Same Family.
Same Trade. Since 1993.

Local doesn't always mean continuous.

The Grand Strand has shutter shops with familiar names that have been around for decades. What's not always obvious: some of those shops have changed hands more than once along the way — to new owners from outside the trade, sometimes through what the acquisition world calls an ETA (entrepreneurship-through-acquisition) deal. The name on the sign stays. The people answering the phone and standing on the factory floor change.

Our shop has stayed in the same Taylor family the whole time. Dalton, Patti, and Jeff Taylor started Artisan Shutter in Monroe, NC in 1993 — building plantation shutters one window at a time in a small workshop. Casey Taylor came in to run the next chapter in 2020. The Cherry Grove showroom is run day-to-day by Chad Alexander with his son Carter, plus Matt and Jenn. Same family. Three generations. One trade.

Why this matters for shutters specifically: a plantation shutter is designed to last 20–30 years. If a warranty claim comes up in year 18, you want to know the people who'll answer the phone are the same people who built the shutter. We can tell you who that'll be — same family, same factory, same name.

"We manufacture" means different things.

A few local shops claim manufacturing. Worth asking what that actually means in practice: Where's the factory? What's it made of? Can you tour it? How long has it been running? Some shops can name an address; others use "Factory" in the brand name without showing where the building is.

We can answer all four. Our plantation shutters are built in Monroe, NC — about four hours up I-95 from Cherry Grove. The shutters use furniture-grade basswood, kiln-dried, triple-coated. The factory has been running under the same family since 1993. We've got photos. We've got the founding story. And we still hang every shutter we build, on this coast, with our own crew.

The reseller question is fair, too: does the shop you're calling actually build anything, or do they resell a national catalog? Both models work. We do both — we build our own shutters and we're an authorized Hunter Douglas dealer for the things HD makes better than anyone else.

"We carry Hunter Douglas" can mean a few things.

More than one local shop offers Hunter Douglas products. What's worth asking: are they an authorized dealer, and which specific Hunter Douglas lines do they carry? "Hunter Douglas Products" on a website is a generic claim. "Authorized dealer for Silhouette®, Pirouette®, Vignette®, Luminette®, and Palm Beach® shutters" is a specific one.

We're authorized for every Hunter Douglas line we display — Silhouette window shadings, Pirouette translucent shades, Vignette modern romans, Luminette privacy sheers, and Palm Beach polysatin shutters. Plus PowerView® motorization, the PowerView app, and the Pebble® remote. Every line is named on our shades pages. Every fabric book is on the wall at the Cherry Grove showroom. Walk in any weekday and we'll show you the difference between Silhouette and Pirouette in your hands.

Storm products — retractable is the call here.

Storm coverage on the coast falls into a few buckets: traditional exterior shutter products (manual Bahama or accordion panels), and retractable hurricane screens — recessed-track systems that disappear when you don't need them. Different systems fit different windows.

We focus on the retractable category — Insolroll MagnaTrack motorized hurricane screens is the premium option, the highest wind-rated retractable system on the market for coastal homes. We also install roll-down hurricane screens and dual-purpose solar-storm screens. MagnaTrack is the call when you want storm coverage that's invisible the rest of the year — and it's not something every local shop is set up to install.

What "we stand behind our work" actually means in writing.

Most local shops will tell you they warranty their work. Fewer publish the terms. Worth asking: what specifically is covered, for how long, and is it in writing? Our plantation shutter line carries a lifetime warranty on craftsmanship, construction, and paint. That's spelled out the same way every time, in every quote we send. If a shutter we built loses its finish in year 14, that's our problem — not yours.

A few local shops don't publish warranty terms at all. That doesn't mean they won't honor a claim — it means you're relying on a handshake when you're spending five figures. Always ask for the warranty in writing before you sign.

What's on the showroom wall vs. what's on the truck.

A surprising number of local shutter shops don't sell drapery. Some don't carry roman shades, woven woods, or solar shades. Many skip motorization entirely. If you're outfitting a whole house — shutters in the bedrooms, drapery in the dining room, woven woods in the living room, MagnaTrack on the porch — it's worth asking whether the local shop you're calling can do all of it on one quote.

We carry the full window. Plantation, poly, and wood shutters (built in Monroe). Roller, roman, cellular, woven wood, banded, and solar shades (Hunter Douglas and others). Wood and faux-wood blinds. Full custom drapery and motorized tracks. MagnaTrack and roll-down hurricane screens for the exterior. PowerView motorization on anything that takes it. If a window in your home needs covering, we've sold one for it — and we've built one of them.