Sarah Flint’s eponymous line started out as a luxury footwear brand. It has since expanded to include a number of high-end accessories that, like her shoes, are made in Italy.

The direct-to-consumer company has set up several popular pop-ups in New York, Washington and Dallas. On Friday, Sarah Flint’s first permanent store will open in Nashville’s The Mall at Green Hills.

“We looked a lot at our e-commerce sales and where that concentration is, and Nashville is a really great market for us," Flint said. "It's also, a market that's growing so quickly right now. I have a particular affection and affinity for Nashville, having spent a fair amount of time there. My youngest sister went to Vanderbilt, and it was always one of my favorite places to visit.”

Fashion has been Flint’s passion ever since she was growing up in Massachusetts. The rising young entrepreneur eventually moved to the Big Apple to study accessories design at the Fashion Institute of Technology before moving to Italy to study manufacturing.

“The reason why I did that was because I really wanted to understand sort of the fit and craft that went into luxury shoe design,” Flint said.

Flint identified a problem around how shoes that women spent the most money on were also the most painful and impractical.

“That was why I sort of went over there  – to learn about the engineering that goes into shoe design – and I launched my collection in fall 2013. So we're on our ninth year now.”

What makes Sarah Flint’s footwear selection stand out from its competition is a heavy focus on details, like small, handmade flowers, or artisanal add-ons for comfort like arch support or rubber paddings. These features are typically not found in luxury shoes.

The shopper who will frequent Sarah Flint’s Green Hills establishment is expected to be similar to the brand’s e-commerce customer – a woman who is discerning in terms of quality, who appreciates craftsmanship and who has an affinity for understated elegance. Celebrity fans of Sarah Flint include Cindy Crawford, Meghan Markle, Serena Williams and Karlie Kloss.

To celebrate the retail opening, Sarah Flint has a jam-packed calendar. The brand has an extensive brand ambassador program of micro-influencers, and a large group of them are based in Nashville. There will be brand ambassador celebrations, private personal shopper events for sellers in the area and a champagne toast for all customers that want to stop by.

The Green Hills shop will be modeled after Flint’s own living room, as have previous pop-ups, giving a personalized touch to the space. 

“We have our overall aesthetic that's moved from store to store, and we work with different female founders for each element of the store,” Flint said. Blue and white china, eye-catching florals and comfortable couches will decorate the area.

As a by-women-for-women brand, Sarah Flint is also hosting a special event with women interior designers.

“We did a collaboration with Gracie Studio, and we're doing an event with a number of interior designers that are going to be bringing clients,“ she said.

Sarah Flint has partnered with Oomph for furniture, Royal Copenhagen for fine china, Annie Selke for rugs and Framebridge for art and accessory framing as well.

Another key characteristic will be unique try-on walls within the store. All sizes of the best-selling shoe styles will be placed out on display for potential buyers to easily wear before purchasing.

Lastly, Flint said that the team has worked with a local baker in every location because tea and chocolate chip cookies are served in the store at all times.

“We're in the process of finding a local baker to make my family's chocolate chip cookie recipe,” she said.

Sarah Flint has a short-term lease in Dallas that started last fall that will end at the end of this month. Following its Nashville debut, Sarah Flint will be moving into a permanent space in Dallas that will open “in probably the middle to end of July.“

Ahead of the grand opening of the Sarah Flint location at Green Hills, Flint remarked “I think we're just so excited to be coming to Nashville."

It's such an incredible market, and I've just had such great experiences there," she said. "It’s always so exciting for me to see how the customer differs in different markets, and now having been in Dallas and New York and Washington, D.C., I can't wait to see what the national customer is like as well.”