New Business Growth Continues in Austell's Threadmill Complex

Gretchen’s Amazing Cakes, Pies & Cobblers, located in suite 286-1 in the  has been wowing the locals with scrumptious baked goodies since opening for business on July 11.

Gretchen Kea, owner of the shop, hails originally from the small city of Kenansville, N.C., where her mother was well-known for baking the best pies and cakes in town.

“I always enjoyed baking with my mother, but I never imagined that I would be running my own business one day,” said Kea.

Along with owning and operating Gretchen’s Amazing Cakes, Kea is a full-time counselor at where she initially got the idea to open the shop.

Says Kea, “I had stopped baking for awhile when I first moved to Georgia because I didn’t have anyone to share my cakes with. When I started working at the school though, I started bringing in cakes and pies for the staff. Eventually my coworkers started ordering a lot of cakes from me, and I got the idea to open the shop.”

Initially, Kea had the idea to use the store location at Threadmill  for customer pick-up orders only, as Kea didn’t want to run the business out of her home.

On opening day however,  people working in the complex were lined up at her door waiting to try the free samples she had available. After that first tasting, Kea had a steady stream of regular customers.

Baked goods aren’t the only thing customers can buy at Gretchen’s Amazing Cakes, as Kea also provides homemade sandwiches and pizza slices for hungry lunchtime customers.

“When the Threadmill deli closed for business recently, I started getting requests for lunch food  from my customers. That’s when I decided to start bringing in sandwiches and pizza slices to sell,” commented Kea.

Fighting off nervousness about running her own business and negative comments from others about how difficult it can be, Kea took that initial leap of faith and is now enjoying the rewards of a steadily growing customer base.

Gretchen’s Amazing Cakes, Pies & Cobblers is open Monday - Friday, 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. with custom order pick-ups available Saturday and Sunday. Call 678-310-0083 for more information or to place a custom order.

A second newcomer to the Threadmill Complex is Splendulous Gifts, which is owned and operated by twin sisters Shon and Shan Kennedy.

Previously located in Mableton, Splendulous Gifts, whose inventory consists of toys and skate boards for kids,  moved to their new location in suite 204 in September 2010.

“We only had a month to month lease at our previous location," said Shon Kennedy, "and we thought moving to Threadmill would be a good permanent location for the business.”

Being a true family business, the Kennedy sisters’ parents financed the initial opening of the shop, but  the sisters actively perform the day-to-day business operations.

The major focus of the shop is offering quality name brand merchandise at affordable pricing for their customers. A kick ball that may cost $20 at other shops goes for just $9.99 at Splendulous Gifts.

The store’s unique name originated from one of the twins’ cousins when she was just 2 years old.

 Shon Kennedy said, “Our little cousin used to play dress up and would walk around saying, 'How do I look? I think I look splendulous!' and that’s where we came up with the name. It was just so cute and memorable.”

Along with a loyal customer base from the shop’s previous location, word of mouth has been the main impetus in garnering new business for the store.

“We have great prices, and kids can get a custom design painted on their skate boards by my dad who is a really good artist. My mother is also very talented and sometimes makes custom jewelry for the store,” said Shon Kennedy.

Future plans for the Kennedys include expanding Splendulous Gifts and opening a new restaurant in the location where the now-defunct Threadmill deli operated. With her love of cooking, the new restaurant will primarily be run by Shan Kennedy.

“We plan on opening in just a couple of weeks,” said Shan Kennedy. “The complex has already finished building out the interior. The only problem we have now is thinking of a name for it. We were thinking maybe Splendulicious.”

The Kennedys are definitely a “dynamic duo”  these days, as Shan will soon be going back to school and Shon will be taking online classes while still managing to operate two new businesses.

Splendulous Gifts is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and is closed on Saturday and Sunday. 

Stay tuned for further updates on the Kennedys’ new restaurant.