Janey Moss’ fourth Christmas as a small shop owner in downtown Hopkinsville has taught her a few things about the retail world and even about her hometown.
Often the people who come to a business like hers, the 6th Street Boutique, are looking for a kind of personal experience and nostalgia they cannot find in a big box store or on a computer screen, she believes.
That’s also the message behind Small Business Saturday, which American Express created in 2010 to promote independent businesses and their economic impact on local communities. It’s observed between Black Friday and Cyber Monday to serve as a reminder of a different shopping experience.
The Downtown Renaissance District office and the Christian County Chamber of Commerce promote Small Business Saturday in Hopkinsville.
In addition to holiday open houses and special sales at locally owned businesses, activities are planned at the Downtown Farmers Market in Founders Square from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. There will be live music, face-painting and cookie-decorating stations for children and drawings for prizes. The United Way of the Pennyrile will be conducting is Favorite Small Business contest.
Moss was a purchasing manager for the automotive industry for 36 years before she transformed an old two-story building on Sixth Street into a boutique with sales on the main floor and her workshop upstairs. She makes custom travel bags and purses and sells jewelry and women’s clothing. Her daughter-in-law, Jessie Fowler, makes the jewelry.
“This was my retirement goal,” Moss said.
Initially, she thought she would make everything she sold. But then she “came to her senses” and found clothing lines that complement her bags and jewelry.
Moss and her neighbors across the street, The Miller’s Son owners John and Derek Miller-Reynolds, were doing brisk business Friday with sales offering 40 and 50 percent off some lines.
Since retiring from a job in the industrial park to spend her days in the shop downtown, Moss said she has a better understanding of the number of small businesses like hers in Hopkinsville.
Her shop is one of seven businesses on the revived Sixth Street block between Main and Virginia streets that has become a new hub for downtown. Moss’ business neighbors include The Miller’s Son, Bella Marie Boutique, the Hopkinsville Art Guild Gallery, 6th Street Antiques, the Bistro on 6th and Griffin’s. Another eighth busines, The Mixer restaurant, is slated to open in a few weeks.
Every business on Sixth Street has been in operation for less than 10 years. For many downtown advocates, they represent the potential for a true revival of the city’s former retail hub. Each owner has a unique story about how and why they went into business. For some customers, those stories are part of the attraction to shop with small businesses.
The Sixth Street businesses operate along with a mix of new and older retail shops and restaurants throughout downtown, including Amanda’s Cup Cafe, Main Street Tavern, Southern Exposure, the Corner Coffeehouse, Heirloom Table, J. Schrecker Jewelry, Dulin Design Group, Arsha’s House of Flowers, Raspberry Patch Antiques, Milkweed, Main Street Books, Hopkinsville Brewing, Dale’s Pawn Shop, Dallas Brawner Furniture and Whistle Stop Donuts.
They make up the geographic center of a larger number of locally owned and operated businesses on Fort Campbell Boulevard and in several small shopping centers.
For every dollar spent in a small business, 67 cents stays in the local community, according to a student commissioned by American Express. Of that 67 cents, 44 cents goes to the business owner and employees for wages and 23 cents get reinvested in other local businesses.
By comparison, for every dollar spent in a business that is not locally owned, about 43 cents stays in the local community.
The U.S. Small Business Administration became a national co-sponsor of Small Business Saturday after American Express established the program. Shoppers spent more than $17 billion on Small Business Saturday in 2018, according to the SBA, which was a record since the day was first observed.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
