What's White Street in Eureka Springs Got?

This time last year I drove to Eureka Springs to the White Street Studio Walk. I had an appointment to view handmade stained glass, including kaleidoscopes, lanterns, lamps, and small and large window pieces. At the time, I was working during the day at the job I had held for the past 13 years, and on the evenings and weekends, I would spend hours working on the business plan for what was to become All Things Arkansas.

This was my first trip to visit with potential vendors; and I not only acquired the stained glass, I also selected some gorgeous handcrafted jewelry. Both have sold well from the day All Things Arkansas first opened its doors.

This year I returned to White Street, picking up products from the vendors I already knew and speaking with a couple new faces – one of whom I had not spoken with last year but that I had not forgotten. Be on the lookout for new lines in the upcoming months.

My husband joined me this year, and it is more fun to shop WITH someone than alone. It’s also easier to notice things I did not notice before, as our conversations caused us to look more in depth at things I might have passed over otherwise.

Here are some observations as we all continue to pursue downtown Hot Springs revitalization efforts:

• We didn’t see any T-shirt shops in the downtown area. We have in past years – and Eureka Springs certainly experiences a lot of downtown turnover just as we do in Hot Springs – but there were primarily more custom items available. It made for a memorable shopping experience.
  
   
  
  
• The storefronts are incredibly small. While I did not count the number of stores we walked through, I am confident there were at least twice as many as in Hot Springs and probably either three or four times as many. (This could be one reason there were no T-shirt locations, as retailers need to have higher priced items in order to remain viable in such small quarters.)
  
   
  
  It occurred to me that if the property owners in Hot Springs would subdivide properties or allow subletting (and perhaps some do?), they could actually bring in additional rental monies while also enabling more small business owners to add businesses downtown.
  
   
  
  
• There appears to be a spirit of collaboration.
  
  
  • The gallery association in Eureka Springs discusses what products are selling well and what are not. For 2014, food items and lower-priced items have seen more movement than the higher-end retailers. Such frank discussions require a level of trust that I’m not sure we are yet willing to embrace.
    
     
    
    
  • One merchant was telling a customer that vendors are not duplicated from one store to another, that they work under a cooperative mentality for the mutual benefit of both the retailer and the customer. I’m not sure this is 100 percent true, but it certainly bears consideration.
    
     
    
    
• The entire month of May is a celebration. The weekend we were there, not only was there the White Street Studio Walk, there was also a Saturday night Gallery Walk – as there is each Saturday in May – and a Camaro car show. Couldn’t we combine our efforts throughout the city so that we, too, could truly throw down for the whole month?!
  
   
  
  
• Parking. We complain about parking in Hot Springs?! Why, we are downright parking royalty compared to Eureka Springs. It is both easier to get into and out of the downtown area and parking spaces, it also is much less expensive in Hot Springs. AND – our downtown is so close to flat compared to the mountainous terrain of Eureka Springs that we should be a natural choice for people wanting to shop and stroll in a downtown, outdoor setting.
  
  

I love to go to Eureka Springs. It is beautiful. It is quaint. It is quirky. Artists live there and breathe their unique essence without apology. It is my favorite spot to visit, but Hot Springs is my home. We do some things better than Eureka, and we can use their example to improve our hometown.