East Hills specialty bath shop triples space, adds product lines

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By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Last September, when Grand Rapids natives Gail Long and Ellie Walborn opened a 300-square-foot bath shop in the East Hills business district they had no idea they’d be expanding the store in less than a year.

Long, 26, and Walborn, 21, are sisters who started David & Bathsheba at 958 Lake Dr. SE in a small space attached to YT Galleria, a shop owned by their parents, John and Susan Walborn. When the Galleria moved to 966 Cherry St SE last month, the sisters simply expanded the bath shop into the vacant space, adding another 500 square feet. They also expanded their product offerings.

“We’d had such success with our store it was really a perfect opportunity to grow and offer more,” says Gail Long. “There’s no place in the neighborhood that offers natural sheets and bedding and we thought it would be perfect if we could offer that.”

So, along with the all-natural bath and body products, skin care products for problem skin, and women’s silky loungewear made from bamboo, the store added bamboo bed linens and organic cotton bath linens.

“We expanded our bamboo clothing and loungewear selections significantly,” Long adds. “We’ve also added bedroom and bath accessories and décor, like vanity trays, lamps, pillows and bamboo rugs.”

The former Galleria space also houses Yours Truly, another shop owned by the Walborns, which fronts Cherry Street. Yours Truly and David & Bathsheba share the space but are separate shops.

“We’ll be doing renovations to make it more apparent that they are two separate stores,” Long says. “I think our customers are really excited that we have more space and there’s a lot more to look at. It’s more of a shopping destination now.”

Source: Gail Long, David & Bathsheba

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.