INDIANAPOLIS — Businesses are picking Garfield Park as the next spot to open up shop.
Along Shelby Street, south of Garfield Park, it’s been decades since every storefront was occupied. It’s been about a 3-year journey for real estate developer Phil Kirk to acquire the buildings on the block.
”It always felt like down here there was a little bit of a void and a gap, which seems so strange to me, because we had this incredible 128-acre park that’s this incredible asset,” Kirk said. “We have the Red Line, we have the Pacers Bike Share.”
His goal was to curate businesses that reflected the neighborhood as a whole, which happens to be full of artists and creatives. In May, The Indy Type Shop opened up a hybrid antique store and bookstore that repairs typewriters as well.
“We’ve kind of been an island over here,” said co-owner Adam Henze. “It’s been us and then Cafe Babette and the tattoo shop a couple doors down, but now both of our neighbors are here. When I show up to work, someone else is sweeping their front door, someone else is putting something in the window.”
For many of the local owners, it’s their first brick-and-mortar storefront ever, like the newest business venture.
”We are just getting ready to sign our last and twelfth lease agreement, and that’s going to be a food and beverage vendor from the Garfield Park farmers’ market,” said Kirk.
Super Real Much, a vintage clothing store based in Brooklyn, is also expanding and opening a storefront in November. Harlot Apothecary, an art gallery that showcases local artists and sells supplies at an affordable rate just opened at the beginning of October.
“The opening was ten times better than what we were even expecting, and we pretty much hit our goal mark for the first week, which is saying a lot,” said Jonathon Caldwell, one of the co-owners.
Many of the stores host events with one another, now that there are neighbors to collaborate with. Kirk just hopes that the niche businesses continue to get the foot traffic they deserve.
“I talked to friends of mine, who will, you know, learn about what’s happening down here and even come visit and they’ll say, wow, Garfield Park is this hidden gem, and at some point, I hope that it becomes just a gem, you know, something that’s not hidden, something that people are aware of,” he said.
Comments are closed.