Sweet & Sassy Shoppe Expands with $20,000 Amex Shop Small Grant & Brings A Little Magic To Downtown

Sweet & Sassy Shoppe has completed an exciting expansion made possible in part by a $20,000 Amex Shop Small® Grant, awarded through a partnership between American Express and Main Street America.

Sweet & Sassy was one of just 505 small businesses nationwide selected to receive a $20,000 grant through the program, and one of only 10 recipients in Tennessee. The program awarded more than $10 million to small businesses across the country to help them grow, innovate, and strengthen the communities they call home.  After hearing owner, Cheryl Willhoit, share her vision for her dream expansion, Madisonville Main Street was more than happy to provide assistance in applying for the grant. 

For Sweet & Sassy, that investment has already been put to work right here in downtown Madisonville.

Anyone who has visited Sweet & Sassy knows that owner Cheryl Willhoit has a gift for turning shopping into an experience, and with husband Tom by her side helping turn her visions into reality, they are unstoppable! 

The shop has long been filled with beautiful furniture, home décor, gifts and unexpected finds, but its newest expansion takes that experience to another level.

Visitors enter the new space through an antique wardrobe, beautifully repainted and repurposed by Cheryl herself, opening the doors to an entirely new section of the shop. It's whimsical, unexpected and feels a little like discovering a secret room,  exactly the kind of detail that makes a locally owned business memorable.

Beyond the wardrobe, shoppers will find expanded merchandise and new product lines, including bedding, tableware and even more home furnishings and décor, and her signature "front porch" photo opportunity that has became a local photo spot.  

But the expansion isn't just about adding more things to buy.

One of the most exciting additions is a new classroom and creative space where Sweet & Sassy can host painting, design and other hands-on classes.

That means the shop can now offer experiences that bring people together, giving customers another reason to visit downtown, learn something new and spend time with friends.

It's an important part of what makes small businesses so valuable to a downtown. They don't simply fill storefronts. They create places where people gather, connect and make memories.

Sweet & Sassy has also recently introduced another new service: gift registries.

The store has something for everyone.  Product lines now include: Home Decor, Bedding, Tableware, A Baby Line, Soups, Dips, Pastas, Dessert Mixes and everything you need to be the host of the year. 

Customers celebrating an anniversary, birthday, shower or other special occasion can come into the shop and create a registry filled with the things they actually love. Friends and family can then shop from the registry, and Sweet & Sassy will help with the selections and beautifully wrap the gifts.

Can't make it into the store? Customers can also shop Sweet & Sassy online, select pickup and let the shop know when an item is a gift so it can be wrapped and ready for the special occasion.

It's one more way this downtown business continues to grow by listening to its customers and finding new ways to serve them.

The community recently got its first look at the completed expansion during Sweet & Sassy's open house,  and the response was incredible.

The store was filled with shoppers exploring the new space, discovering new products and, of course, stepping through the wardrobe for themselves.

For Downtown Madisonville, seeing a locally owned business packed with customers and continuing to invest, expand and try new things is exactly what downtown revitalization is all about.

Sweet & Sassy's grant is worth celebrating not only because of what it means for one business, but because of what investments like this mean for an entire downtown.  Cheryl already has locally owned product lines in her store, including art, natural products, and more.  

According to Main Street America, 68 cents of every dollar spent at a U.S. small business stays in the local community. Supporting locally owned businesses helps create stronger local economies, but it also creates something harder to measure: a sense of place.

Stores like Sweet & Sassy give people a reason to say, “You have to go see this place" and "Wow, they really care about their community". 

And that's exactly what we want for downtown Madisonville.

We want businesses people can't find everywhere else. We want experiences worth making a trip for. We want our existing businesses to have opportunities to grow, dream bigger and invest back into our community.

Sweet & Sassy Shoppe is doing just that.

Congratulations to Cheryl and Sweet & Sassy Shoppe on this incredible accomplishment. We are proud to have one of the nation's Amex Shop Small Grant recipients right here in downtown Madisonville, and even more excited to see what comes through the wardrobe next.

Visit Sweet & Sassy Shoppe in downtown Madisonville and experience the expansion for yourself.  The shop is located at 205 Tellico Street, Madisonville, TN  37354.

Shop online at https://www.sweetandsassy.studio/