Jollifrogs marks successful first month on Main Street

This article is sponsored by Jollifrogs.

It has been just over one month since the local, women-owned collective on Main Street in Kingston Springs rebranded from Fred and Mary’s – a sustainable homegoods store – to Jollifrogs – a family boutique. 

Jollifrogs officially opened their doors after a little over a month of renovations on March 25 just in time to help the community prepare for spring and Easter. 

While Karen Kloess and Rachel Taslimi – the mother-daughter duo behind Jollifrogs – made some cosmetic changes to the storefront, the women-owned, small business collective within the store remained intact. 

When you walk into Jollifrogs on Main Street, you can almost always find mother-daughter duo Rachel Taslimi (left) and Karen Kloess (right) behind the counter greeting you with a welcoming smile. / Cate Burgan

“Almost everybody stayed, and then we added a few more. We have seven total ladies [and] they're all local, with their own unique talents and taste,” Taslimi told the Gazette. “They all do different things. One makes mugs, one has plants, the others make hats and shirts and different accessories. Carolyn [of Fred and Mary’s] is still there with her sustainable kitchenware. It's a great eclectic mix.” 

“We’re [still] trying to offer enough selection to appeal to everyone. It's been fun working with other ladies, and everybody's been supportive and enthusiastic,” she added.

Taslimi said that Jollifrogs is a “fusion” of her and her mother’s favorite products. 

“I'm more into the natural, organic stuff that you generally can't buy on Amazon or at the local grocery store, and then my mom enjoys more vintage, antiques, kitchenware, country-farm vibes. So we blend what we like,” Taslimi said.

 “I sometimes say that I am our customer, and then my mom is too, because the majority of the people that come in there are women and moms around my age, who … are out and about enjoying the day and either need a gift or just like to shop, or appreciate discovering new items. And then we have a lot of older ladies that are from around here that enjoy shopping with us,” she continued, adding, “[Jollifrogs] is a mix of the things we like, and the things we hope our customers will also like.” 

Taslimi takes after her mother when it comes to being an entrepreneur. 

“When I was a baby … she started her first business, and it was a consignment store for little kid’s clothing. It was called the Kid’s Kottage, and she would multitask by trying to get me to nap in the back room and then work out in the front. And she would always tell me stories about starting her own business when I was little. So I think that was always in the back of my mind as far as choices I've made.” 

Kloess founded her own company, named Rachel’s Ribbons, which is still sold at Jollifrogs today. Rachel’s Ribbons, named after Taslimi, became the preferred hair bow vendor for the more than 400 Once Upon A Child consignment stores across North America. 

“It went from a little hobby out of our basement, to a full fledged business, with 22 employees and a 30-year track record, before my mom sold it in 2017. It was cool to see that growth, and it was named after me, so I felt that sense of pride,” Taslimi said. “I worked with her, with Rachel’s Ribbons for a while, and then transitioned into opening Jollifrogs with her support. So it's been a family effort always.” 

Jollifrogs first opened in Nashville in 2015. The mother-daughter duo decided to close their flagship store in January 2020 and weren’t sure what the future held. A decade ago, Taslimi said she wasn’t married and didn’t have kids. Now, as a married mother of two, life looks a lot different.

“We thought we would shelve it for a while, then COVID hit, and we realized it would have been a terrible time to start retail again. And then I became a mom later that year and I was just so focused on that,” Taslimi said. 

To Kloess and Taslimi, Kingston Springs seemed like the perfect place to reopen Jollifrogs. 

Jollifrogs kept the women-owned, small business collective that was started by Fred and Mary's owner intact. In fact, they even added a few more local creatives – including Grounded Roots' Christina Caccamo, who sells houseplants. Taslimi says a houseplant makes a perfect gift for the month of May, celebrating teachers, mothers and graduates. / Cate Burgan

Kloess moved to Kingston Springs in 2017 and Taslimi followed her to town with her family in 2023. Taslimi said, “It was something we always talked about – what if we did it again? Especially now, having both moved out to this side of town and always imagining what if Jollifrogs was on Main Street in one of these little shops?”

Taslimi said that relaunching Jollifrogs as part of Fred and Mary’s late last year “was a fun way to get our feet wet.” 

“We were also surprised and flattered that people remembered us still … that was really encouraging,” Taslimi said. “It just felt like the timing [was right to bring Jollifrogs back] with my kids getting a little bit older, and the oldest starting school in the fall, and I have a very supportive husband.” 

“My mom and I are really good friends. We work well together too, so it's just fun to be together and do this again. It's been surreal – I joke that I'm in a time warp or something, as I'm driving to the same shop with my mom but it's in a different place, in a totally different phase of life,” she added. “It's been really fun and exciting to do it again.” 

Jollifrogs is the perfect place to help your loved ones celebrate life’s little milestones

With May upon us, and the summer season rapidly approaching, Taslimi offered up her favorite products currently in stock to spoil the mothers, teachers and graduates in your life. 

“We have cards specific to Mother's Day, teachers, graduation and then a lot of unique [gift] options – plants, candles, natural products, locally-made options. We have some Loveless Cafe products – little jams, things that anybody would like, but especially teachers, moms and graduates,” Taslimi said. 

For her own mother, Taslimi said she would pick out an embroidered dish towel, a unique pair of earrings, a locally-made cutting board, a houseplant, a handmade mug and a therapeutic bath product.

Jollifrogs offers a variety of gifts guaranteed to please the teacher, mother or graduate in your life. One of Jollifrogs' newest products, the Nodpod sleep mask, offers a few extra minutes of zen for the busy mom in your life or a few extra minutes of sleep for your graduate who stayed up late studying. / Cate Burgan

For Teacher Appreciation Week, which takes place May 5 through May 9, Taslimi said she would gift a houseplant from the shop with a card that thanks teachers for helping their students grow, a variety of snacks and treats thanking them for being so sweet, or their locally made organic loose-leaf tea (naturally, thanking their teacher for being tea-riffic!) For graduates who might be going off to college, Taslimi suggested one of Jollifrogs’ newest products – the Nodpod sleep mask.

As an additional perk, Jollifrogs also offers gift wrapping and monogramming services. You can purchase something from the shop or bring in your own item that you want monogrammed and they will send it off to a local lady for you. As part of their mission to be more convenient to busy moms, Taslimi said Jollifrogs has launched an online shop and plans to also expand their local pickup and delivery services.

It’s obvious that Taslimi’s love language is gift giving, since everything she and Kloess curate in the shop is so carefully crafted and thought out. She said that she loves to shop for her customers at any chance she gets. 

“We’re trying to be more convenient to our community,” Taslimi said. “When we were open years ago, we would get customers who would call us and say, ‘Hey, I need a gift and I want to spend 50 bucks, and I'm going to be there in 20 minutes.’ And we would shop for them and bring it out to their car and try to make things easy, and that was always fun.” 

“Or we would do gender reveal gifts, where we wrapped up blue or pink gifts in secrecy and then gave it to the couple, and they would go home and open it together that night,” Taslimi said. “Just being a tiny part of those special little moments is really unique and fun.” 

“There are those human connections that you create in working with the public and so many conversations with moms or ladies that, for example, say , ‘I just became a grandma,’ or, ‘We just moved to town,’ or there was a woman who had just retired the other day,” Taslimi said. “It’s all these different life scenarios and talking to people and connecting has been so enjoyable.” 

She added, “We’re just excited to be here and grateful for the community’s tremendous support.”

Jollifrogs is now open at 385 N Main Street, Suite 104, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Don’t miss your opportunity to support a local, women-owned business and snag the perfect gift for the mothers, teachers and graduates in your life.  

Need more inspiration for the mothers, teachers and graduates in your life? Check out some of Taslimi's favorite products currently in-store at Jollifrogs today.