Monday, August 17, 2009
Khara Loeppke, manager of Maurices clothing store arranges display items at its new location, 3226 S. Iowa St. Maurices moved from its downtown location to be with similar businesses that were open later in order to increase business.
Sam catnaps on a stack of old vinyls at the Love Garden Sound music store. Love Garden Sound is in the process of moving to 822 Massachusetts St. A few downtown icons moved over the summer, but others have closed their doors for good.
While students were gone for the summer, downtown Lawrence was in the midst of transformation.
There might be confusion when returning students go downtown to check out their favorite shops only to find them gone.
Stores including Love Garden Sound, BoMo (Bohemian Modern), and Maurices are not the latest victims of a bad economy, but rather have changed locations.
People won’t have to look far to find Love Garden’s new site. Only a block from its original setting, 936 1/2 Massachusetts St., on the second floor of the Toy Store, Love Garden will take the place of Old World Pottery at 822 Massachusetts St.
Co-owner of Love Garden Kelly Corcoran said he planned to leave both locations open for a year to help with the transition. He said the goal would be to open the new store in early September. Corcoran said this change would be a step up for business.
“The new place is on a ground floor, so it will be a lot more visible to people walking by, and there will be parking in front and back,” he said. “I think it’ll be a lot more convenient for people.”
BoMo, the “Bohemian Modern” clothing store, moved from 725 Massachusetts St. to 500 Locus St. Maurices moved to the shopping center at 3226 S. Iowa St. from 739 Massachusetts St. on June 7. Like Corcoran, Khara Loeppke, Maurices manager, said the change was beneficial for the business.
“This location is definitely better for us since we’re around more like businesses,” she said. “Downtown had a lot of specialty shops. This is more our style.”
Not all changes were postive, however. For some downtown stores, this summer marked the end of the road.
Major closings included Palace Cards & Gifts, 8 W Eighth St.; Round Corner Drug Store, 801 Massachusetts St.; Blue Heron Home Furnishings, 921 Massachusetts St.; and Old World Pottery, 822 Massachusetts St.
For most of these locations, replacements are still in question. However, Noodles & Company, a national food chain with three restaurants in the Kansas City area, will replace Palace Cards & Gifts. Corcoran said this was a sign of changing times for downtown Lawrence.
“A lot of people who own stores downtown don’t want more restaurants or bars,” he said. “It’s about keeping downtown Lawrence from becoming Aggieville.”
Alyce Reneberg, Kensington junior, spent two years at Kansas State University. She said the differences between downtown Lawrence and Aggieville, or downtown Manhattan, were significant.
“It was mainly bars and restaurants,” she said of Aggieville. “You didn’t go there to shop, really.”
Heidi Pierson, Clay Center senior, said this sort of transformation of downtown Lawrence would be a loss.
“I just really hope it doesn’t all go to chain stores,” she said. “That’d be really sad for the small, local spots in town.”
— Edited by Lauren Cunningham
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