Celebrating its 16th year anniversary, the Finicky Filly buzzes with energy the moment you walk in the door. Owner Judy Casey is a blur as she zips around the attractive, brightly lit store. Here she helps a customer; there she straightens a display, and finally sits to talk about her successful business. "I've been told I have enough energy for ten people!"

When asked about how she started, she tells about how she and her husband Bill were living in nearby Lincoln, Va, and he kept saying how wonderful the people from Middleburg were, and how she would like living there. They bought the building on the corner of Washington and Pendleton streets and Judy, without any experience with retail, worked with her architect to design the store. "I didn't know a thing about running a shop, but over time learned what worked and what didn't."

Today, the Finicky Filly offers a diverse collection of jewelry and clothing from around the world, obtained on Judy's annual buying trips to Milan, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, and Baltimore. "You will find clothing by Italian designers like Etro, Piazza, and Sempiony. Our customers are mostly women over 25, fashion and quality-conscious, who are after the unique item."

"Scarves and ponchos are going to be THE hot item this fall," says Judy. She jumps up and gets a cardboard box. "I'm so excited about this," she begins pulling multicolored scarves out of the carton. "I went to buy yarn at Hunt Country Yarns, and Bob Kelly, the owner, told me a story about a group of kids in Appalachia, who got interested in knitting Christmas gifts for their families but didn't have enough money to buy yarn."

At first a little hesitant about talking about her personal project, she went on, "The story about those kids stuck in my mind until I told a designer friend in New York. She gave me 7 boxes of yarn and a new project was on its way."

Under the name "NeckPurls" Judy commissioned women to produce 300 scarves. Attracting fashion industry attention, NeckPurls has been nominated for a design award in the Accessory category at the upcoming Dallas fashion convention. "The proceeds from the scarves go to those kids." Her eyes sparkled, "I'm hoping people will come in and buy a scarf, and donate their leftover yarn at Bob's Hunt Country Yarns."

Finicky Filly
100 West Washington Street
Middleburg, Virginia 20118
540-687-6841
Hours: 10-5 Mon - Sat