Gathered Goods, a women-owned home-goods and decor store in Springdale, believes that “home should feel like a deep breath—comfortable, intentional, and filled with the people and moments that matter most.”
To help customers connect with this belief, 50 female vendors fill Gathered Goods—like an enchanted room of requirement—with a versatile collection of home decor, furniture, and curated amenities to meet a wide range of needs. The store serves as a second home for vendors, employees, and customers alike, with an emphasis on making people feel seen.
While designers are on staff to help customers make selections, Gathered Goods understands that just as a home is more than a house, being seen goes beyond appearances. Feeling at home requires a foundational trust at the bedrock of any community: faith.
Faith, though invisible, helps us see in others what we can only hope to see in ourselves. As C.S. Lewis observed, we don’t believe in the sun simply because we see it, but because by it, we see everything else.
Michelle Barnes, owner of Gathered Goods, took a leap of faith in 2024 after a tornado devastated the previous store in Rogers. She and her mother had hoped to own a business together for years, and when the opportunity came to take over this particular business, they decided to take a chance.
Michelle indicated that she felt strongly about the importance of faith and intentional relationship-building before entering the business. When she arrived, however, it was already there. She believes this connection was drawing her to the business all along, even if unconsciously.
After a quick turnaround—just 60 days to flip the building and reopen—Gathered Goods was back on its feet in Springdale under the supervision of Michelle and her mother. Many of the original vendors stayed, and more have since joined.
The following year, in August of 2025, HGTV reached out to Gathered Goods, asking if they’d be interested in partnering with them on Fixer to Fabulous alongside Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that helps families build and buy affordable homes through community support.
The project came together quickly, and Gathered Goods mobilized nearly all of its vendors to donate, repaint, store, and deliver furniture and decor. Despite logistical, sometimes muddy challenges, everyone banded together to make the Habitat house a home, proving that strength comes to those gathered for good causes. The project was completed in October, and the show aired in January.
Michelle noted that the compassion, support, and down-to-earth nature of the collaboration reminded her of the accumulated purpose she finds in people, galvanizing her faith in humanity.
“If it weren’t for the vendors—if it weren’t for the customer base—we couldn’t have pulled this off,” Michelle said. “But if you put God first, followed by your family, everything else comes into line.”
At Gathered Goods, they are a family. What’s more, they have faith in the unique community of Northwest Arkansas—a place with a small-town feel and large-town amenities—allowing them to see in us what we can only dare to see in ourselves.