It’s not every day that a business can celebrate a major milestone, and Rusticks in Cashiers recently opened for its 30th season after being opened in 1992 in Chestnut Square.
For three decades, Rusticks has brought “mountain chic” furniture and accessories to the plateau. The business was opened by Ann and Rody Sherrill.
The couple was exploring options for a joint business venture after being in the corporate world for decades. The Sherrills were inspired by compliments they received about their home, and they chose to share “mountain chic” with others through a retail shop.
“I think if you to talk to people, our customers and people in town, you’d have to say they built a Cashiers institution,” Rusticks owner Don Gottwald said. “Rusticks is a well-known brand in the area, we’re pretty excited about that, and that carries with it an obligation to fulfill a brand promise and what differentiates us is customer service and an ever-changing selection. Our inventory is turning over all the time.”
The business was opened with the help of Tim Greene, an architect who works next door to Rusticks’ current location next to Cashiers Lake.
“The original shop was located in a small, almost attic-like space above the Greene & Associates architectural offices in Cashiers’ Chestnut Square,” According to a statement on the Rusticks website. “After the store quickly became a local favorite, Rusticks was expanded at this same location in 1994 and again in 1996.”
In May 2000, Rusticks expanded for a third time and relocated to Canoe Point on Cashiers Lake in its own Adirondack-style building, which was designed by Greene & Associates. In February 2006, the second-floor showroom was expanded to create more space for new product lines.
Gottwald bought the business from the Sherrills in January 2021, and Ann stays on part-time to help in the store.
“Rody was a corporate executive and kind of retired from corporate America to start his own or buy his own business,” Gottwald said. “Ann had always wanted to own her own shop. They combined those ideas and desires and rewired professionally after a very successful career for Rody for decades in corporate America.”
The name comes from what mountain décor looked like 30 years ago, Gottwald said, which was more of the hickory and willow type of furniture that is on display at the business.
The business is currently in a bespoke building with posts made from 100-year-old reclaimed wood, and even though the building is two decades old, the major construction components are reclaimed with an Adirondack lodge feel, Gottwald said.
He said, over the next three decades, the one thing he is most excited about is the continued growth of the area.
“It’s nice to see a lot of discussion about responsible growth, and there’s certainly more people in our community than there has been in the past, staying longer,” Gottwald said. “The pandemic certainly did some of that, more and more people living here, something that looks like full time, if not full time. So, we see a lot of momentum.”
He also gave credit to Rusticks’ team of 12 employees, including designer Stacie Platt, Ann Sherrill, and store manager Joe Tessmer.
“I’m very excited about what Ann and Rody built, not too many businesses can say they’re 30 years old,” Gottwald said. “I’m also very proud of what we have here. We have a great team that’s larger than ever before. We have more capacity to service customers from a host of different perspectives, whether it be the design services, or delivery, or new and different categories of merchandise.”
- By Michael O'Hearn/Crossroads Chronicle