Pictured here, Tickled Pink is to the left of the lamp post and This Little Piggy is to the right of it. Special thanks to the downtown Benton branch of Regions Bank for helping with the photo location. Photo by Shelli Poole
Historic downtown Benton has become a bustling area for shopping, dining and entertainment. With restaurants, a food truck court, a farmers market and several boutiques within walking distance of each other, there’s plenty going on. Now there are two new boutiques coming on the scene.
One has been open for a couple of months. The other is getting their store ready to debut. Both are on South Street.
1. 
Tickled Pink is a women’s boutique that first established a following in Conway. Owner Stacy Vondran is married to David Vondran, General Manager of Benton Utilities and they have one son.
Stacy started as a customer of Tickled Pink. She loved the type of clothing they offered, in sizes that are difficult to find in other stores. When she heard the store owner wanted to close, she wanted the store to stay open so she ended up buying it. Besides apparel, she also offers accessories and jewelry and is beginning personal styling appointments for free. You just make your appointment and they put you in a dressing room and bring things for you to try on.
The spot at 145 W. South Street was right for Stacy, “I didn’t want to be in a shopping center. I was previously downtown in Conway and I wanted to stay in a downtown area.”
Find Tickled Pink online at Facebook.com/tickledpinkar or Instagram.com/tickledpinkar.
2. 
The second boutique, This Little Piggy, has a goal of opening in September. They will be a shop for children’s clothing and accessories for all occasions, as well as the latest gadgets for parents. Owners Aimee Brown and Kate Moore also provide baby registries, monogramming and custom gift wrapping. Aimee is married to Ross Brown and they have two young children. Kate is married to country singer Justin Moore and they have four children.
The two women are well-educated, so when they found few choices for children’s clothing in central Arkansas, and with six young children between them, they knew they could provide a better shopping experience that was more personal than online. They wanted new parents to be able to come in the store and touch the fabrics and compare pieces to match.
This Little Piggy already has a following online at Facebook.com/shopthislittlepiggyar, Instagram.com/shopthislittlepiggyar and Twitter.com/shoptlp. You can find their store at 119 W. South Street.