Ashley Carruthers moved Rosewood Clothing Co. to 106 S. Robinson St. in the Fan. (Jack Jacobs photos)
As she looks to expand her offerings, a Richmond clothier has made her second move in about as many years.
Ashley Carruthers has relocated her Rosewood Clothing Co. to 106 S. Robinson St., taking over a piece of the building occupied by Spacebomb Records in the Fan.
The store, which sells new and vintage women’s clothing as well as gifts and accessories, opened in the new space last month. The relocation comes as Carruthers prepares to launch a small in-house line of repurposed clothes and is exploring a denim jeans buy-back program.
Rosewood had previously operated at 407 Cleveland St. in the Museum District since late 2020.
The new 750-square-foot shop space has two fitting rooms and is slightly larger than Rosewood’s last location. Carruthers said it was crowded on Cleveland Street, and the new store’s layout has a bit more room to breathe.
“It was just looking at what felt right. Cleveland Street felt right too for what that was. It was an awesome shared space with really wonderful people. So, that made sense for the time and so did this. I definitely think space was an issue but didn’t know where that kind of space was going to be.”
Carruthers already knew a few owners of Spacebomb and pitched them on the idea of subleasing the record label’s Robinson Street-side storefront after she noticed it wasn’t being actively used as office space anymore.
“The pandemic changed the way our business worked, and with a long period of working from home it became clear we didn’t need as much physical office space. So, the partnership with (Carruthers) made perfect sense as a way of making the building vibrant, productive, and unexpectedly also make it smell nice,” Spacebomb co-owner Ben Baldwin said in a text message.
Rosewood Clothing Co. sells new and vintage women’s clothing.
Pete Guyre was the general contractor who built out the Rosewood space. Carruthers said she invested more than $10,000 in the space, which is about a third of the building.
In the next month or so, Carruthers plans to launch a new repurposed clothing line. Initially, the line will consist of clothing that’s been altered or dyed, and items will largely be one-off creations.
“We’re going to start with repurposing fabrics, taking things that maybe can be altered in a way that still makes them interesting,” she said. “Like dresses that would be cuter as two-piece sets.”
Eventually, the plan is to expand into production of new clothing using cast-off fabric sourced from the leftover raw materials of other companies’ clothing products.
That expansion comes as Rosewood is weighing a denim jeans buyback program and anticipates more demand for the jeans-fitting side of the business as a result of the pandemic.
“It really hit the go button toward the end of our time on Broad Street. … It’s a really big part of who we are,” Carruthers said of the denim fitting service, in which the store tailors its jeans stock to customers’ fit.
“Everybody’s sizes changed so much during COVID. People either lost weight or they gained weight, or they had babies,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of friends come in and say, ‘I don’t know what size I am,’ and they had bought jeans from me previously.”
Rosewood originally opened in 2014 in Jackson Ward.
Ashley Carruthers moved Rosewood Clothing Co. to 106 S. Robinson St. in the Fan. (Jack Jacobs photos)
As she looks to expand her offerings, a Richmond clothier has made her second move in about as many years.
Ashley Carruthers has relocated her Rosewood Clothing Co. to 106 S. Robinson St., taking over a piece of the building occupied by Spacebomb Records in the Fan.
The store, which sells new and vintage women’s clothing as well as gifts and accessories, opened in the new space last month. The relocation comes as Carruthers prepares to launch a small in-house line of repurposed clothes and is exploring a denim jeans buy-back program.
Rosewood had previously operated at 407 Cleveland St. in the Museum District since late 2020.
The new 750-square-foot shop space has two fitting rooms and is slightly larger than Rosewood’s last location. Carruthers said it was crowded on Cleveland Street, and the new store’s layout has a bit more room to breathe.
“It was just looking at what felt right. Cleveland Street felt right too for what that was. It was an awesome shared space with really wonderful people. So, that made sense for the time and so did this. I definitely think space was an issue but didn’t know where that kind of space was going to be.”
Carruthers already knew a few owners of Spacebomb and pitched them on the idea of subleasing the record label’s Robinson Street-side storefront after she noticed it wasn’t being actively used as office space anymore.
“The pandemic changed the way our business worked, and with a long period of working from home it became clear we didn’t need as much physical office space. So, the partnership with (Carruthers) made perfect sense as a way of making the building vibrant, productive, and unexpectedly also make it smell nice,” Spacebomb co-owner Ben Baldwin said in a text message.
Rosewood Clothing Co. sells new and vintage women’s clothing.
Pete Guyre was the general contractor who built out the Rosewood space. Carruthers said she invested more than $10,000 in the space, which is about a third of the building.
In the next month or so, Carruthers plans to launch a new repurposed clothing line. Initially, the line will consist of clothing that’s been altered or dyed, and items will largely be one-off creations.
“We’re going to start with repurposing fabrics, taking things that maybe can be altered in a way that still makes them interesting,” she said. “Like dresses that would be cuter as two-piece sets.”
Eventually, the plan is to expand into production of new clothing using cast-off fabric sourced from the leftover raw materials of other companies’ clothing products.
That expansion comes as Rosewood is weighing a denim jeans buyback program and anticipates more demand for the jeans-fitting side of the business as a result of the pandemic.
“It really hit the go button toward the end of our time on Broad Street. … It’s a really big part of who we are,” Carruthers said of the denim fitting service, in which the store tailors its jeans stock to customers’ fit.
“Everybody’s sizes changed so much during COVID. People either lost weight or they gained weight, or they had babies,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of friends come in and say, ‘I don’t know what size I am,’ and they had bought jeans from me previously.”
Rosewood originally opened in 2014 in Jackson Ward.