'One size fits all': Seven Wonders Play Cafe prepares to open on Main Street

Ashlie Herrin and Shasta Adams are two stay-at-home moms turned business owners as they prepare to open up Seven Wonders Play Cafe. Herrin and Adams said Seven Wonders blends a cafe with a child's play area, giving parents and/or guardians a chance to work and socialize while their kids enjoy a safe space for fun. "I think that's our main goal, is to get kids playing and make it easy for mom, dad, grandma, grandpa – whoever," Adams said. Herrin explained the cafe will follow a "pay to play" model, as well as offer memberships that provide different discounts and deals for their customers. The cafe, however, will be open for anyone to come by and purchase a drink or food item, and the individual rooms allow families to rent out the spaces for parties or private events. Along with the play area, Adams and Herrin have also partnered up to bring Spa-Di-Da, a girl's spa currently located in the Johnson City Mall, into the business as well, combining its services into the Seven Wonders building at 219 E. Main St. One characteristic Adams and Herrin hope to include with Seven Wonders is building partnerships between other downtown businesses. Herrin said a partnership Open Doors Coffeehouse is already in the works for the cafe's coffee items, as well as conversations with Piere's Marketplace to help promote local bakery items. A main goal for Seven Wonders, though, is to make it a family-oriented place welcoming to anyone. "We want to get people from the community together in so many different environments," Herrin said. "We're not one fit – we're not limited to just moms." "It's a one-size fits all," added Adams. The play cafe's space has also only had minor renovations, with some electrical and light sockets being rewired and a bar being built for the cafe area. Herrin and Adams said most of what's left for the business comes from decorating and furnishing the play area with toys, activities and moving in the spa equipment. With minimal work having to be done since Herrin and Adams signed the lease for their business in December, they said the projected opening date for Seven Wonders Play Cafe is the end of March. The duo added the response from people anticipating their opening date has already seen a great deal of support. "We have messages all day long of people pumped," Adams said. "We did not expect this this early. We thought it would be like grinding it out to even get acknowledgement." Adams and Herrin are most excited, though, to be downtown to socialize with other business owners and the community. "We have put our heart and soul into this," Herrin said. "I can't wait for that moment when we look around and it's like [this is] our people." "Nobody's like, 'That's weird,' or 'That's a lame idea,'" Adams said. "Everybody's like, 'That's going places.'"