The husband-wife team of Chris and Amie McCaslin opened their first retail store, A La Mode Boutique, in downtown Sykesville in 2011. They parlayed its accomplishments into a second location in Ellicott City just four years later. Shortly thereafter, tragedy struck when two devastating floods hit Ellicott City, in 2016 and 2018, and completely destroyed the contents of their stores on both occasions.

“After that, life took us in a new direction,” said Amie. “We moved to the beach for necessary healing, and the beach provided just the therapy our family needed.”

With renewed energy and purpose, the McCaslins opened a new lifestyle brand concept called Salt & Co, located at 12911 Ocean Gateway, Unit 106 in Ocean City, in May of 2021.

“Salt is an element essential for life and healing,” said Amie. “Its meaning represents not only a love for the beach, but also a reminder to take time to heal. We don’t want to just be a brick and mortar location, we want to be a lifestyle brand, active in our community. We know customers have many choices of where they can shop, so our mission has always been to offer a casual, fun vibe for all ages.”

Chris and Amie are also thankful for their team of employees, affectionately known as Salt & Co Rockstars. “We purposely hire people with varying personalities, ages and backgrounds, so we can all use our strengths and weaknesses to create an amazing team,” said Amie. “They are truly the backbone of our business, and most importantly, we have fun together!”

Chris and Amie have also made it point to immerse themselves in the local community by forming partnerships and making charitable donations of more than $15,000 last year alone.

“We are so grateful to be where we are,” Amie said. “Not only have we made incredible new friends here, but so many familiar faces from the Sykesville and Ellicott City areas stop by during their vacations. Our customers and our team are the reasons we do what we do. We all experience ups and downs in life and we hope our journey inspires others to continue to believe and have hope. We look forward to being here for many years to come.