Downtown Columbus can be a shopping fiend’s haven. Boutiques and restaurants galore will satiate a variety of tastes.
But wait – where’s the Gap,? where’s Starbucks? Well Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore – the mundane shopping experience of any given mall across America with the dominant corporate giants will not be found in Columbus’ Short North district.
“We just have a whole lot of entrepreneurial spirit down here, and that’s what we encourage,” said Mary Martineau, executive director of the Short North Business Association. “We don’t aspire to be a mall or have all of the same shops that every mall has.”
This is not to say that a large chain will never find its way into the collection of Short North boutiques, but it may mean a mainstream store will not be received well.
“People come to the Short North for the personal (treatment) and to find unique things,” said Sandy Woods, president of Woods Company. Woods Company is a major real estate company for both resident and retail properties in the Short North.
It doesn’t get more personal than the custom made baskets at Baskets by Bonnie. This Short North boutique was established ten years ago when owner Bonnie Segel made her dream come true. Today the store serves as a way for Bonnie to make one-of-a-kind gift baskets -including everything from stuffed animals to gourmet snacks and wines to fun gag gifts. The variety of themes and products individualize each basket.
“We don’t want to do cookie cutter gifts,” Segel said. “Everything we do is customized.”
No two stores offer the same basket. The Short North district is an appropriate place for such unique gift baskets.
“This neighborhood was perfect for what we do,” Segel said. “We can tap into the creativity of an artsy, creative neighborhood.”
The Short North, known for its artistic flare with a monthly gallery hop and several murals throughout (renditions of “American Gothic” and Van Gogh’s “Pavement Café at Midnight” decorate the sides of buildings), serves a diverse clientele with a variety of lifestyles. With eccentric neighborhoods, the Short North is the perfect place for small business proprietors to meet the needs of a diverse customer base.
“Our independently inclined business owners and our neighborhood thrives because we are a group of individuals and shops with unique offerings, not corporately designed box stores with the same offerings in the same atmosphere as every other city in the U.S.,” Martineau said. “We’re the real deal.”
The Garden, The Chamber, The Joint and Measure of a Man, all owned by Shawn Smith, rely on the alternative lifestyles that the Short North offers.
“Due to the nature of our stores, we are more acceptable here,” Smith said.
Smith’s stores focus on products including sex toys and related items (The Garden), S & M products (The Chamber), tobacco accessories and pipes (The Joint), and men’s clothing and accessories (Measure of a Man). Because some items are less than family-friendly, Smith saw the Short North as the best location to build her stores, because of its urban setting and central location.
“It’s all about location, location, location,” Smith said. “It’s an unwritten rule that the Short North is designed for people like us.”
Jo Johnson, owner of Posh Pets, sees the variety of lifestyles in the Short North as a major player in drawing small businesses to the Short North.
“Gay men tend to spend a lot of money on their pets, as the pets become like their children,” Johnson said.
Though Posh Pets may offer the same types of pet products as a national chain like PETsMART (dishes, food, sweaters for pets), there are some major differences.
Ninety percent of the merchandise at the boutique is original, and cannot be found in the mass market, Johnson said.
Johnson has found a way to incorporate the essence of the neighborhood inside her store.
“I do feature artwork on the walls of local artists, which is mostly pet-themed,” she said.
The artwork even has a practical side. Hand-painted food bowls and place mats are among the handcrafted art pieces that are featured.
Like Segel, Johnson is fulfilled by her store’s progress.
“It’s my baby. I’m so very proud of it,” she said. “When you see grown people giggling and pointing at something in the store, that’s when you know you’re appreciated.”
The store is kept fun with the products: animal clothes, which include formal wear and a dog chew toy that looks like a long tongue. Perhaps what keeps the workers and customers in such high spirits is that on any given day live animals may grace the shop with their presence.The store has seen its share of visitors including typical companion pets, a monkey and even a pig.
With relatively smaller merchant spaces, it is less likely for a large corporation to want to use the real estate in the Short North. The smaller spaces make it easier for the store owners to keep in touch with their customers.
“The stores have a Mom and Pop kind of feel,” Segel said. “In a store like this you are here talking to the owner now, in a (large corporation) you’re lucky if you get a manager.”
Johnson is concerned about giving the customer all of her attention. When the phone rings while she is with a customer, she won’t answer it.
The personalized attention of the small intimate shops at the Short North make the shops unique. While some may prefer the uniformity of a major shopping mall, the eccentric stores in the small neighborhoods have found their niche in Columbus.
“The Short North is an escape from the corporate world,” Segel said.
