May 8, 2008 Issue
Business Spotlight
Tatum Galleries and Interiors—28 Years of Mountain Furniture, Friends and Design
Story by Sam Calhoun
Buying a house is stressful enough; filling it should be a comfortable process.
In an ideal world, you’d be able to make one trip to a store run by friends to furnish a home from floor to ceiling. But where can you find that?
Welcome to Tatum Galleries and Interiors—a one-stop shop for all home design needs, from furniture to accessories to decorations. Operated by eight smiling employees and owners Sally and Steve Tatum, Tatum Galleries and Interiors, located at 5320 Highway 105 in Banner Elk, carries “anything you need for your house,” and features “three interior designers on staff to help with your every need,” said Sally.
The business started in 1980 selling Steve’s fine, solid wood furniture, and the business continues today with Steve’s woodworking skills as the backbone. You won’t find contemporary furniture sets at Tatum, but if you like the casual elegance of wood reproductions of period furniture or the mountain cottage motif, you’re in luck.
“We try to carry solid wood pieces,” said Sally. “We’re very selective about what we order because of what my husband has always made. We want to adhere to those standards.”
Originally from Charlotte, Sally attended Stratford College in Virginia, completing a degree in elementary education. Steve is from Burlington and honed his woodworking skills at Lees-McRae and ASU in the industrial arts departments at each school. Steve graduated from ASU and took a job with the French-Swiss Ski College, working on the snow in the winter and making furniture during the summer.
Sally also took a job out of college at French-Swiss Ski College and eventually met Steve. After six years of working together, the couple married on April 1, 1978.
“We’ve been married 30 great years,” said Sally.
The couple stayed at French-Swiss for another six years. At the same time, Steve nurtured his furniture-making business in the summertime.
In 1984, the Tatums quit their jobs at French-Swiss and decided to focus their efforts on running a furniture business. Choosing a spot that many people thought was off the beaten path, the couple bought a piece of property bordering Highway 105 in the shadow of Grandfather Mountain, and Steve began building.
“Back then, there were very few year-round businesses and we were far out, but we knew that we were in it for the long haul,” remembered Sally.
Steve built the structure in one year and installed a woodworking shop in the basement. The new building was much larger than the couple’s old confines, lending itself to a larger selection of products.
Soon, the business expanded to carry accessories and gifts and, not long after, grew again to offer interior design, as well as outdoor furniture.
Now, 23 years later, the business is thriving. Steve is often in his woodshop, working on custom orders and crafting reproductions of period pieces.
“He doesn’t refinish pieces; he mainly builds and designs furniture of his own. He can do just about everything, and he only builds things in solid wood,” explained Sally.
Steve’s furniture, though, is only a portion of the Tatum business. From placemats to candleholders, from art to drapes, from rugs to lamps, from plates to cups to picture frames, Tatum Galleries and Interiors is ready to outfit any mountain home. And if the scope of the selection becomes overwhelming, don’t worry because the business’s three interior designers are here to help.
“With our design business, we’ll do one window or an entire house. Our customers are number one and we’ll help in any way we can. We understand that design is confusing sometimes, with so many different opinions,” said Sally, who added that they go off the mountain to design homes, but specialize in the casual mountain cottage look that is common in the High Country.
A large portion of the business is second homeowners, but many locals frequent the store as well. Sally estimated that 75 percent of Tatum Galleries and Interiors’ business comes from repeat customers.
“If we can just get them in here, we can get them back,” said Sally, who thinks her greatest business secret is friendliness and rapport with clients. “My biggest thing is that everybody is important. We establish friendships with these people—that’s the best part about it. We care about our customers. We enjoy them. Some have been with us for more than 20 years.”
Sally also credits her business’s success to her hardworking staff.
“We just love to have good friends as clients. We look forward to seeing them every year and we love meeting new people too,” added Sally. “We have no plans to leave this place. We want to continue serving the High Country with good design.”
Ever the entrepreneurs, the couple planted 1,000 grapevines on two acres of their property five years ago.
“We had extra acres and we didn’t want to plant Christmas trees,” said Sally. “Now we have a little vineyard behind our house.”
Steve, who learned most of what he knows about viticulture from the Internet and from other vintners, uses the grapes for personal winemaking and has no plans to sell the grapes to other wineries. Recently, he has received a little help from the couple’s son Dylan, who graduated from Surry Community College with an undergraduate degree in viticulture. In hopes of one day getting into the business himself, Dylan is studying business at ASU and works as a wine
representative for Empire Distributing. The couple also has a daughter, Jesse Rose Blalock, who works as an interior designer at Tatum Galleries and Interiors. Blalock graduated from ASU with a degree in interior design.
Tatum Galleries and Interiors is located at 5320 Highway 105 in Banner Elk. The business is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 828-963-6466.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
