Abbi White, Southern Valley Boutique
Knoxville entrepreneur Abbi White has turned Hardin Valley into Fashion Valley with her great taste in clothing, cheery atmosphere and hard work. The next time you have to wait for a table at Double Dogs or Don Gallo, sneak over to Southern Valley Boutique to see the latest outfits for Game day and every day.
Something For Everyone
Southern Valley Boutique aims to be a one stop clothing shop. The store carries shoes of various sizes and styles, hats, shirts, dresses and jeans. And everybody loves their number one selling jeans…they measure a size down from most brands (yay to feeling good about yourself!) The jeans also run longer for tall people but are easily cut to fit shorter legs because the bottoms are already frayed so each body type gets just the right fit.
When asked to define the style of clothing, Abbi described it as “hitting all the basics and then having a little bit of flare to it.” She also makes sure to have something for “all the ages.” Little girls can come shop with their mother and their grandmother and each of the ladies will leave with something they are excited to wear.
There’s even a section for reluctant husbands. A small men’s section is stocked with shirts, cologne and hats.
Must See
Southern Valley Boutique was the first retailer in Knoxville to sell No Rivals, which popularized the upside down VOLS on hats. Abbi has had to make orders and reorders daily just to keep up with the demand.
Open 24/7
Whether the storefront in Hardin Valley is closed or you just can’t get there, you can still shop anytime at thesouthernvalleyboutique.com. You should also keep an eye out for the newest inventory on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. If you see something you love, just message Abbi on any of those platforms. She will send you the link to purchase; orders ship on the very next day.
The Journey
While the storefront is 3 months young, Southern Valley Boutique has been in business over a year and in Abbi’s heart for nearly a decade. Her path to retail began with her first job at Josie’s Boutique when she was only 16 years old. After four years there, White went to Gracie Lee’s in Fountain City where she learned the back end of the business. Of Gracie Lee’s, she shared, “they knew I wanted to do this and they taught me every single thing that they could. They taught me how to use Shopify, how to price and how to steam. They taught me so much and I’m so grateful for them.”
Abbi made two additional stops with Melody Vintage Jewelry and Altered State before launching Southern Valley Boutique. While waiting for her current location to become available, White began stocking inventory and first opened up a popup shop in her parents’ garage before adding an online store in September of 2023. Just this past April, keys were in hand for the storefront and Abbi feverishly transformed the former nail salon into a charming boutique in under a month’s time with the help of her Uncle Tony of Tony’s Toolbox.
Grand Opening
While Southern Valley Boutique had gained several loyal customers over the pre-storefront months, Abbi had no expectations that her grand opening would be all that grand. White said, “I didn’t think it would have a big turnout. I was like, it’ll be easy, I’ll have a few people in here at a time. You couldn’t walk in our store! I opened an hour earlier than we were supposed to because there were so many people outside. And thank goodness my grandmother was here, my mom was here, my brother’s girlfriend and my other brother’s fiance were here. My mom’s best friend was here and they were all at the dressing room handing out snacks, helping me fold clothes, getting bags out for me. I have the best support system around me. They helped me when I needed it so I’m very grateful for that.”
Advice For Young Entrepreneurs
Twenty four year old White says, “It is very hard, but very worth it. Nothing’s easy about owning your own business. There’s a whole lot of things that you don’t think about that you have to do, but the customers make it worth it. And seeing people be happy about something they put on or getting to know somebody that’s checking out, it’s just all worth it. There’s hard days, there’s amazing days, there’s days where all you wanna do is cry and there’s days that all you wanna do is smile, but the days that you just wanna smile makes it all worth it.”
Words For Hardin Valley
“I just want to thank the community. You guys make me happy and I hope that my store makes you guys happy. I want you to feel beautiful walking out of here and that is my one goal for the day. As long as you feel beautiful and I’ve done my job.” – Abbi White of Southern Valley Boutique
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10653 Hardin Valley Rd, Knoxville, TN 37932
Tuesday – Thursday 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM
Friday 10:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday 10:30 AM – 4:00 PM
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