A new retail concept is coming to Webster Groves in early September from the founders of K. Hall Designs. Kelley Hall-Barr and her husband, John Barr, are opening Civil Alchemy as a general store full of beautiful and functional lifestyle goods.
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“It’s kind of an unusual concept,” Hall-Barr says. “We have everything from our own brand of gin to jeans to Japanese gardening tools to small preserved foods like pickles and jams.”
The shop’s eclectic selection of high-quality goods will include many items designed by the Barrs, such as wool goods, stationery, jewelry, and apparel. It will even carry Hall-Barr’s own brand of gin—Truly Floral Blue No. 5 by Civil Alchemy—which she describes as “an expressly floral gin with violet and lavender.”
“We spent quite a while developing [the gin],” she says. “I’ve been making cordials and liqueurs for years with goods out of my garden. Having the opportunity to do my own brand just seemed natural.”
According to their Instagram, they’ll also be selling their own brand of maple syrup, made in Michigan expressly for the store.
In addition to carrying a variety of household supplies and tools, Civil Alchemy will also have a full floral section, stocked with everything someone would need to create their own floral arrangement.
As a busy mother of five, Hall-Barr knows the importance of one-stop shopping. “If you have friends coming over in an hour, you can walk in here, make yourself a bouquet and get snacks and everything you need,” she says.
Visit Civil Alchemy’s website or Facebook page to stay up-to-date on the store’s opening.
