Wm Harrison Fabrics held their first annual Girls Night Out Nov. 19. Kathy Powell, owner of Wm Harrison Fabrics, opened the store as a one-stop Christmas shopping venue for Auburn consumers.
The public was invited to sip, shop and sample great gift ideas from local merchants including WmHarrison Fabrics, Flip Flop Foto, Silpada Jewelry, Usborne Books, Thirty One purses & accessories, Casseroles by Sandi, Buttons & Bows gifts, Frou Frou and more. Girls night out offers an easy shopping concept where you can get anything from children's clothes and books to jewelry for adults and everything in between.
"We tried to bring in vendors that don't have normal store fronts that people can go shopping in for Christmas, but might have some unique or different Christmas items," Powell said. "People can come knock out some Christmas shopping, have some wine and hors oeuvres and just get together."
Powell said as a business owner it is always good to bring people into the store and she hopes that people will shop with the vendors and shop with Wm Harrison Fabrics because the event may bring some people in that have never shopped at the store.
"This event is mainly a way to get our name out and offer different vendors to our customers," Rhonda Massey, an employee of Wm Harrison Fabrics said. "We our having specials on our fabrics. There are twelve vendors total where customers can come around and shop. We also do this to get exposure to these ladies, so they can get exposure to their businesses."
Vendors chose to participate in Girls Night Out for many different reasons.
"I like for people to learn more about Silpada Jewelry," Lil Cross, a representative of Silpada Jewelry said.
Tara Maple, an independent educational consultant for Usborne Books, said she chose to take part in Girls Night out to get the word out about Usborne children's books.
"I just started this venture," Maple said. "I am excited about getting more parents and kids exposed to the books because these are very good educational books."
All tickets proceeds are donated to the Red Cross said Massey.
"It's a fun event that has a philanthropic focus," Powell said.
Jess Margeson, a representative from Frou Frou, said she chose to participate in Girls Night Out to support the Red Cross.
Powell said she got the idea from the Montgomery Junior League and she was able to contact some people and all of the vendors were very excited about participating.
"The Montgomery Junior League puts on a much bigger version of this and I went to it a few weeks ago and I thought I can't believe Auburn doesn't have something like this," Powell said.
Girls Night Out sold around 70 tickets before the event began and the goal for the event was 100 people.
Massey said being able to see what everybody in town has to offer in one place is one of my favorite things along with seeing all the vendors gift ideas.
"Ive been so excited that people thought it was a good idea and wanted to come and see," Powell said. "Girls Night Out has been received so well with our vendors. It get you in the Christmas spirit and allows you to get a lot of your Christmas shopping done without having to manage going lots of different places."
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