Artisan gift shop coming to Fountain Square

An Indianapolis couple plans to take their home-based side gigs to the next level by opening a Fountain Square retail shop, Tuggle’s Gifts & Goods, that will feature their wood art and jewelry along with hand-crafted items from other local makers.

Ross and Brooke Tuggle intend to open their shop in early November at 1016 Virginia Ave. The storefront space occupies a portion of a 2,100-square-foot building that also houses American Hardware & Supply Co.

The shop will feature Brooke’s polymer clay earrings and Ross Tuggle’s wood art—framed wall hangings made from salvaged wood that he arranges into designs such as snow-capped mountains and geometric patterns. It will also feature a selection of merchandise from other local artisans: jewelry, ceramics, soaps, candles, greeting cards and holiday items, among other things.

Merchandise prices will range from less than $10 to several hundred dollars.

“We’ll adapt as we go, but right now we’re trying to have a variety of items here,” Brooke said.

Brooke and Ross are social workers: He works for the Indiana Department of Child Services, and she is winding down her job at a foster-care agency.

The seeds for Tuggle’s Gifts & Goods date back to 2018, when Ross used wood from an old porch swing to make a piece of art as a gift for Brooke. When he started selling his pieces in August 2019, Tuggle’s Timber was born. Most of Tuggle’s Timber’s sales come through social media, though the Tuggles also had good results selling at craft fairs around Indiana last fall and at a pop-up site in a friend’s Evansville store over the holidays.

Tuggle’s Timber donates 10% of its sales to The PourHouse, an Indianapolis organization that offers street outreach, food and clothing, referrals and other services to people who are homeless.

The couple decided to open their shop in Fountain Square because they love the neighborhood—they lived here until March, when they bought a house in the Bosart Brown neighborhood near Irvington—and they thought a store like theirs would be a good fit for the area.

“We’re hoping that it does well with the foot traffic and the interests that the people in this neighborhood have,” Brooke said.

In other news this week:

— Louisville-based Joella’s Hot Chicken opens its third Indianapolis-area location today at 2554 E. 146^th St. in Carmel, bordering Westfield and just east of the Clay Terrace shopping center. The chain, which started in 2015, entered the Indianapolis market the following year and now has 17 locations, including Broad Ripple and 96^th Street in Indianapolis.

— Local bakery SweeTie’s Gourmet Treats, which closed its Broad Ripple store at 2101 Broad Ripple Ave. earlier this year, opened an east-side shop at 10930 Pendleton Pike Aug. 27. The bakery also operates at 8902 E. 96^th St. in Fishers.

— Discount department-store chain Ross Dress for Less plans to open a 22,000-square-foot store Oct. 24 at the Shops at Metropolis in Plainfield. The shopping center is at the southwest corner of U.S. 40 and Smith Road. This will be the Dublin, California-based retailer’s 24^th Indiana location and its 1,569^th overall.

— Lily & Sparrow, a women’s clothing and lifestyle boutique, has opened at Carmel City Center, 724 S. Rangeline Road. The store, owned by sisters Steph and Jen Miller, had its grand opening on Saturday.