The AsianCajuns report that Eviva, the trendy little shoe store in the 335 building, is closing this weekend and the closeout sale begins tomorrow.
If my wife, Catherine and Lauren, and cubalibre (who emailed me minutes after my wife told me it was posted on AC) are any indication, a fair number of people are going to be upset about this one.
Mr. Boh
nelliebelle1197
FM Fats
Decatur Metro
Cuba Libre
Cuba Libre
chris
Chris Billingsley
anniefannie
AMB
LAM
Steve
Steve
Macarolina
J_T
File under Circle of Life:
Winona Park Stud noticed that the “For Lease” sign is gone from the old Victory Vintage space on the corner of College and S. Candler. Piece of Cake Bakery is opening next door, but doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the old VIctory space – anyone know what’s up?
WHEN IS THE BAKERY OPENING????
Oh snap! Thanks stud. That’s big.
This is terrible news about Eviva. Another Decatur resident opens a cute fun store, and isn’t properly supported by the community. She was present at many events, and donated many items to local charities. This is why we need to shop local. The folks coming in to eat at our restaurants are NOT shopping anymore. We need to keep our viable merchants open by supporting them. If you like a store, shop there! I bought several things at this great shop and will miss it alot. The owner gave excellent customer service. If we do not want our downtown area to look like a ghost town again and hurt our property values we must support these unique businesses. Yes, some will close because of the economy, poor business decisions or not offering a product folks may want…..however after talking to several shop owners lately this closing trend is bound to continue. We will once again be forced to get in our cars and drive to malls instead of walking in and supporting our great local merchants who also are a big part of the giving to our community. SHOP LOCAL!
I very much encourage shopping locally, and I tried to do just that at Eviva. However, the only items for men were shoes (which have been on clearance for months). It seems that the boutiques that do well are ones that have established a long-term reputation and are seen as a destination (i.e. Squash Blossom or Kaleidoscope). Mainly, people’s habits have changed, and the studies seem to indicate that these changes will likely be permanent. I don’t think it’s as much about buying locally as simply shopping differently. If I go to Big Lots just outside town, I can actually find a variety of items (including ones you might not expect, like multiple varieties of organic cereal) at very reasonable prices. There’s generally a good crowd at Big Lots, just as at CVS (seemingly the most popular retailer in our City), because they sell a variety of items at fairly good prices. Of course I’d prefer shopping locally and supporting independent retailers; but I’m not buying clothes or gifts, and that’s most of what we have here. Like many, the main item I’m purchasing these days is food.
My point is not to say that Eviva or any of the other retailers here are not needed; but as buying habits have changed, perhaps we do not need as many boutiques as we’ve had in the past. We have many successful restaurants and bars, but they’re not exempt from the current troubles either. Other than the commonly-discussed national retail options that aren’t likely to happen (i.e. TJs, WFM, Target), though, I’m not sure what we really need here other than a stronger daytime population (i.e. more downtown workers) and more downtown residents.
As a shoe addict of the first order, I have to say this makes me feel worse than any other of the closings we’ve read about recently. But I also can’t say that I think it’s necessarily due to folks not shopping locally– I think it’s more likely a case of folks just not shopping much at all (anywhere, even here) these days. This economy has hit people in Decatur who would ordinarily shop locally, and Eviva is sad proof that hard times have hit lots of us. At any rate, I think Rebecca’s right that this isn’t the last we’ll see of an otherwise great local business going under; I just hope the economy manages to rebound enough to stem the tide.
Agreed, cubalibre!
Catherine and I are really disappointed that Eviva is closing. We loved having a dream of shoe store within walking distance to all our other favorite Decatur haunts.
But we also understand that in a tough economy most people aren’t willing to sacrifice a few sound meals for some blissful shoes. Not that I’ve ever done that- oh no no no…
If I had any entrepreneur urges at all–sorry, don’t want to work that hard with that much financial uncertainty–I’d open a really good children’s shoe shop, like Coggin’s in Marietta and Roswell. One that really knows how to fit shoes to children and takes the time to do so, one that carries superwide shoes for chubby toddlers, triple A for skinny kids, and plenty of shoe choices for boys whose feet are too big for Youth Size 6 shoes but can’t shop at the big box stores that don’t stock any shoes smaller than Mens Size 8. There’s ?Perfect Fit? in Northlake Mall, but nothing nearer, and even Perfect Fit is limited–it’s mostly good for little kids with typical size feet.
Fleet Feet (correct name?), next to Whit’s End, does carry some Youth (not Children’s) sizes. That’s really nice but only covers a small part of the overall kid’s shoe market.