SALISBURY — Knowing that Salisbury is a good, strong community, Michelle Gannon wanted to be a part of it and extend her business, which was solely online, by having a physical presence in the community, thus fulfilling a dream.

Starting her business in 2021, working out of her basement in New York, Gannon said her business was online only. It was in July 2022 that Ruthie Darling’s Boutique, owned by Gannon and named after her grandmother Ruth, opened its doors in downtown Salisbury at 107 E. Innes Street.

Having just recently celebrated its first-year anniversary, Gannon admits that things have been “a little rough for a while, and right before the one-year milestone, was looking a little scary.”

Putting out a post to this effect, Gannon said she received lots of support, and there was excitement over her first year in business, but then it slowed down once again.

Gannon said she has always loved her career; however, after COVID and facing isolation in New York, she recognized the fact that interacting with people versus being solely online made her happier.

“When somebody comes in and I get to watch their confidence come out versus just it being typed, it’s a very different feeling.”

So when the second slowdown occurred, she was faced with both the loss of her phone and power as well as other bills and the importance of paying her employees, whom she noted, “I can’t do my job without them.”

She had donated when asked for sponsorships and helped support the community, but asking for help for herself was hard. Still, she thought, “As hard as it is, why not see what it does? Worst case, it stays exactly the same. It can’t get worse by asking.”

Therefore, Gannon put out a GoFundMe page sharing how she moved her family 600 miles from New York to North Carolina and had a dream of not just having a brick-and-mortar business but wanting to make sure she chose the right location, and picking Salisbury was that place. Her page asked for help in saving Ruthie Darling, setting a $10,000 goal.

And the community has responded, as 101 donations in the amount of $6,760 have come in thus far, for which Gannon is very grateful.

“I am beyond floored at the generosity and just the support of the people, people who don’t even necessarily know me. They’ve heard my story, they’ve heard of me, or they know somebody who’s friends with me. And anything from $5 to $500, it’s all, it’s helping, and I would say this week, I can feel like I can breathe and starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel, which is a really, really, really good feeling.”

In addition to the donations, Gannon said the walk-in traffic has also greatly increased, noting that having people come into the shop is helping, “which ultimately is what I originally wanted, just more people to know who I am and where I am,” which, she shared is a struggle because not everyone is aware that the store is there.

Plus, she received a downtown City of Salisbury facade grant, which helped her with the purchase of a new sign and awning. That, she noted, should attract attention as well since her sign is now a new color — pink.

With the holidays coming, Gannon also hopes that additional foot traffic will come into her boutique and check out what she offers there.

“I try to cater to everybody,” she said. “You may not like everything, but I want you at least to find one thing you like.”

She wants people to know that for her, the word boutique doesn’t limit what the store offers, as some think of when they hear that word, she noted, but her store does have something for everyone with sizes up to 3X, she pointed out.

“A boutique to me is just clothing. It’s just a small business that I want everyone to be able to enjoy it together,” she said.

People can come into the shop or go online at www.Ruthie-Darling.com.

Those wishing to help can donate by visiting the GoFundMe page at:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-ruthie-darling.

Wanting to continue help others, Gannon shared about a community project she is involved with, partnering with the Corner Market doing a food drive and collecting canned goods to cook a Thanksgiving meal for the displaced.

People can drop off canned goods at her store, and for every 10 cans dropped off, they can receive a 10 percent discount on their whole purchase at Ruthie Darling’s Boutique.

“Even though things aren’t always great here, I still think it’s important to give back too,” she said.