The staff and owner of At Home With Heartland stand next to the promotional banner next to their newly established Trafalgar location.
Submitted photo
A popular Franklin boutique is looking to broaden their reach.
At Home With Heartland has opened a third location in Trafalgar, connecting the dots between their Franklin and Nashville locations.
The apparel, decor and gift boutique officially opened on Dec. 9 at 150 State Road 135 in Trafalgar next to Butter Sugar Flour.
“It has been going shockingly well,” said Jenn Nelson, shop owner. “This community has blown me away. I get choked up because it means so much. My kids have grown up in this community. The support we have received has been mind-blowing.”
Nelson’s husband originally used the building as a showroom for his construction company, but it was not really used that much, she said.
They began to use the space as a central hub for inventory purposes, using the location to process their merchandise and disperse it out to their two locations. Eventually, they decided to convert some of the space into a storefront of its own.
“We kind of ran with it,” said Andrea Carter, manager of the three boutiques. “It is a smaller shop compared to our Franklin and our Nashville store. We wanted to tap into all of the kids at Indian Creek schools and make it easy for parents to come in. It is more of a gift store, so it makes a great place for people to pop in and grab last-minute grabs.”
Nelson said that because this store was in such close proximity to their other two locations, they wanted the merchandise in this location to be completely different.
While the other stores are more geared towards women’s apparel, men’s apparel and home decor, this one features items that are entirely new.
“It is different because we have kid’s clothes,” Carter said. “We kept everything simple and cozy. ”
In addition to juvenile apparel, the boutique also is designed to be a one-stop gift shop for anyone looking for a last-minute birthday, holiday or anniversary present.
“We are taking what the community wants and putting it in here,” Nelson said. “As we continue to see what the community wants, we will start catering to their needs.”
At Home with Heartland’s new Trafalgar location neighbors the well-known coffee shop and bakery Butter Sugar Flour. Their unique business-to-business relationship stems from the owners’ longtime friendship.
“Their owner and our owner are actually neighbors,” Carter said. “We’ve done work inside of their store and they have done work inside of ours. We thought it was a perfect fit.”
Even their operational hours align with each other, with both businesses closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Nelson teased future collaborations and promotions with Butter Sugar Flour as well. She says that the difference in small businesses compared to larger companies is that they can help people with a more personal touch.
The holiday season plays a major factor in At Home With Heartland’s current selection of merchandise. Nelson intends to cater the store’s offerings to the season.
“The beauty of having three stores is that if merchandise isn’t moving in one store, we can move it to another and try again,” she said.
Throughout the opening weeks, the staff has commended the Trafalgar community for being exceedingly welcoming. Carter talked about the bountiful support received from their loyal customer base as well.
“Our customers that follow us from Nashville and Franklin have also given us amazing support,” she said. “In fact, some people are doing little Heartland tours. They will start in Franklin and hop down to Trafalgar on their way to Nashville.
“It has been really heartwarming.”
