Looking Back and Forward for a New Mission Hills Business
Six months ago, August 2014, the wonderfully unique and eclectic specialty shop, The Front Porch in Mission Hills created by Melissa Scott-Clark and Gina Champion-Cain, held its Grand Opening debut. “Gina and I are like Yin and Yang.” said Melissa Scott Clark, Owner. “Since the beginning we have had so many imaginative ideas about the possibilities of The Front Porch. When our ideas collide, it’s so exciting to see where it might take us!,” said Scott-Clark.
The products at The Front Porch are ever-evolving.
The Front Porch works very closely with the instantly iconic Mission Hills restaurant, The Patio, owned by Gina Champion Cain. The Front Porch is now featuring a very wide variety of first-pressed olive oils, specialty salts, hand crafted delectable desserts, balsamics, highly unique home furnishings, and much more. The products at The Front Porch, however, are ever-evolving. Some exciting products new and debuting are the specialty teas all imported from China as well as the Ghost Scream Hot Sauce. Truffles that can be used for oil, salt, and other seasonings are creating buzz and becoming very sought after. Bruchettas and various types of pasta like the Squid pasta are gaining in popularity and baby onions, grilled sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes are only a few of the wonderful foods that tie them all together.
Since the debut six months ago, the store has become a resounding hit within the community of Mission Hills attracting foodies, gift givers, and genuinely everyone with the desire to experience a shop that offers something unique and very different. The Front Porch has infused a ton of heart into the community with its imaginative products, warm atmosphere and festive community get-togethers such as Halloween and the community tree-lighting with Santa, during the holiday season.
“The Front Porch’s success has thus far definitely exceeded our expectations. Not only have we seen immediate support from our community of Mission Hills, but many of our loyal customers live in North County and have become regulars. It’s really fantastic when so many of our customers express to us The Front Porch is now their favorite place to shop!” said Scott-Clark. “These last six months have reinforced our choice of Mission Hills for the premiere location to debut The Front Porch!” said Scott-Clark.
“Fridays on The Front Porch” are a regular community get-together where The Front Porch hosts a featured vendor to provide wonderful food products that perfectly compliment The Front Porch’s offerings. Customers can look forward to enjoying oils, balsamics and many types of savory food pairings two or three times per month, with something different each week!
“Fridays on The Front Porch are very fun for us, we love hosting the passionate vendors and our customers always look forward to the different experiences each one brings!” said Scott-Clark.
Fine wine will soon become an integral part of The Front Porch as the store is in the process of obtaining their liquor license, soon to be solidified. The Front Porch will have a collection of incredible wines to satisfy experienced wine connoisseurs as well as casual wine lovers; wine will be made available for purchase as well as a compliment to Fridays on The Front Porch.
“Wines are a big attraction for The Patio restaurant. Expanding The Front Porch to offer wine was a natural evolution of the shop and will give our customers a brand new avenue to experience new and exciting wines.” said Clark.
As the Front Porch finalizes the e-commerce portion of the website, customers can soon look forward to a vast online shopping experience where they can enjoy browsing through new product offerings at any time. Customers can expect to buy many of the items the store carries as well items not found in store as well. “Customers love coming into the store to shop, and we love creating a warm, welcoming in store shopping environment, but we want to expand our selection such that we can offer products not necessarily carried in store. We feel strongly about giving our customers the freedom to browse our products at any time.” said Scott-Clark.
With plans to continuously expand the unique products, add a vast shopping experience to the website, host “Fridays on The Front Porch” and further expand retail locations, The Front Porch is quickly heading for an impressive and exciting future.
“We have so many new things we’re working on right now. It’s incredibly exciting to expand the shop in such a big way!” exclaimed Scott-Clark.
The Front Porch is located on 928 Fort Stockton Drive, San Diego, CA 92103. Call (619) 377-0430 or visit thefrontporchretail.com.
Category: Business, Local News
