2 new businesses are headed to a popular Raleigh shopping center. When they open
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- Quail Corners will add Color Me Mine and Magnolia Soap & Bath soon.
- Color Me Mine will allow customers to paint pottery such as bowls and figurines.
- Magnolia will open a shop selling handmade bath, body and home goods in dozens of scents.
One of the oldest shopping centers in North Raleigh will soon welcome two new business tenants.
A paint-your-own-pottery place and a specialty soap store are the latest businesses to join Quail Corners, a family-owned shopping center at the intersection of Falls of Neuse and Millbrook roads.
Built in 1969, Quail Corners has undergone several recent changes, including the addition of a new building, which will host Color Me Mine and Magnolia Soap and Bath Co.
The shopping center is already home to Big Ed’s and Clyde Cooper’s Barbeque, which migrated north from its longtime home earlier this year, moving into a short-lived Red Hot & Blue.
Here’s what to know about the new businesses coming to Quail Corners.
Color Me Mine opening new North Raleigh studio
The paint-your-own pottery franchise Color Me Mine is expanding to its second Triangle location, joining a store in Cary.
Led by franchisees and Angier residents Maria and Tim Kenny, who are married, the 1,900-square-foot studio at Quail Corners is expected to open this summer, though timing depends on permitting.
Maria Kenny visited Color Me Mine studios for years before deciding to open her own. She previously worked as an event planner before, most recently, working in biopharmaceuticals. She received word that she had been passed over for a new role, and was going to be laid off.
“I was really, really upset, of course,” Maria Kenny told The News & Observer in a phone interview. “And my husband’s retired, so I’m the main earner for the household.”
But while at Color Me Mine with her sister, Maria Kenny realized how happy the other painters there were, and started looking into opening Color Me Mine.
“She’s following her passion, regardless of what happened with her job,” Tim Kenny said. “That’s the most important part of her desire to do this.”
The Kennys reached out to the company in June 2025, were approved as franchisees and found the Quail Corners site. Now, they’re building the studio.
At any given time, the studio will stock hundreds of pieces customers can paint. Options include small figurines, dog bowls, large serving platters and holiday or seasonal items.
“The turnover within the studio of the pieces happens on a weekly basis,” Maria Kenny said. “So when you go in, there will always be new pieces.”
Visitors will choose their own paints and then, five days or so later, they can pick up their fired piece.
There is a studio fee of $10 per person, plus the cost of the pottery. Most items are priced between $20 and $80.
The studio will accommodate 30-40 people and include a party room for occasions such as birthdays or team-building events. The Kennys expect to hire around nine people, though they have not yet started recruiting.
“We’re just excited to get open in the Raleigh area and really offer this family-oriented store for people to have something fun to do with their kids when they have an extra two hours in their day in between things,” Maria Kenny said.
Soap store opening at Quail Corners
Married couple Claire and Ryan Young are the franchise owners behind another new business joining Quail Corners, Magnolia Soap and Bath Co.
Lifelong Raleigh residents, the Youngs first started using Magnolia’s products a few years ago. They appreciated that the brand offered dozens of scents and made paraben-free products with plant-based ingredients.
They thought, “If we love them this much, so will some of our friends and family,” Claire Young told The N&O in a phone interview.
Ryan, who is a vice president of sales at a software development company, and Claire, who works for a boutique wealth management firm, have always wanted to own a business, Claire Young said. It was just a matter of timing and finding the right venture.
Ryan visited Magnolia’s corporate office, and the Youngs decided it felt like the right time to get involved with the company.
They wanted to open the store last year, but construction has taken longer than anticipated. The Youngs are now hoping to open Magnolia at 1200 E. Millbrook Road in late April or early May.
Spanning 1,364 square feet, the shop will stock handmade body, home and bath products including soaps, candles, shower oils, pet products and laundry soap.
“We also cater to the fellas,” Claire Young said, adding that Magnolia sells beard balm and beard oil.
Around 85% of the products are made on site.
Customers will be able to make their own items such as candles, soap, bath bombs and shower steamers in store.
This will be the second Magnolia Soap and Bath location in North Carolina, joining a store in Denver. The Youngs expect to hire around eight or nine employees.
Triangle Business Journal first reported news of Raleigh’s Magnolia Soap and Bath store.
