Before anything else, I want to make this very clear so there’s no confusion or worry… this situation is with the Painted Tree Boutiques company, not us. Lolly & Laddie is completely fine, our business is not going anywhere, and this does not affect our website, preorders, or anything online.
Today did not go how we thought it would at all.
I was headed to the Franklin Painted Tree Boutiques location like I normally do for a restock. Just a regular day… or so I thought.
I walked up and saw a sign on the door saying they were closed to customers and only open for shop owners. I kind of just stood there like… wait, what?
I knocked and someone came to the door and told me to come in.
And that’s when everything changed.
She told me they’re closing. Not just this location… all of them. Every single one. The company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and everything is shutting down.
I just stood there. I didn’t even know what to say. I kept asking, “This location?” and she said, “No… all of them.”
Just like that.
She told me I needed to get my stuff out as soon as possible. They said there’s about 10 days, but honestly it didn’t even sound guaranteed. The building could be locked at any time.
So I immediately got to work.
I pulled around back, started loading everything up. Taking clothes off hangers, unscrewing shelves from the walls, packing up everything I had put so much time and effort into.
Then I got in the car and headed to the Murfreesboro Painted Tree Boutiques location.
On the way, I was on the phone with our Knoxville and Cincinnati girls trying to let them know what was happening. One had just put her baby down for a nap and had to turn right back around. Another has a full-time job and was trying to figure out how she was going to make it work.
My husband met me at the Murfreesboro location with our 10 month old baby, and by the time I got there, the email had gone out and everyone knew.
And it was… a lot.
People everywhere. U-Hauls, trailers, cars packed full. Everyone rushing to get their things out. Booths that people had poured so much time and money and heart into being taken down in a matter of hours.
Just that morning, no one knew this was coming.
And now it’s all gone.
Like a lot of other shop owners, we’ll probably never see the money from April sales. The rent we paid for our booths this month… we’ll likely never get that back either.
It’s just a really hard situation.
I truly loved being in Painted Tree. Being online is amazing, but getting to have our stuff in front of you in person… letting you see it, feel it… it was special to us.
I recommended it to everyone. For gifts, for browsing, for supporting small businesses. It was something I really believed in.
But the hardest part of all of this isn’t even the money or the booths.
It’s the people.
We built something more than just displays and racks. We built relationships.
We have a team in Cincinnati. A team in Knoxville. People here locally who showed up for us over and over again. They checked on our booths, restocked, sent updates, helped customers… they cared about this like it was theirs too.
These weren’t just “helpers.” These are women who made space in their lives for this. Who worked it around their jobs, their babies, their schedules. Who counted on this extra income. Who took pride in what we were building.
And today, they were getting the same call I was.
Drop everything. Go get your stuff. It’s over.
That’s the part that sits heavy.
I am really, really grateful that we have our online store and this community. That’s not something I take lightly.
The inventory from our booths will be added to our website and shipped out like normal orders. It may look a little different since it was displayed, but it’s still new and just as good.
And as hard as today was, I’m not letting this scare me away from doing something like this again in the future. I loved getting to be in front of you like that, and if the right opportunity comes along again, I would absolutely do it.
Today is just one of those days.
The kind you don’t plan for. The kind that just hits out of nowhere.
If anything, just hug your favorite small business a little tighter. There’s so much more behind it than people see.
Thank you for being here with us through all of it 🤍
Lolly & Laddie Boutique