Kind Hearted Goods carries eco-inspired products for a collective of five businesses. (Photo by PS91STUDIO)
A heady mix of growth and disaster brought business owners Tippy Tippens and Lauren Williams together in Church Hill this past summer. The retailers launched their respective brick-and-mortar outlets — Kind Hearted Goods and Dottir — in June at 2509 E. Broad St., the first physical location in Richmond for both shops.
Tippens, a Virginia Commonwealth University alum, operates Kind Hearted Goods under a collective shop model, selling eco-friendly and socially impactful merchandise. Tippens founded her first business, The Good Shop, in New Orleans a decade ago. After deciding she wanted a climate-stable second location, she debuted another outpost of The Good Shop in Asheville, North Carolina’s River Arts District in June 2024. A month later, Hurricane Helene hit the city.
“My car was totaled, and I got stuck there,” Tippens says. The shop was one of 10 businesses in the area that withstood flooding out of hundreds, she notes, but with no running water, no rent relief and a halt to essential tourism, Tippens knew she couldn’t afford to stay.
After the storm, Nikki Price, co-owner of Proper Pie Co. in Church Hill and a childhood friend of Tippens, offered to lease Tippens space in a building she owned on the same block. Tippens relocated from Asheville and began looking for a tenant to join her in the multilevel building.
Williams, a Richmonder of 12 years, brought Dottir, her Nordic-inspired clothing boutique, to life in the lower level. Before this summer, Dottir was an online boutique and pop-up store, though Williams was “desperate to find a place.” Unable to secure the right location, she even considered stepping back from the business at one point. But then, Tippens found Dottir on Instagram, connected with Williams and leased her the basement space at 2509.
Dottir fills the lower level of 2509 E. Broad St. in Church Hill. (Photo courtesy Dottir)
Dottir is pronounced “daughter” and is a reference to the Icelandic tradition of adding the suffix -dottir, meaning “daughter of,” to women’s last names. The shop carries women’s apparel, jewelry and home goods. “I just wanted to bring something that was kind of timeless and versatile; that effortless kind of elegance that Scandinavian women are known for,” says Williams, who has Norwegian heritage.
Kind Hearted Goods carries products from five small businesses, including soy candles decorated in “Burn the Patriarchy” labels and reusable floral beeswax wraps. A certified B-Corp, the collective uses nonplastic packaging and donates a portion of its proceeds to nonprofits, among them Blue Sky Fund and She Will Fight.
Williams and Tippens say they have felt supported by Church Hill residents and Richmond at large. At their June opening, hundreds came to shop and dine on catered pies from neighbor Proper Pie.
“Everyone that lives here has such pride for the neighborhood, and in that same vein, they want to see businesses succeed,” Williams says.
