Women in Business: Marguerite Ray - Marguerite's Conceits

After 23 years in business, bed linens continue to be the mainstay for Marguerite’s Conceits. However, there’s a lot more to the store than custom fabrics.

“Really, it’s a pampering store,” owner Marguerite Ray said.

Marguerite’s Conceits sells bath and body products, gifts, pajamas, housewares and more in addition to beautiful linens. Ray has an interior design degree but started her career working in several retail jobs. She found that she repeatedly moved up to management positions, and one day her father asked an important question: “If you’re going to work that hard, why don’t you have your own store?” Ray recalled.

She decided to open Table Matters in Mountain Brook, then sold it two years later to open Marguerite’s Conceits. Owning her own business has allowed her to use her interior design background to work with designers and homeowners and create custom projects. Ray said she loves that she never knows who might walk in the door, or the projects they’ll want to make.

Ray recently won a Silver Award from the Alabama Retail Association. She said one of the most valuable things she has learned from owning her own business is to trust her gut instinct in choosing what to carry in the store. The other is the importance of good customer service. “I have employees who really care,” Ray said. “I think it’s the whole shopping experience that keeps [customers] coming back.”

Marguerite’s Conceits is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.