Ribbon Cut

Small Town Creations celebrates new location and big additions
Ribbon cut on February 1st and open house February 2nd

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[January 26, 2019]  On Friday, February 1st the community is invited to a ribbon cutting at Small Town Creations. The business is celebrating a big expansion plus a new location at 113 Kickapoo Street (across from the courthouse) in Lincoln. The cut will take place at 4 p.m. and guests will then be invited inside for a look around and some light refreshments.

The following day, Saturday, February 2nd the business will host an open house with drawings and prizes.

Small Town Creations is not a new business in Lincoln, the owner Kathie Williams with her “silent” partner Jim, began the paint party business in their home in 2016. Their unique concept to paint parties quickly grew in popularity and within just a little over a year they outgrew their home and moved into a store front on Sangamon Street. The business continued to do well in the new locations and the Williams’ were happy with the decisions they had made.

Then, last year they took a giant leap, expanding their business to include the offerings of two local businesses that were closing.

Kathie Williams said that she and her husband knew that The Award Shop was closing and they had seen on social media that the business was for sale. They began talking about buying the business, and soon made some inquiries to sellers Vicki and Dave Purcell. While that part was planned so to speak, the next thing that happened was kind of out of the blue. Kathie said within 2 days of their decision to look into acquiring The Award Shop they were contacted by David Lanterman about Beans and Such.



Beans and Such has been a popular location on the Historic Lincoln Downtown Square for decades. Offering custom flavored coffees along with a wide variety of upscale home décor items, the business is popular among local shoppers as well as out of town visitors.

Williams said that was a surprise, but one well worth considering. She and Jim talked about it, prayed about and in the end decided to go for it. They could combine the three businesses – Beans & Such, Small Town Creations and The Award Shop, and relocate into the well-established location on the square.

Williams said that in addition to expanding diversity to their business, they felt they were maintaining some local offerings that were important to the community.

She noted that The Award Shop was the only business of its kind in Logan County. She and Jim felt that it was important to keep the business going and to provide buyers the opportunity to purchase their custom made plaques and trophies locally instead of having to go out of town and even out of the county.

Beans & Such was another unique business in the city and they soon realized that again, they wanted to keep it going. Williams knew they were right to do so when they first took over and many folks stopped by concerned that Small Town Creations would do away with the custom coffees. Williams said that not only does she plan to keep the coffees, she is also planning some expansion in that area. So, area shoppers rest assured, your Beans & Such coffee will still be available in the future.

Williams said that the future of the business is looking good. She is excited about growing all three aspects of the business and looking forward to doing some remodeling in the back portion of the building.

While regular Beans & Such shoppers will feel right at home as they step inside and find the front room décor and the merchandise offered practically the same as always, they will also be surprised to find that the building is much larger than that first room and the three businesses combined into one will still have some definite separation.

Guests will pass through the original display area and find the second room where the business will hold its paint parties.

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Pass through that room and walk through the glass French doors and enter the world of the Award Shop.

In the front part of the store, Williams reiterated that many of the same offerings will continue to be there including the coffees and collectibles and home décor. But, she hopes to expand on some of these things. She noted that “Farmhouse” style décor is very popular and she plans to expand the offerings of the rustic country feel products. She also hopes to expand the coffee and will be doing promotions such as “Flavor of the month.” She intends to post fun little quotes inside the store with the hopes that folks will stop by and check them out on a regular basis.

Williams noted that in the near future, the Beans & Such name will go away. Right now the Beans & Such name is still on the front window of the shop along with the Small Town Creations name. Williams said they decided to keep the name on the front of the building for a while to help people know that the shop they were accustomed to is still there. She said she felt it would help the public with the transition for now, as shoppers are getting used to the new name. The Beans & Such name will be taken down as soon as the weather is fit to do so.

Also, in the front part of the shop, Williams noted that the offerings are very high end and she wants to maintain the beautiful quality lines the store now offers, but she also wants to look for and offer items that are still high quality but offer shoppers a variety of price levels.

The paint parties will continue on as they always have. Williams said that part of the popularity of their paint parties comes from the methods the guests may use to create their personalized art. She noted that while many popular party plans include free-hand drawing and painting on canvas, Small Town Creations offers custom designs created with vinyl stencils. Even those who are not artistic can enjoy the party, and make a lovely item to take home or give as a gift.



While on most days the only one ‘manning’ the shop is Kathie, family does play a big part in the business. Between the two of them Jim and Kathie have four daughters - Katie, Rachael, Alexis and Kaycee. Jim works full time in Bloomington, but plays a big part in the success of the paint parties. Alexis and Kaycee also help out during the parties alongside Kathie and Jim. Katie and Rachel do not live in the area, but when they are in Lincoln, they help out where needed, and always led their moral support to the family business.

The Williams’ are excited about this new opportunity they have to keep local businesses growing in Lincoln. Kathie noted that for her, one of the most important parts of taking on the two additional businesses was the thought of continuing to offer popular products and keeping shoppers in town. She said that as a native of Logan County, she wants to see her community thrive and to do so, the downtown businesses are extremely important. She hopes that people will continue to support Small Town Creations in the same wonderful way it has since 2016.

Small Town Creations is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Everyone is invited to attend the ribbon cutting on February 1st at 4 p.m. and to also come back on the Saturday for the open house. Williams noted that among the prizes that will be given away on the second will be a grand prize gift of one pound of coffee per month for a year. For the coffee lover, that is a wonderful gift, and we hope many will stop in and enter to win!


[Nila Smith]

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