New Tryon blind store open for business

TRYON — After spending the past 25 years helping local residents and business owners with their blinds, shutters and shades from his office located in Hendersonville, a Polk County man is ready to set up shop a bit closer to home.

Jeff Patterson and his wife, Diane, have recently opened their new window treatment installation business, Chateau Blinds, which is located next to Tryon Gold & Coin at the corner of Trade and Palmer streets downtown.

The couple will host a grand opening and ribbon cutting for the business at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. During the event, guests will have a chance to enjoy some homemade refreshments while browsing the shops showcase of blinds and shades. In addition, the owners will give out cards for 20 percent off anything in the store; for the rest of the month, customers will also enjoy a 10 percent discount, off service to celebrate the opening of the business.

Chateau Blinds offers blinds and other window treatments for a variety of major U.S.-based manufacturers, including Hunter Douglas, Pinnacle and Caco. All products are custom-made for each customer’s windows, and are available in a wide assortment of styles and materials, including fibers, bamboo, grasses, tweed and more.

“We have everything under the sun,” Jeff said. “Any material you can think of, someone is already making it.”

While the blinds cost slightly more to purchase than those found at big box stores, what separates Chateau Blinds from businesses such as Lowes is that Jeff will help customers throughout the entire installation process, from coming out to size up the windows, to putting up the treatments to coming back out for free to correct any problems throughout the life of the product’s warranty, the business owner said.

“You can purchase your blinds from Lowes, but if you make a mistake, you’re on your own,” he said. “We will take care of any issues. I will follow through, and make sure the job is complete.”

In addition, Jeff will help residential and business customers with any of their window treatment needs, including working with massive panes, those that are awkwardly shaped or are installed in hard-to-reach locations, he said. In addition, the business will teach customers how to operate any automated blind systems, as modern systems can be quite complex, using smartphone or smart speaker systems to open and close the treatments through voice commands, Jeff said.

Jeff has worked in window treatment installation since 1992, installing treatments alongside his brother, Wayne, at Carolina Blinds in Hendersonville. As his brother was looking to expand the businesses base more toward Tennessee, Jeff said he decided he wanted to go into business on his own in order to concentrate on his many clients in Tryon and Polk County, as well as to stick closer to home, as he has lived in the area for the past eight years, he said.

For Jeff, a native of Hendersonville who has fond memories of visiting Tryon with his aunt as a child, the opportunity to open up shop in the historic downtown has been a thrill, and that he could not have asked for a better location in town.

“It’s a little slower here [in Tryon, compared to Hendersonville], but I love it,” he said. “I love the downtown, and how everyone knows everybody around here.”

Jeff said he intends to serve clients living within an 80-mile radius of his shop, including all of  Polk County, Landrum and other portions of the upstate. While he only just opened for business, Jeff — a certified Hunter Douglas technician — said he has already been keeping quite busy with requests from clients in the area.

Chateau Blinds is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and by appointment on Saturdays. For more information or for a free consultation, people may call 828-859-0112 or 828-894-2511, or email chateaublinds@gmail.com.