Market Square opening downtown

Just in time for the holidays, a new retail venture is opening in downtown Springfield.

Margie Phipps and Mary Lou Casey will open their Market Square boutique Nov. 9 at 105 Park Central Square in the lower level of the Holland Building. The store will be open 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Saturday and evening hours will vary with the ebb and flow of downtown life.

"We'll be open if there's anything going on special on Saturdays, or Friday evenings or any evenings," Phipps said. She also operates Sara's Coun-try Keepsakes at 621 S. Pick-wick Ave.

Phipps and Casey will operate the store with the help of three part-time employees and Phipps said if business demand warrants it, Market Square's hours will be extended to regularly include evenings.

Casey, who owns the Holland Building with her husband, architect Allen Casey, said she and Phipps "just sat (in the Holland Building) one day and were talking ... and just watched all the people walk by."

They realized that downtown is a good place for Market Square and what the store will offer.

"What we're going to try to offer is a unique line of gifts home decor, candles, coffee accessories, coffee, gourmet foods," Phipps said, such as packaged specialty snacks. Market Square will carry Fireside Coffee packets, Cottage Collectible Bears, Art candles and Pilgrim candles, Nature's Own potpourri and candles, and Lang paper products, as well as greeting cards. The store also will feature Americana decor items and lodge gifts, of which Phipps and Casey are proud.

"We have a really cute line of lodge things, like moose and bears," Casey said. The store's inventory also will include specialized gifts such as items for teachers or golfers, or things for special occasions like Bosses' Day. Phipps and Casey also plan to add clothing and jewelry from local designers to their offerings.

The store also will offer gift wrapping, which Phipps said is likely to be handy for downtown workers who will shop on their lunch hours.

Phipps, who worked at a downtown bank for 16 years, said she recognized Mary Lou Casey's idea for a boutique on Park Central Square as a good one. "I love downtown, and I want to see it come back, and with everything that's going on down here, we felt like maybe it was just time," Phipps said.

Bill Compere, executive director of the Urban Districts Alliance, said retail is an important part of ongoing downtown re-vitalization.

"We need a mix of all different types of activities, and that kind of retail business is probably what's most likely to come back down more of a specialty kind of a shop," Compere said.

"I think all those things add to having more people down here, and working down here and living down here, so definitely it's important to get more retail down here," he added.

Market Square will participate in the second weekend of the annual city-wide open house Nov. 9-11, Casey said.