COTTAGE GROVE – Downtown Cottage Grove is the historic, social, and economic heart of the town. Main Street is dotted with entrepreneurs whose shops enhance its vitality and unique character. This vibrant area offers a variety of attractions, including thrift stores, coffee shops, salons, bookstores, and restaurants.
You might even discover something particularly sweet just around the corner at 16 S. 5th St.
Amber Henline is a licensed insurance agent who opened Cottage Caramel Co. in April 2024.
“I always wanted to have a little shop, just from the creative side of the head,” Henline said. “I wanted something to kind of balance that side of my brain.”
She said that her specialization in Medicare does not fill her time year-round, so the store was a perfect supplement.
“When I first got the spot, I wasn’t really sure what we wanted to put in here, and it’s evolved based on what I think people want or need,” she said.
Mayor Candace Solesbee and her husband, Danny, used to own the building where Henline’s store is located and helped with the renovations.
“It was nothing. It was just a warehouse attached to Five Flying Monkeys,” Henline said.
Solesbee agreed, the space was a storage unit for the adjacent business.
“We knew that we could do with a lot less space, and really wanted to bring another retail store to Cottage Grove,” Solesbee said. “When Amber reached out to us, of course, we wanted to see small businesses succeed, so we worked with her to try to create an image for the store.”
Henline sells a variety of homemade caramels, including original, salted, and a new local favorite, apple pie. But it doesn’t stop there. The specialty store also has locally made goods. Smoked seasonings from Springfield are something she is proud to offer. Folks can also find simmer pot blends, teas, jams, spreads, and maybe even a fast-selling horseradish.
More than caramel
To highlight the small-town charm, she also offers Cottage Grove merchandise, including postcards, stickers, and greeting cards.
“She has many things that you could bring to any kind of get-together,” Solesbee said. “I think that’s what a lot of our small stores in Cottage Grove have that separates us from the big-box stores, is our individuality and uniqueness.”
Henline said she felt like she earned her stripes by opening her first brick-and-mortar business during a challenging time — the Main Street Revitalization Project. She mentioned how other downtown businesses have helped her find her footing.
“It’s kind of like a real estate agent that’s starting during a recession. It really was giving us the opportunity to connect as businesses. I’ve made some great connections I probably would not have made,” she said.
“Carol Reeves over at The Flower Basket is one of my mentors,” she said. “We have a really amazing community of hard-working entrepreneurs.” She also mentioned Toni Dietz, who owns Oba Ramen and Dietz Deli. “It’s a little powerhouse. I feel like it’s just the right energy, too.”
Reeves, owner of The Flower Basket, said the duo bounce ideas off each other. “I’ve been doing this a long time, so I kind of have a good feel for what Cottage Grove needed,” she said. “We’re really working as a group of downtown businesses to try and cross-promote each other.”
A minor challenge, Henline said, is when the shop is open. With only being open Friday through Sunday, she said she may have created a sparsity mindset for some customers who think they need to stock up on goods.
Now that construction is over, though, she is gauging interest in adding another day to the schedule.
When construction was in full force, she knew she couldn’t rely on foot traffic to grow her business, so she explored referral gift-giving. An early partner of this was Magnolia Gardens.
Henline said she hopes to expand her corporate gift-giving with specialty food baskets.
Her ultimate goal is to have her products sold in Market of Choice.
