04/21/2026
💔 Today marks a new week. 💔
Just last Tuesday, we received an email from Painted Tree Boutiques telling us we had to vacate immediately, or risk our small businesses becoming part of their bankruptcy estate.
62 locations.
270–300 small businesses in each.
No warning. No time to prepare. Nothing.
It all happened so fast that I didn’t truly start processing everything until yesterday.
The emotions hit all at once… shock, confusion, anger, heartbreak.
My heart and mind couldn’t keep up.
The shock comes in waves… throughout the day, and even in the middle of the night.
This morning, I opened my computer like I always do.
I like to go back and watch my store camera footage, studying customers, listening to conversations, noticing what made people smile.
What did they fall in love with yesterday?
What made them light up?
(Watching women of all ages try on crowns… that always filled my mornings with so much joy.)
And then it hit me.
The WiFi was gone.
The cameras were the first thing to go.
That was the moment it became real.
Not just something we heard.
Not just something we hoped might work itself out.
Real.
Painted Tree didn’t just close.
They abandoned us.
They pulled the ground out from underneath thousands of small businesses without warning.
They took something we built with our own hands. Our dreams, our time, our sacrifices, the moments we missed with our families, and reduced it to something disposable.
Like it didn’t matter.
And this isn’t just about money.
Yes, for many small businesses, this was their livelihood.
But it’s deeper than that.
It’s the emotional weight of it all.
It’s the defeat we’re left trying to make sense of.
The confidence and belief in ourselves, shaken, not because we failed… but because something out of our control was taken from us.
We did the work.
We showed up.
We adapted.
We grew… EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
And we were growing.
We were halfway through our second year… and things were working.
And now?
I feel lost.
The hardest part right now isn’t starting over, it’s finding that drive again.
That confidence.
That rhythm that became part of who I am.
I know what I need to do.
I know the path forward exists.
But right now… I’m still processing.
The one thing keeping me grounded through all of this?
The people.
The other small businesses, standing side by side, holding each other up, reminding one another that we’re not alone.
The messages from customers and supporters, sharing how much our stores meant to them, the joy they felt walking through our spaces, the memories they created.
That matters more than you know.
It gives us hope.
It gives us strength.
And it reminds us that what we built was real, even if the space is gone.
Thank you for seeing us. 🙏🏽
Thank you for supporting us. 🫶🏽
Thank you for reminding us why we started in the first place. ❤️🩹
✨ TulleY Crafty ✨
