In the late 1970s, the late Carrol Holshouser noticed piles of aluminum patio furniture with straps that had become frayed or broken being thrown out into the streets of Myrtle Beach by hotel and resort owners.
Realizing that the frames were still sound, he collected them and figured out a way to replace the straps. Working alongside his wife, Jane, out of a garage-turned-workshop, Holshouser became an entrepreneur with the founding of Custom Outdoor Furniture & Restrapping.
The business is now in its third generation, and Olivia (Cox) Smith is the chief marketing officer. She was recently named to HFB’s annual 40 Under 40 List. We caught up with Smith to learn more about her entrance into the business, how she helped change it and what made her want to join the outdoor industry.
Although she was “thrown” into the industry since birth, Smith says she’s always had the outdoor industry on her radar. However, after graduating from the University of South Carolina in 2015, she first worked as an event planner, helping to put on large events like the Carolina Country Music Festival in Myrtle Beach.
Smith said growing up, the company mainly did restrapping of old furniture until her mother, Sam Cox, joined the business and brought in new furniture — which was mainly commercial-driven.
“I came in in 2018 and shifted the direction of the business to really try and focus on growth, rather than just kind of maintaining where we had been for the past 43 years,” she says. “We were still true to our roots, and we still do the restrapping and repairs — which really does set us apart. What I did was introduce buying based off of a good-better-best model so that we have something for everyone since we live in Myrtle Beach and there are a lot of secondary homes here.”
She says the laid-back and relaxed attitude of the outdoor industry was what drew her in. She also liked how welcoming the community is. Two weeks after joining the company, she flew out to the ICFA Educational Conference and received a warm welcome.
“It got me excited about the industry from the start — everyone was so happy, nice and excited to be there,” she says.
When she came on, she had an entire list of ideas ready to go, and the retail setup with a good-better-best price point panned out best.
She also says she was also able to marry some of the things she learned from event planning with marketing for the store, including using valuable resources that help set the store apart.
“We’re planning to start using our space for networking events that we can hold after-hours,” she says. “We’re also working with the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and Garden City Community Association so that we can be involved with our community as much as we can. We feel like we have a pretty great space here, and putting on parties is like second nature to me.”
One example, her wedding planner at Ash Events has hooked Custom Outdoor up with an event where the store is providing outdoor furniture for seating, which helps both the event and the store.
In the future, Smith says, the store is planning more community involvement and events while taking advantage of external resources that aren’t necessarily just in outdoor furniture.
“We’re thinking of a happy hour that happens maybe every two weeks at the store, and it can offer a relaxed atmosphere for customers to experience furniture more similar to how they might experience it at home.”
The company is also delving into the accessories category by bringing in pillows, outdoor lighting and even coolers and stainless steel cups so that they can offer customers a complete outdoor living experience.
While accessories are often a “forgotton” category in the industry, Smith says she’s optimistic that with the Casual Market now being in Atlanta, more retailers will realize the opportunities accessories offer.
Overall, Smith says, the strategy to is celebrate the wins — and the people who helped make them happen — and to keep looking toward the future.
“We’re always thinking about how we get to our next goal, so we’ll always be chasing our dreams,” she says.
