WELCOME!

What started as a love for re-purposing, reusing and giving new life to many items...
soon turned into more than I ever imagined!

 Hello! Have you ever wondered how The Venue got started? I'm Kim Avery and I'd love to share a bit of my journey and how it all came to fruition! I started painting small items at my kitchen table in 2008.  By word of mouth and referrals from a friend, my little hobby quickly began to grow. This same friend decided to open a little shop to promote local artists in the Greenville area. Hence, The Venue was started. Cathi Davis, a local designer opened the small artist "consignment" shop in February 2011. She was an excellent promoter of all artists involved. Because of her already established clientele that she continued to help, she was only open 1 1/2 days per week. After 6 months of being open and as the demand from her design clients continued, she asked me to take over The Venue. After much prayer and consideration, I decided to try it for a few months........And then it happened!

Starting in October 1, 2011 we revamped our Business Hours to be OPEN Wednesday - Saturday. Then several months later, we added Monday and Tuesday as well. It was still very small and we didn't even have a computer or phone line. We soon updated and painted the outside of the building and then added on to the back porch and then cut a door to add another room for our shoppers. Meanwhile, I quickly outgrew my garage space and then later my "painting barn" that we built in our back yard. I began looking for a small place to use as a Paint Studio in order to tame the chaos of all the ongoing "projects" at our home! After leaving The Venue one morning, I noticed the empty "Fixture House" building just 2 blocks from our shop! I called an old bible study friend whose family owned the building. This quickly led to us renting the back warehouse to use for storage and painting. Within weeks, this opportunity led me to begin thinking of "What-Ifs".  What if we fixed the leaks in the roof and the plumbing? What if we cleaned up the yard and the woods behind the building? What if we cut the trees growing into the backside of the roof?  What if we could add a front porch and a tin awning over the shingles? What if we could paint the building like our small Venue? We were up against so many obstacles....the city of Greenville, the front driveway, the traffic pattern, the financial obligations, the doubts from so many others....the list went on and on. Even though it was never my dream to build any kind of retail business, much less one of such magnitude, for some unknown reason, I felt as though it was meant to be. It became apparent to me that, after so many doubts and negative thoughts from others while trying to pursue this opportunity, God had a plan to make this thing happen. 

We added a front porch, gave it a paint job and some personality and began modifying the inside to create 3 fabulous showrooms in a one-stop shop for all things vintage, antique, DIY design, home decor and more! 

On November 1, 2012, we opened the doors at our new location! It was amazing to watch people come in, one after another, to support this small town business that was never meant to be. It was so humbling to me. It was definitely a huge effort from our family and friends and from our entire Venue family that have been with us since the beginning. I have truly been blessed from day one. 

I often think back to 2012 and wonder how all of this happened so quickly. I never expected to have enough furniture to fill our front showroom, much less fill all three rooms and build a 2500 sq ft addition behind our warehouse. I thought perhaps I could just run the front counter, paint smaller pieces right there while interacting with customers as they came and went. Ha! Was I ever wrong! Someone else had a plan for me, and before I knew it, The Venue had taken off. We now own this 10,000 sq ft building. 

It began with a love for something that on a wing and a prayer grew bigger than I ever thought possible! I am blessed and proud to be able to enjoy what I do each day. We are open 4 days a week now and offer custom painting and upholstery, new and old items, vintage style items, vendor booths, and even embroidery. Our newest showroom is our event rentals space. Beautiful vintage pieces that can be used to add elegance and detail to your special events. We have an amazing staff of people who love to greet you with a smile and offer their assistance with whatever you may need! 

Stop on by! Come in and see all that we have to offer! And Thank YOU for being a part of what has made The Venue a success over the past few years. 

 *After COVID, our Venue family got a bit smaller and our Showroom hours were shortened. As of May 2020, our current hours for shoppers are Wednesday - Saturdays 10-5 pm., or by appt. We thank you all for support and we look forward to seeing you soon.

xoxo, Kim

*Our Hours changed after Covid….Thank you for your understanding.

THE VENUE’S HOURS OF OPERATION

*Wednesday - Saturday 10-5 pm