Handmade chocolates and beautiful gifts to make every day a little sweeter
Bradley’s Gift & Home has been serving the Knoxville community for 30 years. Owners Brad and Joy Hamlett are excited to have opened a second shop in the Biddle Farms Town Center in Farragut. This location joins their popular Knoxville shop in the Town & Country Commons Shopping Center on North Peters Road. The heart and mission of Bradley’s will remain the same at both shops while offering two similar yet unique experiences. Their core product lines and signature chocolates will be available at both locations, with a more streamlined chocolate selection at the Biddle Farms shop to make space for new flavor compositions and creativity and an exclusive line of handcrafted bon bons made by Bradley’s head chocolatier, Chelsey Dimpel.
Have a wedding, baby, or birthday celebration? Need a gift of comfort or support? Bradley’s also has an extensive selection of client and corporate gift offerings. Whether you’re closing on a home, looking for referral gifts, or staff appreciation, Bradley’s Gift & Home can help you put together something sweet and beautiful for life’s big and small moments.
Everything Knoxville talked to Joy on the opening day of the new shop – already buzzing with clientele – about Bradley’s beginnings and vision.
How did you originally get into the chocolate business?
Brad had been running Bradley’s Chocolate for about five years when he opened shop next to the store where I was working. I always say that our love story would make a great Hallmark Movie! After we married, I joined the company with a handful of retail business knowledge from my dad: Always prioritize people over production, don’t be afraid to change things up and diversify your selection – along with the old adage “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” So, when business was slow, we began to “change things up” and added gifts to the shop along with making our guests feel valued.
To what do you attribute to Bradley’s success in the beginning?
We honestly asked the Lord to guide us and our business endeavors. We believe He blesses obedience, and we have stepped out in faith many, many times. Yes, we have worked tirelessly; yes, we have poured out “blood, sweat, and tears” as they say; and yes, we have sacrificed more than we ever thought we’d have to, but the Lord has blessed our obedience, and we are thankful. Brad’s amazingly delicious chocolate certainly helps!
Someone would come in and say, “I received the nicest gift from here, and that chocolate popcorn is delicious!” or “My neighbor had the cutest wreath on her door and said she got it at Bradley’s.” The Lord began to answer our prayers with a handful of amazing customers that really believed in what we were doing. Slowly but surely, our business began to grow, as did our family, and the love and support that our community has shown us throughout the years has been a priceless gift.
Joy, is there anything else you’d like to add for our readers?
It has been a true joy and privilege serving this community for 30 years. It’s rare that small businesses like ours make it to this milestone, and we realize that we wouldn’t be here today without the love and support of all of you – our friends and family, our amazing community. You have shown up in countless ways beyond lining up at our cash registers. Our “sweet friends” have literally created a circle around this business, and we stand back in awe of how the Lord has orchestrated each of our paths to connect in this little corner of the world.
Thank you for showing us that it really is a sweet life together! The best is yet to come!
Bradley’s Gift & Home
138 Biddle Farms Boulevard
Farragut, TN 37934
141 N. Peters Road
Knoxville, TN 37923
Instagram & Facebook: @ShopBradleys @BradleysatBiddleFarms
True Love and Humble Beginnings
Brad Hamlett enjoyed working in a chocolate shop during his high school and college years. After graduating, and with encouragement from his dad, Jim, Brad opened his namesake chocolate shop, Bradley’s Chocolate, in West Knoxville in 1995 – with very little business training but a lot of love for chocolate and community!
After years in a difficult retail location, they were going to close up shop. But by God’s providence, they found a “for lease” sign in a shopping center on North Peters Road and committed to moving the shop there for five years to try to make it work. It was that little shop that just “happened to be” next door to where Joy was working retail.
Joy would wander over on her lunch break and after work for chocolates. He only let her pay one time and stocked the cooler with her favorite drinks. It was over that chocolate counter (and many sweet conversations) that they fell in love. In 2002, when Brad and Joy got married, she joined the shop full time.
A slow season led them to begin bringing in small gift collections to complement the chocolate. Pretty tea towels, bowls, mugs, candles, and more started filling the shop. Bright curtains were added, and Joy began going to gift markets while Brad painted the shop in fun colors to draw attention to their efforts.
With a deeply rooted in faith in Christ, they asked the Lord to establish the work of their hands to bless their community while providing for their growing family. Both had a heart for making their guests feel welcome and loved – working hard to remember names and chocolate choices! The Hamletts wrote thank you notes, handed out free samples, and soon word began to spread about Bradley’s Chocolate.
In a broken world that can come with lots of heartache, Brad and Joy’s strong desire to create a beautiful place known for kindness and filled with hope, joy, and peace slowly became a reality. Bradley’s calls their customers “sweet friends” in the belief that we are all made for community – and what better way to get to know someone than over a chocolate counter? Bradley’s really is the sweetest shop in town!