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The Hen House nearing 1-year anniversary

By DAWN HANKINS - dhankins@t-g.com
Posted 3/19/22

As a busy, single mom of Henry, age 6, Katie Hallum likes the flexibility she has as a merchant/ booth owner at North Main Marketplace (former Carolyn’s dress shop) at 766 N. Main St.

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The Hen House nearing 1-year anniversary

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As a busy, single mom of Henry, age 6, Katie Hallum likes the flexibility she has as a merchant/ booth owner at North Main Marketplace (former Carolyn’s dress shop) at 766 N. Main St.

She likes being a part of the marketplace community, where everyone seems to have something different to offer from candles to children’s books. “The thing I love about North Main is that I don’t have to be here 24-7,” said the young business owner.

She advises that it’s always been in the back of her mind to have a stand alone store, but she realizes with such comes a lot of responsibility. Maybe some day there will be a solo Katie and Henry shop, she said.

This week at North Main, she’s busy organizing the latest spring jewelry and tops—those with an expressive amount of pastel color blocking this season. Her racks of tops in pink, white and blue truly demonstrate that Easter is just around the corner.

Her booth, which is near the entrance into Urban Plantation restaurant, specializes in small to 3x-size clothes. “That’s always been important to me, to have something for everybody. Almost all of the pieces can be found small through 3x.”

In addition to her hoops, hats and tops, the store also includes her son Henry’s small toy store.

The flexibility from being a booth owner, she said, is advantageous, especially when she needs to be at one of Henry’s school functions or spend some extra time with him. She also has a booth within the Painted Tree in Murfreesboro.

Before she brought her line to Shelbyville, last year, she was online only. Now she has the best of both worlds, social and in-person customer assistance, as a booth merchant.

She was one of the first merchants to step foot into the North Main Marketplace which will soon celebrate its first year anniversary.

She’s a Bedford County native, graduating from Shelbyville Central High School in 2006; she served as a SCHS wrestling team mat maid. “It’s good . . . being a single mom, as it was always important to me to still be able to pick my kid up at school and go to all the things I want to. This definitely gives me the flexibility.”

Katie says her passion is helping customers with clothing selections, whether that be for happy, or sad, occasions. “I feel like I’m a go-to for a lot of people who need something to wear. That makes me happy.”

The Marketplace is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday; closed on Sundays. Katie makes it into the store a few days a week to talk with customers.

North Main Marketplace uses one register for checkout and always has a staff member on hand to assist customers, so there’s even more flexibility for this busy mom and North Main merchant.