Stop, shop and dine: Uptown New Bern's first locally-owned retail and dining experience
On Saturday, a soft opening will be held for two businesses that have combined to bring something new and different to local shoppers in New Bern.
Local business owner Jenna Gifford has expanded Jenna's Just-In Boutique & More, making the business 6000 sq. feet to better serve its customers.
Along with expanding its offerings, the store will now include 'bites on a board', a restaurant within the business providing customers with a one-stop shopping and dining location. It is the only business in the county, not named Harris Teeter, to provide this unique experience for shoppers.
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Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, the first 50 customers will receive a free gift bag and anyone will be able to enter a raffle for a $350 giveaway from each business. A larger scale grand opening celebration is planned for October.
"We're truly trying to make this a one-stop shop in uptown New Bern," Gifford said. "We wanted to make something different for New Bern that accommodated every single person in the family."
The boutique opened at 2027 S. Glenburnie Road in February. It was formerly located in Jan's Hallmark Shop which is in the same shopping center. The store specializes in Pandora merchandise such as necklaces, bracelets and pendants. They also offer name-brand clothing and accessories such as Bogg Bags, Teleties, Couture Tee, Oventure, Girlie Girl Originals, Sassyfrass tees, Candy Club, Cloister Honey, Holiball, other fashion Jewelry and clothing, gifts, home decor and more.
With the expansion, the store will now have a men's department with clothing, grooming and gifts, a kids and baby department, a local section offering of gifts branded with local neighborhoods in New Bern, a pet section with organic pet treats, pet toys, pet gifts and fun accessories and a wear/drink wear department with a variety of styles.
Cards and gift wrapping will also be available. Additionally, they will be partnering with White Farms in Vanceboro to offer homemade jams and jarred goods.
The store is significantly expanding its clothing wear to include sizes from extra small to 3XL and adding more fashion accessories and jewelry. There will be a wedding section with traditional gifts for the bride and groom, wedding party, and bachelor and bachelorette party gifts and a candy case featuring gourmet chocolate and sweets.
Take a bite, shop around
As an added bonus, 'bites on a board' will also be nestled within the store. Owned by Stacy Rhinehart and Colleen Iacch, the restaurant offers goodies such as charcuterie boards, a variety of gourmet cheeses, meats, seasonable fruits and vegetables, nuts and crackers. They plan to sell beer, prosecco and wine.
They will be offering special order menu items such as Mediterranean brunch bites and smores boards as well as other specialty foods that can be found on their website. Coming soon will be daily specials of small bites, salads, street tacos, wine pairings and small sandwiches.
The eatery will also teach "how to charcuterie classes" and provide accommodations for groups who would like to hold meetings, adult birthday parties, baby showers and specialty classes at the location. Both Jenna's Just-In & bites on a board will also be able to come together jointly to host private events and shopping excursions. It has 30 people capacity indoor seating area as well as an outdoor seating area that sits 12.
"We've been working hard at our build-out and very excited to be working with Jenna in her expanded boutique," Iacch said. "We've had a great response from a lot of our clients from both sides, the restaurant and Jenna's Just-In-Boutique. We are especially pleased with the fact that we are the first shop in a shop in Craven County."
An idea that is new for New Bern
The owners said the idea for their business was born in response to COVID-19. Both owners relocated to New Bern from larger cities and missed the different restaurants offered up north.
"We were friends and talking about what we could do," Iacch said. "We wanted to bring something new and different to New Bern," Rhinehart added. "We knew it was a tough time for everyone and decided we could make the boards and drop it off or customers could pick it up and we could still have that social distance."
The business grew by word of mouth and through their social media outlets such as Instagram and Facebook. Then in March 2021, they launched their website, bitesonaboard.net.
"For me personally, retail therapy is one of my favorite things to do," Gifford said. "The fact that we can retail therapy and have a cocktail at the same time is going to be a cool thing to have in New Bern. We really don't have a lot of spots that can accommodate the whole family in uptown New Bern right now. Everybody can come in and hang out, listen to some music, shop and get a bite to eat in one place."
Jenna's Just-In Boutique will expand its hours to include Sunday. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. on Sunday. For more information on the boutique, call 252-631-2636 or visit them online at jennabu.com.
The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information on the restaurant, call 252-631-2195 or visit bitesonaboard.net.
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern business expands to include restaurant, one-stop-shop and eat
