Have you ever felt the spirit or soul of a person by simply walking into their home, office or place of business?

Visit the Acorn Shop at Wayne and Chestnut.

Talk with Kimberly Loveless.

Soak up the environment and let yourself experience the positive aura abounding in Kimberly’s gift shop and you won’t leave without having recharged your batteries.

“We offer an eclectic blend of merchandise at the Acorn Shop. When we travel, my husband, Brad, and I try to find something our customers haven’t seen before and I think we’ve accumulated an unusual blend of appealing items,” said Kimberly.

“Some people classify my store as country, but I think it’s eclectic. There is something here for everybody. If you look long enough you will find something for yourself. I love it when people, most often African American women, walk in, look around and say, “You’re Christian aren’t you?” There’s no better compliment for me.”

“For instance, we sell Inspiration Cards at something like a 3:1 ratio over other cards. People love the simplicity and what they say. I love to convey something.”

“I like to ask people, ‘What would you like to see in here?’ More than likely you will find it here.”

Kimberly’s vivacious enthusiasm is contagious.

It’s partially a result of her Mary Kay experience, she explained. There’s no doubt that Go-Give Spirit is alive in the Acorn Shop. Just walk round the store and you’ll see and feel it.

Take the quotations, for instance. Kimberly says, “Among my favorite saying are: ‘Enter as strangers… Leave as friends’… and ‘When you fall make it part of your dance’ … and especially… ‘It’s not about singing in the rain. It’s about dancing in the storm.’”

An active citizen volunteer, Kimberly serves on the City’s Wheelfest Committee and the 20 / 20 Committee. She is enthusiastic about her hometown.

“I grew up here. While I can’t remember the original main street, because I’m not old enough, I can remember shopping all down Michigan Ave. I still have a dream that it can happen here again. And there are more and more people coming around in the city that share that strong belief. Wayne doesn’t need to remain the sleepy little town that it has been.”

For example, one happening for the city occurred during Wheelfest. "The 20 / 20 Committee put together a questionnaire and asked people to give their opinions," she said. Among the questions were:
What do you leave Wayne to shop for?
What do you leave Wayne to do?
What would you love to be able to stay here and do?

“I can’t tell you how many hundreds of people actually stopped and took the time to complete the questionnaires. I had the feeling that people, young and old, were really happy to be asked for their thoughts.”

“I really see the conversations and the questionnaire as a continuing of things that have happened since my ‘incident.’ People are saying, “We can do this!”

While Kimberly’s Mary Kay experience contributed to her enthusiasm for helping others, it is the incident as she calls it that has most recently changed her life in countless ways.

While still feeling a burning and numbness in her hand, she has mostly recovered from the wounds she received during that December evening attack.

But, more important than the physical recovery, she said, has been her reaffirmation in God. “I always knew there was a God,” she said, “someone who answered when I called, but the incident was a traumatic experience. Yet, from that same experience, it was so powerful to know that there is a stronger being. That God is really there.”

“This shop wouldn’t be here today if John and Natalie Rhaesa, City of Wayne Mayor Pro-Tem Donna McEachern, the Chamber of Commerce, the City’s Department of Public Works and many, many others had not come together. They raised funds, sold my Christmas merchandise, believed in me and proved that someone couldn’t just appear and destroy everything.”

“The prayer quilt that the First Methodist Church ladies put together for me was another important help. Every time I’d go down to rehab I’d come back and it was like… where’s my prayer quilt? You can’t imagine how much those things mean to you. During that time I didn’t want it folded up and put away, I wanted it right there with me. It was security. Each one of the knots represented a prayer someone said for me. It meant I wasn’t alone. Lots of people were calling on God. They didn’t want this incident to change me and I it didn’t change me except to help me be more secure in my knowing God is there.”

“Sometimes you call on the Lord and you think he answers. And, then you wonder why He’s not answering. For instance, for several good reasons, my husband really didn’t want to open the shop and I called on Him and then my shop happened. That is why it’s the Acorn Shop and not Kimberly’s Unique Boutique. Because God woke me up in the middle of the night and said, ‘I don’t like that. If you name it The Acorn Shop, I’ll make it happen.’”

“When I asked for an explanation, one of the answers he gave me is the oak tree is such a strong tree but it comes from such a small seed and that hopefully, I’ll plant many small seeds. Now I’m realizing that it’s not about my store being the small acorn and becoming the oak. But, more that I’m in the right place and right time to help others become a stronger oak.”

“Not long ago a man came into my store and told me he knew who had committed the assault. This person is a Vietnam War era veteran who has serious problems dealing with his war experiences. He’s a survivor of tours in Cambodia. He’s dysfunctional and drinks to forget. He told me who he thought had committed the assault. I told the police.”

“Later, I spoke with him again and I told him, ‘For me it’s over and I want it to be over for you, too. You don’t know how valuable the gift is that you have given me. By helping me realize that it was random I can rest more. God sent you to me. Now you, too, need to let this go. I don’t want this to be a reason to drink. I don’t want this to be something stuck in your head and something you can’t get out of. You did the right thing. You came forward.’”

“Not long after that, an African American lady came in here. She said she was a minister and she talked about the Book of Job.”

“I’ve decided that I’m going to be like Job. I’m thankful. I wouldn’t do it again but I wouldn’t take it back either. It’s been really, really good.”

Kimberly Loveless loves her shop because it offers her countless ways to help her customers. She is planting acorns and growing oaks.

We are proud to honor her for her outstanding service to her community and for the woman she is. That is why Kimberly is in the Wayne Spotlight.

The Acorn Shop
3015 S. Wayne Rd.
Wayne, MI 48184
734-721-1716
Next to the Dairy Queen
Parking in Back

Sun-Mon 12pm - 5pm
Tues-Sat 10:30am -7pm