Pieces & Peaches expands in Cumming City Center, adds new services

Pieces & Peaches has moved into a larger space at Cumming City Center and expanded its service mix, a sign that the mother-daughter boutique is growing with the 75-acre development west of downtown Cumming. Christine Fowler and her daughter Ansley run the women’s shop, which now sits inside a center city leaders have pitched as a walkable destination built around local retailers, restaurants and green space.

The boutique first came to Cumming City Center in 2021, when it was announced as the first tenant to finalize a lease there. At the time, Fowler said the move from an online-only business, which had operated for four years, would give Pieces & Peaches a place to showcase trends, host in-person events and help customers find outfits or gifts without leaving Forsyth County.

Its current lineup reaches beyond clothing. The boutique’s City Center listing includes accessories, shoes, jewelry, self-care items and personal styling help, along with brands such as Rhone, Spanx, Kut from the Kloth, Capri Blue, Jukie Vos, Softies and Yochi. Pieces & Peaches also lists a Build Your Own Scarf Necklace option, adding a more customized draw for shoppers who want something beyond a standard rack purchase.

The store’s growth also connects to another tenant inside the same complex. Pieces & Peaches says it now has a brother store, Rugged Refined, at Cumming City Center, showing the brand has built enough momentum to support more than one concept in the same retail corridor. That kind of expansion is notable in a county where shopping decisions often hinge on convenience, local identity and whether a center can keep people coming back.

Cumming City Center’s broader activity helps explain the setting. The project broke ground in 2019 and was slated to open in early 2022, and city materials say it is fully leased. The boutique has also played a role beyond its storefront, partnering with the center on seasonal pop-up markets that were promoted as featuring up to 100 local businesses and artisans and returning each fall, winter and spring. In a past grand-opening promotion, the center said swag bags were available for the first 50 customers, and it has also tied Pieces & Peaches to holiday programming such as Photos with Santa.

Taken together, the bigger footprint, added services and event tie-ins point to a retail center that is still pulling customers and giving small businesses room to grow.