Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Bilton.
Hi Jennifer, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
A large part of my story begins with the Indie Craft Parade, an annual festival of handmade art founded by the Makers Collective. I have been attending since 2012 and, as a mostly self-taught artist, always dreamed of being a vendor one day.
But sometimes we achieve our dreams by coming at them through the back door. In 2018 I participated as a volunteer and loved helping behind the scenes. The next year, I volunteered again, but this time with my coworker turned best friend, Mandy, who I met while working for a company that sponsored the festival.
I truly couldn’t get enough of the festival and community around it, so in 2021 I gathered up my courage to ask one of the founders if they needed additional help throughout the year. A few months later I was thrilled to join the staff of the temporary Holiday Pop-Up Shop they ran at 2909 Old Buncombe Road. Of course, I roped Mandy in as well. We had a blast working together again, in a beautiful environment full of art, and learning from Indie Craft Parade founders Erin, Jen, and Lib about shopkeeping.
In 2024, Makers Collective announced they would close the Pop-Up Shop to focus more time and energy on the festival and their families. Mandy and I were devastated at the prospect of losing our ‘happy place.’ After a lot of consideration and “are we really going to do this?” moments, we decided to take over the storefront. We wanted to continue the legacy of cultivating a space brimming with beautiful art and goods made by small businesses and makers. We took the plunge to business partnership to create The Trove Greenville.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We took over the lease for the building in March of 2025 and opened to the public as The Trove in May. We had two months to establish our business, from the government forms to branding, to forging relationships with artists and coordinating the receipt and merchandising of their products. While we were so lucky to have connections from Makers Co. to get us started, it felt like the two of us were in the trenches on the other side of this dream of ours. We worked many long days and late nights (on top of our fulltime jobs) to open our first Pop-Up Shop for the first four weekends in May. We learned so many lessons about how we would need to establish boundaries and acquire help for future shop seasons in order to make it physically and mentally sustainable for us to continue.
Additionally, starting a small business at the beginning of 2025 was a daunting endeavor due to the constantly shifting implementation of tariffs and their effect on the economy. But we knew that this was our best – and probably our only – chance to take on a dream that we both had for years. Our purpose is to connect artists with people that love to support them, which means we end up working with some truly amazing people. It is scary to put yourself out there and we are so grateful for the enthusiasm and support from the community.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Trove Greenville?
The Trove Greenville is a curated Pop-Up Shop featuring the work of over 60 artists, makers, and small businesses. We are open seasonally in the spring and for a longer stretch in November and December for the holidays.
Having multiple iterations of the shop within a year allows us to work with different artists, who we select through an application process. We are so lucky to represent some of the talented artists in Greenville and neighboring cities and states, but also feature artists from all over the country. They allow us to live up to our name: Trove (noun) – a store of valuable or delightful things.
Whether you are looking for a piece of art to add to a gallery wall, a present for that one person who’s so hard to shop for, or just a treat for yourself, we have just the thing in store for you.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I am a lifelong book-lover and word-collector, so my first foray into art was by hand lettering my favorite quotes (before I even knew what hand lettering was!) This has led me into many other media, including hand embroidery, art journaling, print making, and book binding. But lettering has been the most consistent art practice of mine, so it was a surreal, full circle moment to hand letter and illustrate the logo for The Trove. It now greets me every time I walk up to the front door of the shop and reminds me how art will bring you to surprising new places deeply rooted in your past and your story.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thetrovegvl.com
- Instagram: @thetrovegvl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573202520934
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thetrovegvl
