After three years in the Electric Depot and 13 years of business, Sweet Baton Rouge—known for its locally inspired goods, apparel and Lagniappe subscription boxes—has closed and reopened its doors in another Baton Rouge hub, Perkins Rowe.
“I’m excited to see how we are continuing to evolve,” owner Meredith Waguespack says.
Sweet Baton Rouge made small tweaks to the new 1,500-square-foot space between Barnes & Noble and Versona and began moving merchandise with the hope of reopening in time for Black Friday, a goal Waguespack says her team met through careful organization.
|
|
|
“It was about a two-week turnaround, and everything ran as smoothly as you could possibly hope for,” she says.
Sweet Baton Rouge’s new location will be even sweeter once its soon-to-be neighbor, Caroline’s Cookies, opens in the upcoming months, joining a growing list of regional and national businesses popping up around the Rowe.
“Seeing that resurgence here at Perkins Rowe,” Waguespack says, “I think it’s just a great opportunity that we get to be a part of.”
While Sweet Baton Rouge will keep its core mission—niche local merch, Baton Rouge pride and Nick Saban loathing—the new building will bring upgrades to efficiency behind the scenes, which customers will see through faster pick-up orders.
“We have a huge back area where we can do all of our distribution and shipping under one roof, which is just going to be phenomenal for us,” she says. “We also have a spot where we can take our social media.”
Waguespack says you’ll often find her working at a desk near the front door, a feature she included in the new setup to spend more time on the sales floor, just in time for the holiday season. She is most looking forward to having more customer interaction to gain key insight that will help her team create the products her customers want.
|
|
|
“We print and design based on how our customers are liking things and seeing things,” she says, “and I think with a better traffic flow and me being in the store more, I’m really going to be able to see what’s moving quicker and why it’s moving quicker.”
Keep up with Sweet Baton Rouge’s new branding, fresh location and upcoming future projects on Instagram at @sweetbatonrouge and on Facebook. Visit its new location at 7707 Bluebonnet Blvd., #150.