Happy Birthday Sweet Elizabeth Jane

Sweet Elizabeth Jane is having a party.

The store, at 8125 Main Street, is turning 2 and owner Tammy Beideman, though she said she hasn't slept much, is ready to celebrate.

"I never thought that I was going to own a store," she said from a loft, looking down. "Let alone a store this big."  

Downstairs, employees were getting to work setting up a makeshift photo booth and blowing up balloons for Friday night's party, which coincides with the first First Friday of spring.

The store opened on spring's first First Friday in the space formerly occupied by Caplan's two years ago. But things were a little different then.

"We were handwriting all of our tickets," Beideman said. "We had one of those old-timey registers," she said, pecking at an imaginary cash register with her index fingers.

Sweet Elizabeth Jane has since entered the modern era, with a new, computerized system that does more than speed up checkout times - it lets Beideman and her manager, Caitlin Mullett get a better perspective on the store.

And what they've seen is pretty good.

"The business itself has grown so much," Mullett said. "The growth is amazing."

Beideman said that her number-one seller is dresses, which isn't what she had expected. "We just happened to put in two dressing rooms," she said, but was expecting to focus on selling antique furniture. "That's our second most popular item," she said. 

And then there are housewares, candles, picture frames, glassware and jewelry - lots of jewelry.  

The original staff of four has more than doubled and they've added to the store's eclectic vibe which is, over all a reflection of Beideman's varied tastes. 

"I like a wide range of styles. Sometimes I do have to narrow it down," she said, scanning the store.  

But the mix is what makes it fun.

"We have a good staff, group is so fantastic, such a great mix of personalities and styles," Mullett said. "It's so much fun to come to work every day."

First Friday starts at 5 p.m., but the party at Sweet Elizabeth Jane will really get started at about 6 p.m. There will be a photo booth, popcorn, cake, door prizes and music by Lauren Ruth Ward. Everything on the store will be 20 percent off except sale items -- they're 40 percent off.