Countywide business happenings
Some of the business rumors I’ve been hunting are making an extra loop around the roundabout this month, but fortunately, here are a few updates from around the county.
Springhill
In Springhill, Brandy Ratliff has opened Brier Cottage at 294 South Broadview. She is next door to the relatively new Gimme Some Sugar Bakeshoppe and Cakery and across the road from Sims Place, which also has some relatively new businesses.
Brier Cottage specializes in vintage and shabby chic décor. She has all kinds of handmade stuff – pillows with vintage crochet patterns on them, toddler dresses made of pillowcases (moms, read: adorable), handcrafted tags and journals, etc.
She is also selling chocolates from Sweet Temptations and will soon have handmade candles and soaps. She is looking for local crafters who would like to sell jewelry, stationery and such.
Mayflower
A few new places have recently opened in Mayflower. Jason Hollis opened Yogo City in the Big Star center in May, spreading the self-serve yogurt craze to southern Faulkner County. He held his grand opening on July 9.
Yogo City has 10 flavors of frozen yogurt and more than 40 toppings. They do birthday parties and catering. They also offer free Wi-Fi, which is a big help to folks who live in areas where they can’t get service.
Next door, mother and daughter team Melinda Holiman and Racheal Andrade opened a Subway. Holiman owns three Subway stores in Conway, according to her son-in-law, Steve Andrade, Mayflower store manager. They held their grand opening in conjunction with Yogo City.
Finally, Kayleigh and Scottie Shaw opened Mayflower Pawn at 600 Highway 365. It has been a busy couple of months in Mayflower.
Conway
Toad’s Crossing Flea Market Antiques Bazaar is now open at 805 Harkrider St., in the Faulkner Square center. If that address doesn’t ring a bell, it is in the large brick building used in recent years for early voting.
Kathy Owens, Robin Ward and Jon Richardson are the owners of the latest destination for antiques and interesting things. They all have previous retail experience. Their hope for Toad’s Crossing is to keep it interesting and upscale, providing antiques, gifts, crafts, vintage items, furniture and so forth.
They are renting out spaces, shelves and cases to dealers now, and they report a very good response.
(Rachel Parker Dickerson is a freelance columnist/journalist. Send your questions and comments to rachelpdickerson@gmail.com)
