When Kenya Brantley opened her first retail space in Senoia about 15 years ago, she couldn’t have known how many forms her business would eventually take. What she did know, she said, was that entrepreneurship would require flexibility.
“There is no straight path in being an entrepreneur,” Brantley said. “There are ups and downs and ebbs and flows. If COVID really didn’t teach us anything else, if you’re an entrepreneur, it’s the word pivot.”
Today, Brantley operates Greenhouse Mercantile’s retail location in downtown Senoia, a creative studio space in downtown Newnan, and an interior decorating business—all connected by a philosophy centered on adaptability, reuse, and creating room for others to grow.
A return to where it began
Brantley’s first retail venture was located in Senoia, though she later operated for years in Newnan before expanding again. Three years ago, she reopened a retail location in downtown Senoia, returning to the town where Greenhouse Mercantile originally took shape.
“You never know what direction God is going to take you,” she said. “But the hope, I think, was always to get back to Senoia.”
The Senoia shop continues to operate as a retail space, offering candles, incense, vintage clothing, and specialty food items.
“All the things that you know and love are located right in downtown Senoia,” Brantley said.
Customers can also shop online and arrange local pickup through her Newnan studio, providing multiple ways to engage with the business.
A shift in downtown Newnan
After operating a traditional retail storefront in downtown Newnan for 10 years, Brantley made the decision not to close the space, but to rethink it. The location now operates as The Studio at GHM, a rentable creative studio designed for pop-up shops, photo shoots, workshops, and small gatherings.
“It is a studio where you can book your photo shoots, you can do pop-up shops there, if you make candles, you can have a candle-making class there,” Brantley said. “It’s literally any and everything creative.”
The studio rents for $75 an hour, with no minimum booking requirement and no commission taken from pop-up vendors—an intentional decision aimed at reducing overhead for small business owners.
“Once you pay your pop-up fee, that money is yours,” she said. “I know a lot of times people will charge a 10% commission or things like that, and I don’t believe in doing any of that.”
The model has gained traction quickly. Brantley said the studio is already booked into 2026, with photographers, artists, and makers scheduled to use the space.
“I just figured, let’s give small businesses the entire space and allow them to create and build and grow in that space without having the cost of high overhead,” she said.
Interior design and sustainable living
In addition to her retail and studio ventures, Brantley continues to offer interior decorating services, which she describes as “approachable interior design.”
“It’s not knocking down a wall or retiling,” she said. “It’s really using what you have in order to create a space that you love.”
That philosophy extends to her current personal project: restoring a historic Coweta County home known as Brantley Grange, with records dating back to at least 1890 and evidence suggesting it may have existed as early as 1859.
“A grange is a place for the community to learn and to grow,” Brantley said. “Eventually, I would love to do something like that out at the property where people could just come and learn and really find out about living more sustainable lives.”
She and her family plan to move into the home next year, with the long-term goal of using the property as a place for learning about sustainability and growing food.
Fifteen years—and counting
Brantley estimates she has been an entrepreneur for about 15 years officially, though she says the instinct appeared much earlier.
“Unofficially, literally since I was a child,” she said. “I remember imagining selling furniture and selling things. It was always just a passion of mine.”
Her advice to aspiring business owners centers on persistence rather than certainty.
“If something doesn’t work, you make something else work,” she said. “If that doesn’t work, you try something else.”
That philosophy applies to technology as well. Brantley said she actively uses new tools, including artificial intelligence, in her businesses.
“I feel like you have to constantly be able to mend and mold without losing yourself,” she said.
For Brantley, the guiding principle is simple.
“One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Movement is life,’” she said. “As a business owner, you have to constantly be moving, or else you will die in your business.”
How to Connect
- Greenhouse Mercantile
Website: greenhousemercantile.com
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @greenhousemercantile - The Studio at GHM (Newnan)
Instagram: @thestudioatghm
Booking information is available through the Instagram profile. - Brantley Grange
Instagram: @brantleygrange
Photo credit, Emmanuel Brooks Photography.