For as long as Anne Mayher can remember, she’s loved fashion and keeping up with the newest styles. “I grew up in South Georgia, and we didn’t have a lot of shopping. We had to drive to Atlanta to get things that were really unique,” she remembers.
The one thing her small town did have was a swimsuit boutique that was open from February through August each year. “All of the girls would go on opening day to get their swimsuits for spring break. It was the thing to do,” Mayher says.
Those early memories, and her love of water, are what drew Mayher to the idea of opening her own resort swimwear boutique. After relocating to Greenville to be closer to family, she noticed there was nothing like it in the area. “It sort of became a ‘now or never’ thing for me,” she says. “People thought I was crazy when I told them what I wanted to do.”
Mayher’s boutique, Splash on Main, is located just a few blocks from Fluor Field in the West End. While bathing suits are the feature, Mayher also takes pride in her selection of resort wear, cover ups, flip flops, bags, jewelry, and other accessories.
But don’t expect to see Splash veer too far from its niche either. Mayher wants to be different. “We want to bring the Greenville customer something they can’t get anywhere else. We’re constantly switching up the brands and keeping things fresh. I take feedback from customers and try to find things they want or phase out things they don’t.”
Customer feedback is what led Mayher to create an online store for Splash, which is expected to launch this spring. “We get calls all the time from people who want to order from us but don’t live here. We’re happy to ship to them, but having online access to buy would be much easier. An online store will help us reach a national audience.”
Mayher never wants to lose the brick and mortar store though. “Here in the West End, we have a great business community that really supports each other. We want our neighbors to do well, because it helps us all do well. But now I realize how much it helps local families put food on the table and fund their kids’ activities. When people shop locally instead of online, they are keeping the doors open of stores like mine, in turn keeping our downtown area charming and unique and not full of chain stores like has happened in other cities’ downtown areas. Until I owned a store myself, I’m not sure I fully understood how much shopping local really matters.”
807 South Main St., Greenville | 864.534.1510
