Chic Rustique

Location is everything. Especially in the case of High Country Furniture & Design, a highly successful purveyor of accessories, furniture, gifts, garden decor and apparel in the mountain community of Waynesville, N.C.

The main showroom, on Highway 19 in Waynesville, N.C., is a 30,000-sq.-ft. compound of furniture, design and bedding space, with separate buildings for garden, overflow/receiving and corporate offices.

High Country's average customer, according to Worrell, is age 40 and furnishing a first or second home valued in excess of $500,000. They're also making day trips — from a number of mountain resort communities as well as from points east and south, including Charlotte and Winston-Salem, N.C., and Spartanburg and Greenville, S.C. "Most of our customers live within a 200-mile radius with about a quarter of our business coming from Florida," Worrell said. "People are looking for something unique and different for their homes both here and there."

Worrell credits his wife, Anne, with launching the operation, which has grown into a 30,000-sq.-ft. compound of buildings housing the main showroom, a design center, bedding center, overflow showroom, porch/garden center and corporate offices.

"Anne always wanted to be involved in furniture even though she studied medical technology in college," Charles said. "She would restore old furniture and visit auctions and often help people furnish their homes."

It wasn't until Charles retired from a career in automobiles that Anne decided to open a store — of "eclectic lodge and elegant casual mountain" styles. "We chose the initial location for its high traffic location, land availability and need for our type of business in the market," Charles said.

They've also opened up shop — two of them, in fact — in downtown Waynesville, along a revitalized Main Street of art galleries, cafes and shops. High Country West is a smaller version of the main store and features a Shadow Mountain Gallery and downstairs clearance center, open just three days a week. A block down the street is High Country Style, an elegant lifestyle boutique of high-end apparel, jewelry, home fragrance products, decorative gifts and personal accessories.

High Country West's Shadow Mountain Gallery is one of three such galleries in the country according to Chad Turney, Shadow Mountain president and CEO. "Our other two galleries are in Colorado and Utah, but we're now offering the concept to our entire dealer base," Turney said. "The gallery at High Country West has worked great so far. Doug and Anne order so much that we've established an open pick-up time, every Thursday, for them."

Rustic mountain style has co-existed peacefully among contemporary, traditional and transitional furnishings for quite some time. New vigor is coming to the category because of its increasing and innovative use of natural and reclaimed materials. The mountain look also has appeal as a cozy aesthetic for families and is a popular choice as an outdoor lifestyle look for second homes.

Charles, Anne and Doug Worrell cater to the elegant mountain home lifestyle of Appalachia and points south with a full range of products including home accents, furniture, lighting, rugs, design services, garden and patio, seasonal merchandise, gifts and apparel.

High Country's design clients include second homeowners and country clubs that are drawn to the retailer's unique blend of rustic, Southwestern and organic elements.

Consolidating the showrooms and product lines under the Rustic Pavilion further "shows the strength of a niche category where numerous manufacturers come together to display the synergy between them," Turney said.

This strength of this niche is reflected in High Country's success. Since opening in 1996, the Worrells' businesses have experienced annual growth of 10% to 20%.

Anne, who oversees the buying and design operations, and Charles, who is primarily responsible for planning and operations, met at Emory University where they both attended college. Their son Doug, High Country's president and chief operating officer, is responsible for day-to-day operations, with expertise in computers, marketing and sales.

High Country's employees number 56 and include interior designers Tina Wright, ASID, DeeAnna Reano, IDS, and Kelly Sorrells, who help with design assistance from start to finish, a service the owners said they feel their market demands, particularly with the popularity of second homes in the area.

"By that I mean someone who can help pick out everything for an entire house at one location and provide the expertise and service to make it all happen smoothly and efficiently," Doug said.

A renovation and upgrade of the existing design center at the main location is well under way, and the store recently launched a room-in-a-package program, three different packages that include an entire suite of pre-selected products, from rugs to furniture to accessories.

Anne shops High Point, Atlanta and Las Vegas with occasional trips to Europe for things that are "new, unique, exciting and hard to be shopped on." The inventory includes some custom made pieces and a coordinated product grouping of rugs, accessories and accent furniture from New York's ABC Carpet and Home.

"We don't look like your typical furniture and accessory store. We provide excitement by selling off the floor and are constantly replacing with new merchandise," Charles said.

It also presents one of their biggest challenges — keeping a fresh look with new, exciting and different product. "Anne always says, if you don't buy right, it doesn't look right," he said.

Product categories include art and wall decor, lamps, florals, sofas, case goods, outdoor furniture and accessories. The best sellers are lamps, art and sofas.

The store's broad vendor base allows the company to be able to be picky in who they do business with. "There are a lot of companies out there these days," Charles said. "If a supplier doesn't provide a good rep, good product and good service, we can afford to drop them."