Karen Hill’s growing children’s section at Chatt-R-Bug is drawing in more and more customers, says store owner Beth Sulcer.Community resource
Community outreach has also become a focus of the shop, said owner Beth Sulcer. On Saturday, April 16, the store hosted StoryCorps crews as they interviewed longtime Hixson resident Beryl Vandergriff. The interview was recorded and archived for the Library of Congress.
Beth Sulcer and her ever-growing number of staff, contributors and partners aren’t content for Chatt-R-Bug to just be a local boutique in Hixson. They’re looking for it to become a haven for new, local art, great food and community events accessible to everyone.
In the last few months alone, the store has added a new bake shop and cafe, drastically expanded its kid’s section (complete with a baby registry) and is redoubling its efforts to make musical events for the community a mainstay of Chatt-R-Bug.
And that’s not all.
“Moving forward, we’re going to be doing an open-air market here on the grounds outside,” said owner Beth Sulcer, who rents space in the store to a variety of vendors. “Our main goal is to be a destination. We don’t want to just be a regular boutique. We have so much local talent. So many of our vendors make and produce their own goods, and it’s just amazing.”
Jessica Miller, the owner and operator of Twins Bakery and Cafe, joined up with the Chatt-R-Bug team two weeks ago.
“Things have been great so far. The word of mouth has definitely spread,” said Miller, who previously sold her goods at the Chattanooga Market.
Miller said most of the recipes she sells come straight from her grandmother’s kitchen. Thus far, her homemade peanut butter fudge has been a big-seller.
Karen Hill, who runs the kid’s section in the store, says that to her knowledge, she and Chatt-R-Bug are the only locally owned boutique to offer a baby registry, a change that’s only taken place recently.
“When I first started, I just had infant sizes, but the demand has been huge,” Hill said. “Being able to grow and interact with our customers in this atmosphere and satisfy their needs is just wonderful.”
While there’s a bevy of interesting homemade goods of all shapes and sizes in the shop, Hill said now that the children’s section has expanded so drastically, people have made a beeline for it once they’re in the store.
Between their desire for more outdoor events for the community, complete with music from local Robert Cyphers and the Northwoods Band, their ongoing painting instruction and dedication to the local art scene, Sulcer said she believes Chatt-R-Bug is on the right track to becoming a big destination in Hixson.