HAMLET — “Here’s to big solutions for small businesses.”
That was the toast offered by Michelle Padilla before snipping the ribbon Saturday to officially open her business, Big Tomato Marketing, on Main Street in the Seaboard City.
Padilla started Big Tomato Marketing in 2021 as a side business to her regular job in the medical marketing industry, and currently works with small businesses in six states.
She and her husband bought a house in Hamlet in 2024 and she has moved her business from Concord.
“If you have a small business, any type of digital footprint that you have — which would be your social media platforms …your website— it’s my job to take a look at those tools and those platforms to make sure that they are revenue generators,” Padilla said.
The inside of the office features a couch and chair where Padilla said she intends to sit down with clients to figure out their needs and discuss a marketing strategy.
BTM has partnered with One Stop Print Shop in Rockingham — which made the window sticker for the storefront — to build websites for clients at a reduced rate, Padilla said.
Padilla also gave a shout out to Laurinburg-based Heavenly Inflations, which made the tomato-shaped balloons for the event.
“I’m really excited to be in Hamlet, really excited to be in Richmond County,” Padilla said.
She was joined by family members, city representatives and a few other local business owners — including John Martin and T.J. Barfield who are planning to open Landmark Tavern, also on Main Street, within the coming weeks.
In true Hamlet fashion, a train whistle blew as Padilla and her son, graphic designer, Johnathan Murray, cut the ribbon.
According to Mayor Amy Guinn, the BTM office was formerly a Christian bookstore and a thrift store.
“I’m thrilled that we have another business opening on Main Street,” Guinn said. “She’ll do a great job, she’s very professional and it will be a big asset to Hamlet and all small businesses around here.”
Hamlet is seeing another surge in growth, with Dine 82 and Riverside Bakery and Coffee Shop both opening on Main Street in 2025.
Boosted Budz, a legal cannabis dispensary, opened a location last October on the corner of Main and Raleigh streets, but a car drove into the building in January, damaging one of the walls.
City Manager John Terziu announced in a Facebook post last week that Domino’s Pizza is opening a Hamlet location, and that permits are being pulled for one condemned building and the process has started for another.
During the February Hamlet City Council meeting, Terziu said there was an economic development project in the works that could bring around 1,000 jobs to the area.
Convenience store chain 7-Eleven recently opened a Hamlet location on N.C. 38, and is hosting a grand opening event from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 6, featuring free merch and live music.
“We’re getting things going,” Guinn said. “Momentum’s in the right direction.”
