, splattered the floor with different colors and added a beaded curtain," recalled Tullis. "Fast forward to 2007 and the Girl Power Room is filled to the brim with anything and everything for tweens."

Macy accompanies her mom at market and selects product based on what she and her friends like. "She subscribes to a variety of teen magazines to determine what's hot," Tullis said. "Some of her favorite lines include Fun Friends, The Bead Shoppe, Fashion Angels, Aurora, Nakajima, Creative Living and John-Richard art."

Tullis, as the store's head designer and visual merchandiser, is credited with the artful displays that define each room. Products from hundreds of local and international vendors are grouped in settings such as The Art Room, which mixes modern art and accessories with antique reproduction furniture and The Tudor Room, where larger scale furniture is paired with Tudor and custom pieces. The Passementarie Room showcases rich, sumptuous fabrics and trim, and tabletop and kitchen accessories are displayed, banquet style, in a Provence-inspired setting that once served as the home's kitchen. A 10-foot ceiling mural draws parents- and grandparents-to-be into the nursery to browse among nursery furnishings, baby gifts, hand knit clothing and tea sets.

A sampling of gifts from each of the rooms is showcased against the company colors of black, white and "powerful pink" in The Gift Gallery, the main room of the house. "The back wall of the Gift Gallery features custom-designed columns and carvings finished in gloss lacquer, bringing to mind an old mercantile," Reeves said. "The floor is a painted diamond pattern of black and white, bonded with the same material used on skating rink floors." The Gift Gallery serves as the checkout and gift-wrapping center, with computers, cash drawers, supplies, printers and gift wrap housed in custom cabinetry and window seats.

Product styles range from traditional to rustic to contemporary. "Classic is the word for this area of North Atlanta, so anything with a tassel or fleur-de-lis seems to grow legs and walk out of the store without much selling involved," Tullis said. Reeves agreed, "Our area favors traditional but we're seeing a growing interest in contemporary — which is exciting for us in the design field because there's so much new product to work with."

Reeves estimates the average household income of her clientele at $100,000+. "Most live here because they enjoy the close proximity to Atlanta but prefer the small town charm," she said. "They have large families and enjoy bringing their children and dogs to the store."

Suwanee, located in Gwinnett County, has led the Atlanta metro area in new home construction for several years. The large floor plans of the new homes have also helped grow Ambiance's design business. "Our design services include everything from commercial and residential build-outs and remodels to turnkey design services," Tullis said. "We offer new home detailing, same day delivery when possible, and space for designers to sit down and work with their clients."

Ambiance also offers painting services (base, faux finish and trompe l'oeil), floral arranging, interior work for yachts and a wide range of custom upholstery. "Christi's husband, Cain, owns an upholstery company started 50 years ago by his grandfather; custom-built upholstery for banquettes, built-in sofas and upholstered ceiling medallions are a commodity at Ambiance," Reeves said.

The store has a bridal registry, a corporate gift program, and is popular among realtors as a source for their closing gifts. "Price points vary, but markups range from 50% on furniture to 1000% on some of our direct imports." Since appearing on Southern Living's list of favorite shops in 2003, the store regularly receives calls and customers from as far away as New York, Los Angeles, South America and Sri Lanka. "Our products are even packaged and sent wholesale to dress stores in Korea." Slow movers are marked down in hot pink, or sold at a semi-annual Pink Sale.

Ambiance and staff donate product and services to community organizations and participate in school-related events and career days. Reeves and Tullis serve as substitute teachers for Emory University's interior design courses, and provide retail consulting services on topics such as branding, marketing, merchandising and space planning. "Retail 101 is a seminar we offer to other approved retailers who are seeking to move their business to the next level," Tullis said.

Tullis described the retail consulting program as one of the things she enjoys most about her work, but added she also enjoys transforming spaces for her clients and displaying the daily-arriving merchandise . For Reeves, it's providing an experience that's "... more than a typical trip to the store. I love being able to entertain and socialize in the store. Whether it's serving up samples of gourmet food, a cup of coffee or design advice, it's always served with a smile from the heart." Macy enjoys buying, and "seeing the new stuff before it hits the market." She hopes to be a product development consultant one day so she can "play and experiment all her life."