Downtown Iola will die — over the collective body of the remaining downtown merchants.
Their attitude? That fat lady has not even begun to warm up.
“I’m still of the mind that better days lie ahead for downtown Iola,” said Jan Knewtson, a stalwart of the square since 1986 when she first opened a bridal shop on the south side of the square. Now on the east side of the square, Knewtson owns Sophisticated Rose and its sister store, Sophisticated Rose Plus.
“Stay positive and work to make customers happy,” are the trade secrets to success, Knewtson said.
Kelly Sigg, owner of Audacious Boutique, is the only downtown merchant that still honors the traditional Thursday night hours, keeping her doors open until 7 p.m.
“It’s worth the extra effort,” she said. “I’d say about three out of every four weeks I’m glad I did it.”
Of all her qualities — stylish, personable, forthright — what keeps Kelly kickin’ is her competitiveness, not against other merchants, necessarily, but against that great, big fog of negativity out there that whispers the demise of local shopping.
We in the newspaper business know that Boogey Man all too well. First it was radio that was going to put printed news out of business; then TV; then the internet; and now smartphones.
For all my career I’ve had to deal with the naysayers. Just this Monday a man came into the Register to buy what he said the gang at the coffee shop calls “The Tissue Times — because it’s so thin.”
We thanked him for his patronage and said we hoped to see him again.
Because that’s what you do.
Knewtson acknowledged the dent the internet has taken on her business, but maintains “people only shop the internet when they can’t find it local.”
COUNTRY TRADITIONS has taken off in its three years on the south side of the square.
“We’ve doubled volume,” said Teresa Murphey, whose daughter, Angie Turner, owns the shop with her husband, Chad.
