Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
When Angie Mathey found outthat she had breast cancer in 2008, she didn’t think the year could get any worse. Then her charming shop in Rock Hill flooded. The three feet of water destroyed everything in the store. “We were devastated,” Mathey recalls.
“I was recovering from surgery, and I wasn’t even allowed to go in there and clean up the mess,” she says. But a little more than a month later, Mathey was in remission, and she and her daughter, Lindsay (pictured with at left), had reopened the shop, The White Rabbit (9030 Manchester, 314-963-9784, thewhiterabbitstl.com), in a larger location.
At first, Mathey didn’t have enough merchandise to fill the new shop. The landlord let her rent half, and she hung up a curtain to divide the space. Now, the curtain is gone, and the entire shop is full. “We were one of the only stores that had cottage and shabby-chic styles,” she says. The store is full of vintage furniture, mostly painted a distressed cottage white, including a tin-topped sideboard with beautifully arched legs ($649) and a settee with aqua velvet cushions ($899). Beyond the furniture, The White Rabbit stocks garden decor, candles, vintage cabinet knobs, jewelry from Lenora Dame and Twist Style, and seasonal goods. A children’s section includes canvas lunch bags ($10) and vintage-style banners with messages like “Loved” and “Play” ($38).
Mathey says sales have increased every year since she reopened her shop. She attributes it to her passion. “I just love what I do,” she says. “That’s what got me through 2008—I had to get well and keep going so I could get back to doing what I loved.” —rosalind early
Click here for additional images from inside The White Rabbit.
