Griffin’s Studio, an art gallery and gift store on Sixth Street, will be closing this summer, owner Griffin Moore announced in a Facebook post.
Moore, who started the business in September 2013 in the historic Klein building, said she was mulling a change in the business model before the coronavirus outbreak. However, changes brought on by the pandemic did hasten her decision to close the storefront this year rather than later.
Moore, who has two young sons, said she needed to find a way to continue in the art business while also devoting more time to her family.
While the storefront will close, she will shift to three main areas for the business. She plans to have pop-up art studio events, art-to-go packages and commissioned work.
Moore said her perspective change as she thought about ways to make time with her sons a priority.
“As I imagined the years ahead, I thought about how my busiest times of the year would always be weekends, summers and holidays which are also the times that my boys will be home from school,” she wrote in the Facebook post.
Moore’s mother, Penny Jo Blane, and aunt Gail Blane were important partners in the business. They purchased inventory for the store and handled decorating, in addition to staffing the shop. Moore thanked them for the hard work. She also thanked Mac and Catherine Arthur, who rented the Klein building to her.
The store is slated to close by the end of July.
“There is still time to come in and shop with us and use any gift cards that you may have,” Moore wrote. “Our art-to-go packages will be available as we have done during these unprecedented last few months as well as private art lessons. We will be announcing the dates and locations for our fall events at a later date.”
The Klein family, who ran a small department store in the building, sold the property to the Arthurs, who operate an antique store on the same block and previously owned Young Hardware, which is now the site of The Mixer restaurant. The Klein building will be available for another tenant after Moore moves out, said Catherine Arthur.
Moore’s business will be the third on the block between Main and Virginia streets to close this year.
The Miller’s son, a men’s clothing store, closed shortly before the coronavirus outbreak because the owners were moving back to Nashville. The building is for sell.
In May, the Hopkinsville Art Guild closed its gallery in a building the organization rented from the Arthurs. A guild representative attributed the closure to the virus’ impact on business.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
