Come Together Over Cheese: The Blooming Board
“What’s better than eating cheese and shopping?”
That’s the question that Brandi Crumley asked herself one day while sharing a charcuterie board with a friend. Brandi, a real estate agent and owner of Ennobra Bloom Boutique in Asheboro, was hit by a new idea while enjoying fine cheeses with her friend: a storefront that combined her love of shopping with her love of gathering.
The mission behind The Blooming Board is summed up in their tagline: gather, graze, shop. Brandi says she envisioned a one-of-a-kind retail space that brought together her love of delicious food, local products, fashion, and of course, gathering with friends and neighbors.
“I wanted people to be able to come in, sit down, hang out, relax, enjoy, get some work done, and have some laughs,” Brandi says, envisioning her gathering and retail space. “Or if they just want to run in and grab a gift or some nice cheeses, they could do that as well.”
And while Brandi had operated her 2,400 square foot retail space of Ennobra Bloom in Asheboro for years, she soon realized she had a lot to learn when it came to owning this new business. Learning how to scale and manage the time-consuming charcuterie board creation was one of her first challenges, but one she welcomed.
“I never thought of myself as creative,” Brandi admits. “But this has shown me that I can have a creative outlet – designing each board differently.” Her goal through every charcuterie board is to give her customers a top-notch experience, from the quality of the food to the customer service, to the ordering process, to the beautiful presentation.
The second challenge she faced was the COVID-19 pandemic. While her idea started growing in early 2021, Brandi decided to put the retail space on hold for a while so she could focus on building The Blooming Board brand.
“I have to give a shoutout to Paddled South Brewing Co.,” Brandi says, remembering her first year in business. “That was my very first pop-up event.”
The idea of a pop-up is for a business (that often doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar storefront) to appear at a brewery, coffee shop, or other community space to sell their products. And while the pop-up often benefits the business that is the “guest,” Brandi also saw her business as part of a bigger partnership with other local businesses.
“With my personality, I just jumped right in and hit the ground running,” Brandi says. “I started reaching out to everybody that I could and asking, 'How can I help feed your customers? How can we increase your sales?’”
Soon, Brandi found herself with pop-up events lined up at breweries across High Point, including Goofy Foot Taproom and Brown Truck Brewery, giving her a chance both to engage with new customers for her business and provide a wonderful, filling experience for the brewery customers. It wasn’t long before Brandi partnered with other businesses like Lil’s Coffee Bar and 83 Custom Coffee to supply packaged, individual charcuterie boxes that customers could purchase at these shops.
“We’re open to be anywhere anyone needs us or wants us,” she says.
And soon, Brandi started feeling like her business in High Point wasn’t the only thing blooming. A former Asheboro resident, Brandi decided to move to High Point to be closer to her kids’ school (Westchester Country Day School) and to foster partnerships with her newfound business friends.
But in the back of Brandi’s mind, she still wanted to create the “gather” and “shop” portion of her business. When the opportunity came to open a storefront at 142 Church Avenue, Brandi couldn’t believe the opportunity.
“We are two doors down from Plank Street Tavern, and we are right there at the ball field and Stock + Grain,” Brandi explains, sharing about collaborative workshops she is already planning with the tenants of Stock + Grain. "We're really excited to have great neighbors and all come together to support one another. We all want to bring that vibe and that community and feed everybody too!”
After cutting the ribbon and opening their storefront on April 14, The Blooming Board is excited to welcome in new visitors, while continuing pop-ups, catering, and delivery of their customizable charcuterie boxes. From birthday parties to baby showers, to weddings, to corporate events, to holidays, to High Point Market events – Brandi always has her hands full of making sure High Point is filled with plenty of delicious charcuterie.
“Come together over cheese!” Brandi laughs. “When people come together and have that togetherness, we want to be a part of it.”
The storefront itself offers everything from ready-made charcuterie, wine and beer from local breweries, trending fashions, accessories, and home goods. It also has what anyone would need to start building their own board – from gorgeous cheeseboards, to local honeys, jams, and mustards.
Now, with a beautiful storefront and a part to play in High Point’s growing downtown, Brandi sees all of the ways that hard work and strong community has brought her to a place where she can blossom.
“I didn’t know anyone at first and now I feel the love and support around me,” she says, thinking about the partnerships she formed to help launch The Blooming Board.
“High Point is our home base,” she adds about her adopted hometown, but The Blooming Board is taking the High Point name all over the state, as Brandi continues to get orders from other cities.
“Just go for it,” Brandi advises any who are considering opening their own business. “There’s no better time than when you want to do it.”
“Come together over cheese! When people come together and have that togetherness, we want to be a part of it.”
Brandi Crumley, Owner of The Blooming Board
She notes that her biggest piece of advice as an entrepreneur is to remember that business ownership isn’t a 9-to-5 job; it’s an all day, every day commitment that involves a certain number of calculated risks.
“Failure is okay,” she adds. “That will show you more of what success actually looks like.”
Because at the end of the day, success may be as simple as sharing a good glass of wine and a great piece of cheese around the table with a friend. And that might just be the start of a wonderful idea, an idea like The Blooming Board.
Discover our High Points,
The HPD Team
Photography by Zander Betterton
(unless otherwise noted)