All in the family

As of Friday, the Warren County business scene is a little bit sweeter. Sisters Kim Partin and Marcy Collins have turned their love of baking into a new venture - Two Sisters Marketplace. 

Kim and Marcy have always enjoyed bonding over cooking and baking and have long thought of working together one day. The time is now right and they've opened their new bakery at 811 Beersheba Hwy. in Mt. Leo. 

"We specialize in heirloom recipes, but we do other bakery items and candy as well. Marcy is a realtor at Tree City Realty and I'm retiring after nearly 40 years as a teacher in Grundy and Marion counties. We've talked about this for years and couldn't really do it when our families were young and involved in sports, so we waited until everybody was grown and married and we decided, it's now or never," Kim said. 

The aforementioned now-grown kids include Kim's daughters, Macy Partin and Maty Patton and Marcy's children, Kayla Martin and Peyton Collins.

Two Sisters is an ideal place for Valentine's Day shopping, with an array of heart shaped cakes and items as well as gifts. A quick perusal of their display case revealed some surprisingly affordable prices to go along with generous portions of sweets. 

"We have a lot of Valentine's cakes, heart cheesecakes and a lot of different cupcakes," Kim said. "Every Saturday, we're coming in at 3 a.m. to have homemade cinnamon rolls and homemade orange rolls."

Two Sisters Marketplace is open from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. this Monday and Tuesday for Valentine's. Following the holiday, the business will resume its regular hours of 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The bakery can be found on Facebook and contacted at (931) 414-4040.

Tree City changes

Tree City Wine and Spirits was opened at 909 Sparta St. by Keval Sheth in Oct. 2017. After a package liquor measure passed in Nov. 2016 Sheth, a 2004 WCHS graduate, moved forward with plans to open a local liquor store. After nearly five successful years building the business, Keval made the decision to move on, with the sell being finalized Aug. 1, 2022.

Full disclosure, I know a bit more about this business than most I write about because my wife, Ashley Gillentine Wright, worked closely with Keval, from the start of his business until the sell, as part of her own business, Local Flair Public Relations. Ashley handles community relations, digital media, content creation, concierge services, media and advertising for small businesses who need help in those areas.

Ashley served in several different roles for Keval at Tree City and was a familiar face to many regular customers. Because of that, she's been fielding a lot of questions lately about the ownership change so I thought this would be a good time to provide an update. And, if you'll allow me a self-indulgent plug, if you're a local business owner who needs help with community engagement, content creation, social media management, or anything related to public relations give Ashley a text or call at (931) 607-6599.

The new owner of Tree City Wine & Spirits is Shiv Patel, whose goal is to not only continue the level of service customers have come to expect but to also expand the store's variety of offerings. The decision to sell was not an easy one for Keval, but one he deemed necessary to concentrate more completely on other ventures.

"Selling Tree City Wine & Spirits was bittersweet for me. I was proud to have built a premium liquor store with a city vibe but small-town roots. I had done what I set out to achieve and it was time for me to move on to the next project for McMinnville," Keval said.

That next project is just up the road at Best Western Tree City Inn, where Keval serves as general manager. 

"I have numerous projects on the horizon for our amazing community but my primary focus is the renovation we will be undergoing at Best Western Tree City Inn. We have completed the renovations for all of our guest rooms but are now about to embark on the larger part of the project which will transform our public spaces and add a cafe and full bar to the hotel. We will also undergo a name change, which will allow us to truly operate as a boutique property with the heart and soul of McMinnville," Keval said. 

That all sounds like good news for those looking for a place to stay in McMinnville and Keval says the good news will keep coming. "I will have major announcements in the coming months but am extremely excited about some of the new offerings we will have for not only our guests from out of town but also for our local community."

As soon as Keval is ready to go public with those announcements, I''ll be passing them along to you.

Until next time,

same biz time,

same biz page

Thanks for reading and for all the tips that keep coming in. I've already got a couple of leads for next week. 

In the meantime, check out the most recent business licenses as provided by the county clerk's office.