Two downtown Springfield stores that opened within five months of each other are expanding their presence to the south side at a sustainable mixed-use community and retail development.
Aviary Cafe and Creperie LLC, which operates at 400 E. Walnut St., Ste. 100, opened its second location Feb. 1 at Farmers Park, 2144 E. Republic Road, Ste. E120, said owner Mark Burgess.
Fellow downtown business owner Bryan Simpson plans to open his second 5 Pound Apparel LLC store at the south-side development in April.
New wingsBurgess said he and his wife, Debbie, invested about $700,000 at its Farmers Park location, where Aviary occupies 3,600 square feet for a restaurant and French-style bakery.
Burgess said Aviary hired about 50 for the new spot, which is nearly three times the size of the downtown restaurant. The company now employs 85 at both locations.
"We felt like we weren't able to care of our customers as well as we could," Burgess said of the need for a second store, noting sales rose by nearly 18 percent in 2013 with the addition of a mobile food truck. "We are doing very well downtown."
Aviary, a French-style restaurant that specializes in crepes, signed a five-year lease with four options at Farmers Park, Burgess said.
The bakery serves as a storefront to the restaurant.
"We're anticipating about double the revenue out there," Burgess said.
10 poundsSimpson, who co-owns 5 Pound Apparel with his brother, Matt, and Bethany Forrester, said the group is tentatively planning an April 5 opening for its Farmers Park store.
Simpson said the south-side spot is a natural fit for the retailer, whose name ties in to its philanthropic efforts. For every purchase, the clothing retailer donates 5 pounds of peanut butter nutritional treatment to NepalNutrition, which sends supplements to malnourished children in Nepal.
"We love the concept of the development, with everything being LEED-certified," Simpson said of the project's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. "We feel like we really can connect with that, with everything we're selling benefiting nonprofits."
Simpson said 5 Pound would employ three or four part-timers and one full-time employee, doubling its current staff.
The owners signed a five-year lease at Farmers Park, Ste. E104, and have invested $150,000 in the new digs.
Simpson said the store would sell T-shirts made specifically for that spot, such as farmers market shirts, allowing downtown to cater its T-shirts toward that region. The new store also would allow for new clothing brands, given its roughly 600 square feet of additional retail space, Simpson said.
Farmers Park, developed by Matt O’Reilly and silent partners of Green Circle Projects LLC, is a $22 million sustainable mixed-use community and retail destination centered around the Farmers Market of the Ozarks with 58 apartment units. Its tenants include Metropolitan Grill’s farm-to-table restaurant, Metropolitan Farmer; Studio 417 salon and barber shop; and Ellecor, a decor and furniture store.[[In-content Ad]]
