Our Member Spotlight this month shines on Melanie Williams, owner of Southern Willow Studios located in West Street Village.
Melanie is no stranger to the shops of North East, having grown up working with her grandmother Phyllis Wooddell in several of the “little shops” on Main Street. “I was born and raised here in North East, and when I decided to open my own business selling crafts, I knew there was no place else I wanted to be.”
Melanie started out in 2020 selling her wares at craft shows, sometimes as many as 57 shows in a year. She was successful but didn’t like that sales were so dependent on the size of the crowds and the location of her booth, and she grew weary of traveling from show to show. On a trip to Tennessee, she spotted a craft store in town and made up her mind that she would open her own shop in North East.
In 2025 Melanie heard that West Street Village was searching for vendors. She applied immediately and opened her first shop on the second floor. “It was challenging to get people to realize where I was,” she says, so when an opening became available on the main floor, she took it. “I get a lot more foot traffic now and business is good. I have 18 vendors, including myself, selling everything from t-shirts to tumblers, soaps, wood and resin items, locally themed crafts and a variety of jewelry. North East is a tourist town, and when people come here they like to buy something local to remember the area by.”
Melanie’s greatest joy has been watching the business grow and passing her success on to her vendors, who pay her for their space in the shop. “I like paying out their sales and getting back responses like ‘thanks for an awesome month!’ It just brings home the fact that I’m succeeding when they’re succeeding.” She is also dedicated to “paying it forward” in supporting training rescue dogs for veterans. She sells t-shirts from Soldier Solutions, donating all the proceeds back to the cause.
Melanie feels it is important to be a Chamber member for the support it gives to businesses.
“The Chamber supported my grand opening and I hope to become more involved to promote my business even more,” she says. “North East has always been home to me. I love the quaint old-timey feel of a small town. When I decided to open my business, I never looked anywhere else.”
Next time you’re in North East, stroll through West Street Village and stop in at Southern Willow Studios. After my interview with Melanie, I left the shop with a bag full of beautiful crafts at very reasonable prices!
