Customers didn’t let the rain stop them from checking out two of the first stores to open at the Cumming City Center.

On Friday, March 17, customers were on hand as Top KNOTch Boutique and Lily Rose Co. were the first stores to open their doors to the public.

“I’m speechless,” Top KNOTch owner Amanda Neighbors said. “I’m totally taken aback. You work so hard for something for so long, and you’re here before the kids go to school, and you’re here after they go to sleep and just getting it ready. When you walk in and people love what you do and they love wearing what you’ve made, it really takes you aback. It makes you think, ‘Wow, I really am doing something right.’”

When asked how she would describe the store, Neighbors said, “I kind of said if I could take a bottle of red wine, a mid-century library and antique store and just mix it all together, that’s what it feels like.”

Along with clothing, purses, jewelry, gifts and other expected items at a boutique, Top KNOTch also offers wine, charcuterie and more.

“I want a place where women can come in with friends, meet new friends here, grab a glass of wine, grab some charcuterie if they want, try on some clothes and just have that experience, not just a store to grab a top,” she said. 

A grand opening for the boutique is also planned for Saturday, March 18.

Next door to Top KNOTch, Lily Rose Co. also opened its doors this week with a soft opening on Thursday, March 16 and regular hours on Friday. A larger, grand opening event is planned on Saturday, April 15, which will include champagne and grab bags for the store's first 100 customers, according to Nancy Rosado, who co-owns the space with her husband, Tommy.

Like their neighbor, Rosado said most of the store’s products were made by local crafters, including soaps, bath bombs and skin care products she made and candles from her husband.

“Because of our struggles of trying to bring up a small business, we have decided the best way to give back to the community is to give back to other businesses in the community,” Rosado said. “Almost 90% of the stuff made here in the store is made by either small businesses, crafters or artisans, and we also make products in-house.”

After starting the business online three years ago and going through the process of getting the store ready, Rosado said opening “feels unreal.”

“Everyone keeps expressing how peaceful it looks,” she said of the customer reaction. “The ambiance in here is really spa-like, so they smell, and are like, ‘Oh it smells nice in here. It’s so pretty.’ It’s exciting to hear all that good feedback. It’s amazing.”

The planned St. Paddy’s Day Rocks festival on Friday was planned to coincide with the openings until the event was canceled due to weather.

A proposal by Cumming Mayor Troy Brumbalow when he ran for office, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the city center in August 2019, which was originally planned to open in 2021.

Brumbalow recently explained in a Facebook post some of the reasons for the delay, saying that the center’s tenants are using their own contractors to build out their interior spaces, a process that takes months from signing the lease, to drawing up plans, to getting plans approved, to passing inspections.

“First let me say that nobody wants it open more than me,” Brumbalow wrote in a post on Facebook. “From the time we first walked the property almost 5 years ago, I've lived it every day.”

Ongoing labor and supply shortages also contributed to the delay, the mayor said.

According to the post, seven businesses – including four retailers and three restaurants – should be opening within the next month. Brumbalow said each opening will be announced on the city’s social media accounts.

While the first stores are now beginning to open, the Cumming City Center has already hosted several events, including concerts, family fun days, markets, a recent community Arbor Day Celebration and the Cumming Wine Festival.

For more information on the newly opened businesses, go to topknotch.commentsold.com and shoplilyroseco.com. For information on the Cumming City Center, other businesses and future events, go to cummingcitycenter.com.