Woodworking business adds retail shop on C-Street

Last edited 12:58 p.m., March 30, 2020

Furniture business Beautiful Fight Woodworking LLC is expanding its operations this spring with a retail space on Commercial Street.

Owner Heather Dyer and wife, Brittany Dyer, started renovation work last week of roughly 1,500 square feet at 301 W. Commercial St. The space is next door to clothing retailer A Wench in the Gear, which moved down the street Jan. 15 to the east side of the building. Heather Dyer said the two shops eventually will be split into suites but currently share the same address.

A Beautiful Fight will maintain its warehouse space at 1315 W. College St. The Dyers plan to trade off time working in the warehouse and retail shop, with employee Lainie Vicat taking on a larger role in the warehouse.

The women expect to complete infill work – estimated at $1,500 by doing most of the work themselves – in April and have set May as their targeted opening date.

The 5-year-old business started as a home-based venture and had its most successful year in 2019, reaching $165,000 in revenue – nearly double its 2018 total of $86,000, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The Dyers said in January they hoped to open a retail space before year’s end.

Because of the city’s current stay-at-home order due to COVID-19 concerns, no precise date has been selected for the retail opening at this time, Brittany Dyer said.

“Most people are super excited and happy for us, but there is a little bit of unsettling feeling in a lot of people right now,” she said, acknowledging the impact of the virus. “It’s a time for us to remind people how much we believe in this community and how much we believe in our ability to bounce back from something as devastating as this.”

The couple signed a one-year lease for undisclosed terms with C.C. Guice, who owns the building and A Wench in the Gear store next door.

“It was one of those things where we didn’t want to pass up on the building and the opportunity to be on C-Street,” Dyer said, adding the shop also will take custom furniture and home decor orders. “It was a now-or-never situation. There’s such an aspect of community down there. That was the biggest selling point for us.”