When Nancy Lee and Laurie Todd opened Sweet Caroline’s Marketplace last month, they weren’t just opening one business— they were opening 28.
Sweet Caroline’s Marketplace opened in Palace Plaza just off Bypass Road on Nov. 11. The store has 28 booths spread across its teal floor, each displaying merchandise created by local artisans and crafters.
“It’s the only place in town where you can come in and shop not just one business, but 28,” Lee said. “You can come in looking for one thing, and find so many unique treasures.”
Sweet Caroline’s various booths offer handmade artwork, candy, furniture, beauty supplies, and clothing. Customers browse from booth-to-booth, pick out what they want and pay for their items at a register by the store’s entrance.
Lee and Todd said they found businesses to fill the store by posting messages on craft websites and local Facebook groups, such as Williamsburg News and Notes and Williamsburg Trash and Treasure.
Many of the businesses are start-ups. Others were just hobbies for the owners until recently, and have become a profit-making venture since the opening of Sweet Caroline’s.
Most of the owners aren’t in the store during business hours, but Lee and/or Todd are, and they handle all purchases. Rather than pay to advertise their goods, the business owners can work day jobs while still making a profit on their merchandise.
“What we want to do is give other small business owners the opportunity to have a space, and they don’t have to be there on a day-to-day basis,” Lee said.
Nancy Dempsey, who owns the “It’s Sew You!” booth that sells hand-woven clothing and accessories, said before Sweet Caroline’s she operated her business entirely online or at craft shows.
Dempsey said had been spending too much time running to the post office to fill online orders. She was looking for a place to set up shop when she came across an online posting for Sweet Caroline’s.
“It’s exactly what I wanted to do,” Dempsey. “I can park it [merchandise] there, people can see it and feel it and try it on, and do all the things they can’t do online.”
Katie’s Girls has a booth that sells signs, wreaths and furniture, and co-owner Mischelle Collamore said she can spend her days running her house-cleaning business and babysitting her granddaughters, instead of actively marketing her products.
“We’ve only been here for four to five weeks and we’ve already sold several pieces of furniture,” Collamore said. “We’re very happy with it.”
Plus, Collamore said she’s happy to get her merchandise out of her house.
“It doesn’t hog up my garage; that’s a big plus for my husband,” Collamore said with a laugh.
Lee said she is a former small business owner, who operated the “It’s Always Happy Hour” store on Richmond Road. “It’s Always Happy Hour” is now a boutique in Sweet Caroline’s and still sells flasks, glasses, wine openers and other items from a corner spot in the store.
The pair of owners said they plan to help the new business owners by hosting classes to teach them the ins-and-outs of marketing through social media. They’ll also host events to draw in customers.
“One goal is to help businesses succeed with our knowledge and what we’ve done in our lives, and the knowledge of the other vendors that are in here,” Todd said. “It’s a family community where we want everyone to succeed.”
Sweet Caroline’s Marketplace is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and its owners said the store still has room for another dozen or so vendors.
They also said yes, the store is named after the Neil Diamond song.
Lee, by the way, is a big Red Sox fan and that song, of course, is played during the team’s home games.
Even in the Williamsburg area, though, the song resonates with customers.
“You’ll hear people sing it when they come in,” Lee said. “It’s a fun name and it’s welcoming.”
