Downtown business owners partner on neighborhood pub

Scotch & Soda co-owner Joshua Widner and The Coffee Ethic co-owner Tom Billionis are partnering to open a neighborhood pub, liquor store and coffee shop in a small former hair salon.

Dubbed Cherry Picker Package and Fare, Widner said the 500-square-foot establishment, 601 S. Pickwick Ave., would serve a new Coffee Ethic blend called Cherry Pickers in the morning, lunch with locally sourced produce, and fine wines, beers and spirits both at the store and for take-home purchase.

“It’s something that me and Tom have been talking about doing for a while,” said Widner, noting the two are targeting a late August opening. “It’s going to be pretty much a neighborhood high-end liquor store.”

Widner declined to disclose the business partners’ investment in the store or the lease terms for the building. The South Pickwick Avenue property is owned by Owen Holdings LLC and has a 2015 taxable appraised value of $174,200, according to Greene County assessor records.

Most recently, the space housed Cameo Salon, but the business moved this month around the corner to 1460 E. Cherry St., according to the salon’s Facebook page.

The property also had been home to Homegrown Foods LLC, which moved next door to 607 S. Pickwick Ave. in early 2012.

Widner also is partnering with his brother, Rogan Howitt, Springfield lifestyle blog A Beautiful Mess co-owner Emma Chapman and her husband, Trey George, the blog’s business development manager, for a rum bar on Park Central Square called The Golden Girl Rum Club. The 137 Park Central Square bar is expected to open later this year after novelty gift store Retro Nouveau’s lease at the space ends Sept. 30, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.[[In-content Ad]]