Tender Heart Treasures creates 90 percent of its own products—and considers this one of its competitive advantages.

By Alicia Orr Suman

“This [niche] is where a lot of our growth had been,” Watanabe-Gerdes continues. “We figured the most natural way to capitalize on this would be a spin-off.”

A Special Place represents a softer more romantic side to the company’s home decor business as opposed to what Watanabe-Gerdes refers to as “our more primitive country line of Tender Heart Treasures.”