Opening a new business can be a nerve-wracking experience. Opening a new business during a pandemic is something that Hillary Hipps-Burwell never anticipated, but she and her business partner defied the odds to realize their dream.

Sweet Finesse is a new clothing store in Henderson, and Hipps-Burwell and business partner Brittney Phipps are working hard to offer more clothing choices for the area.

The two women work in day care, and they originally thought about opening a kiddie club house. “But when COVID hit, I got to thinking: thinking what does Henderson need?” Hipps-Burwell told John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk.

Sweet Finesse carries brand names like Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren for males and fashion labels like Pink and Off White for females.

She said clothing at an affordable price is the goal – clothing that “people can purchase without breaking their pocket.”

Hipps-Burwell describes herself as a plus-size woman, and her vision is to offer more plus-size choices. Sweet Finesse carries women’s clothing, including casual clothes and summer dresses from size small to 5X. They also carry purses.

“I’m very honest about all the clothing we have,” she said. “I want everything to fit you and be comfortable. I want to serve the plus-size community as much as I can.”

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Once she and Phipps get the clothing side organized, Hipps-Burwell said the plan is for her husband, Brian, to bring in a shoe department. She said he knows what buyers are interested in and current “hot” styles.

The Aug. 9 ribbon cutting was the culmination of a long process of establishing the business, Hipps-Burwell said. The first challenge was finding a suitable location, and once that happened, then the worry about opening and being able to make it when the rent kicked in. And then, once open, the worry would be possibly having to shut down again quickly because of COVID, she said.

With all those worries churning, however, they located a site – “then we had a building and couldn’t do anything with it,” she recalled, because “that’s when the world shut down.”

Finally, in true entrepreneur fashion, she said they “kind of shook it off and decided to go ahead and fill it up with clothes.”

The store has been in operation a couple of weeks now and Hipps-Burwell hopes to get the word out that they’re open for business.

The store is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The location is 1700 Parham St., which is the former Nits, Nats building.

Hipps-Burwell laughed and said she’s had people wander in expecting to find the record store, only to browse her inventory and even make some purchases.