MARS HILL – Mars Hill residents Kendall and Brian Chandler worked many years in local schools but are now moving into a second act after retiring from education.
The Chandlers opened a business in downtown Mars Hill, Quill and Honey, selling Kendall Chandler’s local, natural, home and body products, including homemade soap, as well as a number of other local products from a dozen regional artisans.
Kendall Chandler taught at Buncombe County schools for approximately 20 years and retired in June 2022. Her husband, Brian Chandler, served as principal at West Buncombe Elementary and also retired in 2022.
“Because he retired last year, we were able to do this together,” Chandler said. “It’s surreal and crazy and wonderful, and I love it, but it’s never what I expected, only better. It’s brilliant.”
Chandler graduated from Mars Hill University in 2005 and served as a teaching assistant at Buncombe County Schools for two years before graduating.
“The Quill and Honey is my thing, so all bath and body stuff is stuff I make here in the shop,” Chandler said. “It started organically, trying essential oils and doing stuff with it. So I started online and just recently we moved here. All the body stuff I do.”
Chandler opened the business the first week of October 2022.
The building is owned by Mars Hill University and Kendall Chandler leases the building to the university.
Quill and Honey features the work of a number of western North Carolina vendors, including Heart Llama from Leicester, English Woodwork Co. at Mars Hill, earrings from Knotted Moss at Candler, as well as crafts made from salvaged quilts by Spruce Pine-based Roses and Pines.
Additionally, the store features SNIG Indie Wear, which features jewelry, apparel and accessories, as well as clothing from Magnolia and Wren of Burnsville. Quill and Honey also spotlights handcrafted leather goods by a Weaverville-based artisan, as well as fly rods made by Candler-based Trout Cruisers Unlimited.
“Most of them I met in markets because I used to do a lot of pop-up markets in the area. Most of these people I met over the years organizing different events together,” Chandler said.
According to Chandler, she started making homemade soap in 2017.
“In 2017, I named the company,” she said. “In 2017 I named the business. Quill is my youngest son and Honey Jo is our second daughter. That’s where our name comes from. I started because my husband has sensitive skin. J was playing with essential oils and he asked me to make a soap.
Every Monday I would do this little bit on Facebook called “Make It Monday” and do an online course on how to make something with stuff you have at home and your essential oils. Eventually, people asked me to sell it to them, rather than making it themselves. So that’s how it all started.”
According to Chandler though, owning a business was never in the plan until last year.
“None of this was a plan,” Chandler said. “I wouldn’t have dreamed in four million years that I would be a trader. It’s great, and I love it, but I didn’t plan for it. It’s a volte-face (compared to our teaching careers). The schedules are different. The work is different. There’s nothing that isn’t different. I mean, working with people is basically the same. We’ve worked with little people, now they are adults.
Community response
Chandler said the community’s reception to the new venture has been “incredible.”
“It was beyond what I expected,” Chandler said. “There are so many nice people here. I think this community in general is full of really nice people. I got to meet people from my husband’s past. It’s just a pleasure to get to know people. They been so nice to me, and they come back again and again – which is a shock, and it’s so humbling to me every time people come back and get more. It’s something I’ve done, and it’s just a really humbling experience for me.”
Originally, Chandler approached the university to move into the space now occupied by Rios Mexican Kitchen’s new bar.
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“I had no intention of opening a store. I thought about it and dreamed about it, but I never thought it would be a reality,” Chandler said. “We were going to quit and kind of beef up our online business. It was a tiny little space that I thought I could afford. So I sent a Facebook message to the president (of Mars Hill University) (Tony) Floyd.
“I was like, ‘Well, Lord, if it’s your will, I’m just going to do it, and if he responds to the Facebook message, so be it.’ He wrote back and said that building was already taken, but I could come and see this one.”
According to Chandler, the building’s lease began on August 1, 2022.
Since the Chandlers moved in, the other Mars Hill store owners have shown the new owners nothing but love.
“They were so awesome,” Chandler said. “The lady who owns Wild Violet (Michele Clark), her daughters were right here. Everyone has been amazing. I eat at all of these restaurants at least once a week. Everyone has been so nice. I hear the community getting excited about the I feel like they’re excited to be able to come spend some time in Mars Hill now. They can eat, shop, and have a coffee. It’s awesome.
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Chandler said she hopes to continue contributing to this ever-expanding entrepreneurial spirit at Mars Hill for many years to come.
“My real desire was to serve our community and give them a place where they can come and shop, if they’re like me and don’t like to leave their house too much, or go to Asheville, which I don’t like. To each their own, but I like to stay close to home,” Chandler said.
“Truly, my heart was to serve this community, and that’s exactly how I felt. I have college students and I have a lot of out-of-town customers, but the customer’s heart has been the people who live here. We want to be an excellent steward of space. We want to be a springboard for the continued growth of Mars Hill.
Quill and Honey is located at 18 S. Main St. in downtown Mars Hill.