Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Village Center Mall is now home to Bridge Street Cottage, a shop specializing in home décor, gifts, as well as Christian oriented items including Bibles.

Bridge Street Cottage has been in operation in the city of Evarts for a couple years and has now brought a brand-new store to the city of Harlan, kicking things off with a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting ceremony last week.

Owners Jarrod and Keyla Fields provided a few details prior to the ceremony, attended by family, friends, members of the Harlan County Chamber of Commerce, and others.

“Bridge Street Cottage is a home décor store and a sort of a bible store as well,” Keyla Fields explained. “We have a lot of table top décor, greenery, floral accents, a lot of inspirational gifts, bibles, journals, things like that.”

While the Harlan location is brand new, the Evarts location opened in June of 2023, she explained.

“More than anything, I want people to walk in and feel the love of Jesus,” Keyla said when asked about her hopes for the new location. “I want them to feel some peace when they walk in, and a welcoming environment. I hope they can find something they can decorate their home with.”

Jarrod Fields added their location can save customers the trip to places like Middlesboro, Kingsport, or other out of town destinations.

Keyla noted it was a mine layoff that inspired them to go into business for themselves.

“We lost pretty much everything we had,” Keyla said. “We both went back to college and got our degrees, then COVID happened, and we lost a lot of income.”

Keyla said she sought a way to avoid such losses in the future.

“I prayed…’if you will teach me what to do, I’m willing to work for it,” Keyla said. “It was just a few months and everything fell into place. I knew I wanted to have a store, I just wasn’t sure what. Home décor just happened, because I love to decorate. I’m passionate about decorating.”

Bridge Street Cottage hours at Village Center Mall are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.