StockBIZ: Business news in and around Stockbridge

Crafting Lovely bucks the COVID trend, moves into a Stockbridge storefront

by Mary Jo David

Conant flies in the face of COVID trends by opening a storefront this spring, located at 104 East Main St. in Stockbridge. Photo credit Mary Jo David

Who says brick-and-mortar stores are passé? Certainly not Jennifer Conant, the proprietor of the recently opened Crafting Lovely store at 104 East Main St. in Stockbridge (corner of Main and Clinton streets).

According to bigcommerce.com, “The COVID-19 pandemic has put the ecommerce imperative on sharp display when many brick-and mortar stores were forced to temporarily shut their doors. Having an online store was the only way forward.”

As it happens, Conant has done just the opposite of so many retailers. For the past three years, she has operated successful online stores through Etsy and Facebook. Yet, after a year that challenged even the most seasoned shop owners, Conant decided to branch out and open a storefront.

The need for more space

“For three years I ran the online businesses out of my house. But we outgrew the space, and our family was tired of being surrounded by work all the time,” Conant explained.

By “work” she was referring to all the supplies for creating homemade candles, custom-designed cornhole games, wooden signs, and painted furniture, not to mention the paperwork that goes along with running any kind of business. By “family,” she was referring to her husband, Mario, and their five children, who range in age from 16 to 5.

“We initially rented the space because we needed a workshop and storage,” she says, of the decision she and her husband made to rent the corner spot on East Main. “Once we moved in, people were curious, and we found we just needed to make part of the space into a storefront.”

Officially, Conant’s first day of business as Crafting Lovely in Stockbridge was April 1, and the shop has had a steady stream of foot traffic since.

“So many people who stop in are very excited for us. I don’t even have to turn on my OPEN sign because people are always just trying the door and popping in during the day,” she said.

For the record, the shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

An antique cabinet is the perfect backdrop for one of Conant’s dough-bowl candles and the Kind Focus Project line of soaps Conant sells for students from a mid-Michigan special education program. Photo credit Mary Jo David

Dough bowls, candle-making, and more

Dough bowls and dough-bowl candles are all the rage at Crafting Lovely. What’s a dough bowl, you ask? It’s a handcrafted, flattish wooden bowl crafted from woods like mango, olive and oak. And no two dough bowls are alike.

Although Crafting Lovely specializes in candles, cornhole, and refinished and painted furniture, the store also carries a variety of other items.

Conant has enlisted the help of some local crafters and vendors she refers to as “lifesavers” for their ability to help keep the store stocked with other goods she doesn’t make herself, like crocheted items, handmade leather earrings, keychains, and even a metaphysical line of products.

“We especially like old furniture pieces and products that tell a story,” Conant says, as she describes a new line they’re expecting to offer soon—handmade bags crafted from the canvas of old military tents.

When forced to disclose her passion, Conant says it’s candles. Her vision—with the help of a magnificent handcrafted bar, made by her husband from rough-hewn wood that extends across the back of the store—is to share that passion with her customers whom she hopes to coax into their own candle-making at the bar.

“For too long, COVID kept us all in, unable to socialize,” she said. “I want to promote a gathering place where people can get together and do things, like making candles.”

Jennifer Conant, proprietor of Crafting Lovely, looks forward to sharing her love of candle-making with others at the store’s custom-made work bar. Photo credit Mary Jo David

Supporting student soap-making efforts

Besides being an accomplished candle maker and entrepreneur, Conant has a big heart. Through Crafting Lovely, she helps promote the handiwork of a group of students from another mid-Michigan district’s special education program. “I want to give a shout-out to the Kind Focus Project that produces a line of soaps I sell in the store.”

Conant described how she was approached by the students’ teacher a few months ago, who explained that the students had been making the soap weekly as part of their school program. The program didn’t have funding to keep the soap-making project going. So, in a creative solution to a practical problem, the students now keep Crafting Lovely stocked with their soap line, which Conant sells for $5 a bar. She then donates the profits back to the program.

“The students love making the soap, and it helps to teach them life skills,” Conant said. “As for me, I really, really love that I can help keep this program going for them!”

Contact Crafting Lovely, 104 East Main St., Stockbridge. Phone: 517-225-7849. Email: [email protected]. Facebook: The Crafting Lovely Brand.

Correction: The May 2021 column on local ice cream shops in Stockbridge mistakenly reported that Good Manna will continue featuring a selection of MSU Dairy Store ice cream by the scoop. Naomi Carson of Manna has informed SCN that, due to the MSU Dairy Store pausing operations last fall with no indication of if/when it would start back up, Manna has switched ice cream vendors to Moo-ville Quality Creamery Ice Cream this season. Moo-ville is based in Nashville, Mich. and has many delicious flavors to choose from.

Mary Jo David is a longtime writer and editor who moved to Gregory in 2018. She and her husband, Gary Hicks, are enjoying life in the country, including the Stockbridge Community News.