Where Neighbors Shop

A Carefully Curated Place That Feels Like Home to Locals and Visitors

PHOTOS BY JORDAN RANDALL

On Saturday mornings more than a decade ago, long before Scout & Tag became one of Lakeland’s most beloved destinations, Nikki Whitlock stood behind a modest booth at the Downtown Lakeland Farmers Curb Market. Her hands were often speckled with paint. Her display shifted week to week, whatever she had time to refinish or re-imagine. She didn’t yet have a business plan or a roadmap. What she did have was an instinct for beauty and a knack for choosing pieces that made people stop, smile, and lean in closer.

“It all started at the Lakeland Farmers Market, where I was selling painted furniture one piece at a time,” Nikki says. “It grew faster than I expected, and within a year that little market booth turned into our brick-and-mortar home, the location we’re still in today.”

She opened the shop that is named after her daughter, Scout, and son, Tag, in 2014.

What she built inside those walls wasn’t just a shop. It was a feeling. A scent. A sense of place. The kind of store that makes people say, “You have to see this when you come to town.”

,000-square-foot treasure trove it is now. In the early days, it was a humble mix of painted furniture, found objects, and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, along with the workshops Nikki hosted to teach people how to use it. It was hands-on, community-forward, and deeply personal.

Then came the shift that would quietly set the tone for everything that followed.

“We began inviting local artists and makers to sell their work in our space,” she recalls. “That not only helped us fill the shop, but it created a sense of community and gave customers even more reasons to stop in.”

Becoming Part of the Fabric of Downtown

There’s a moment in every small business journey when the owner realizes the work has grown bigger than they imagined, when the doors don’t just open for customers, but for a community.

For Nikki, that moment came unexpectedly.

“Someone told me Scout & Tag had become a must-visit whenever friends came to town,” she says. 

Scout & Tag owner Nikki Whitlock sits outside her storefront on Kentucky Ave.

“Around the same time, I started seeing our Lakeland-themed products in people’s homes and photos. That’s when it hit me: we weren’t just a shop anymore. We’d become part of Lakeland’s identity.”

Those Lakeland-themed pieces—thoughtful, warm, and steeped in pride—did more than sell. They connected. They reminded people where they came from and what they loved. And without intending to, Nikki began shaping the visual language of what “home” feels like here.

The Heart Behind the Growth

If you ask Nikki what has fueled Scout & Tag’s evolution, she won’t point to luck or trends or timing, she’ll point to numerous things. 

“I think our growth has come from consistency, genuine customer service and an ever-evolving mix of products,” she says. “People can feel when a business has an engaged team that is constantly working to craft a thoughtful experience.”

“I think our growth has come from consistency, genuine customer service and an ever-evolving mix of products.”

For example, for years Scout & Tag has been a go-to spot for dog lovers, but more recently the store added a cat corner, and the response has been amazing. 

Her team is central to the store’s success. Nikki didn’t build Scout & Tag alone. She is especially grateful for Sarah Jacobs, her longest and most loyal team member, who has been by her side for nearly eight years. 

In the early years, she did every task herself: painting, sweeping, displaying, ringing up customers. Now she leads with a wider lens, focusing on buying, designing, and ensuring the experience stays as fresh and layered as the day the doors first opened.

At the core, very little has changed. Warm design. Something for everyone of all ages and interests. Deep local pride. Customer service that feels like friendship. Those values still guide every decision.

But Lakeland has shaped the store just as much as Nikki has.

“Lakeland is a place that supports small businesses,” she says. “Our customers have guided us with their feedback, their purchases, their requests.”

That feedback helped Scout & Tag expand its categories, refine its vendors, and grow into the multi-unit space it occupies today that includes products sourced from more than 400 vendors, including 18 local artists. Nikki curates with intention: items with personality, beauty, longevity, and a style that won’t fade with next season’s colors.

Her guiding philosophy is simple: a shop should feel like an experience. The textures, the fragrances, the visual storytelling. They all matter.

Small Decisions, Big Impact

Some of Scout & Tag’s biggest leaps weren’t splashy. They were steady choices, rooted in service:

• Being open seven days a week.

• Sharing space with Rafa Natural.

• Expanding into adjoining units as they became available.

• Offering gift bags with every purchase.

• Staying open for every downtown event.

Individually, each choice seems small. Together, they built a brand people trust: reliable, welcoming, and always worth the stop.

Retail, Nikki admits, is equal parts consistency and courage. She has learned to experiment, to take smart risks, and to keep the shop fresh enough that customers know they’ll discover something new every visit.

Building a Community Staple

Ask Nikki today what it means to be considered a Lakeland icon, and she won’t talk about sales or square footage or the social media love that comes her way. She’ll talk about gratitude.

“It’s very special and validating,” she says. “To know that the community sees us, appreciates what we bring, and chooses us among so many wonderful businesses—it’s incredibly humbling.”

That humility is, perhaps, the clearest marker of why Scout & Tag is what it is today.

At its heart, this wasn’t a business built from ambition. It was built from presence, from paying attention, and from treating people not as customers, but as neighbors.

And now, years later, Lakeland is simply reflecting back what Nikki has poured into it.