It can be easy in a small town to get concerned when a couple businesses close. For some, it immediately conjures a concerning image of tumbleweeds blowing through a ghost town. But, small towns with enterprising folks have a way of rallying. Recently, rumblings of concern echoed throughout Carmi as announcements came from Reppert’s Office Supply and Gracie Mae’s stating they were closing. Oh what a difference a couple weeks make however. The Carmi Chamber of Commerce has held three ribbon cuttings over the last few business days and another is on the way.
Friday, members welcomed an expansion for Country Financial representative Kyle Hosick as he and staff grew their business to neighboring Enfield. Then Tuesday, members descended onto Carmi’s side streets to welcome Ashley Newman and her business Rustic Roots before heading around the block to check out the new digs of Sheila Thompson’s Uptown Pickers. Dutch Hollow, the new purveyor of what was Reppert’s has also expressed their intention to join the business networking organization.
Uptown Pickers, like financial advisor Hosick, is also an expansion of sorts as that business is celebrating a second location. Uptown Pickers opened in McLeansboro first and started mainly as a “picker” type store before adding floral arrangements.
We opened the McLeansboro location about 3 ½ years ago. We’ve had a tremendous expansion. We’re wall to wall, had to go up the ceiling and now we’re out of space. We added the floral shop about a year and a half ago. We started with antiques and primitives, indoor, outdoor, just about anything you could want you can find it in my store.
She said with that running out of space, she’d been hearing from folks over some time that she should look at growing into another nearby town. And to open in Carmi, she’s flipping the script from the original McLeansboro location by making it mainly a floral option first fortified with “picker” options.
We’re kinda flipping the script over here. We’re going to have more floral, but we implement our picker stuff. So if you have pottery, a pitcher, a vase or something sentimental and you want something put in it, we’ll do a fresh or silk arrangement and we’ve had great success with that, made some beautiful pieces for people.
Reach Uptown Pickers Carmi location by calling or texting 618-308-0204 or stop by and view their gift shop with bereavement options and more in the old Arcade Building at 203 East Cherry Street.
