Sara Mann was at a crossroads after being laid off last year.

After six months of unemployment, she decided to pursue her dream of opening a bookstore where she could share her love of horror novels and create a community space.

Mann knew it was now or never. 

Today, she and her sister, Leah Mann, are welcoming customers to Ink Drinkers Bookshop’s first holiday season from a storefront at 309 W. Kennewick Ave. in downtown Kennewick.

The Mann sisters aren’t the only ones betting on downtown either. Their store opening is part of a flurry of new businesses injecting life into the city’s commercial district.

 Among some of the new ventures:

• Antiquités du Chat Noir, a second antique store from business owner Warren Hughes, opened in October.
• Earth Spirit, a metaphysical goods and gift shop, is expanding into a recently vacated neighboring storefront, currently making it a pop-up holiday market space.
• Rise & Shine Bake Shop recently expanded its hours to Sundays, becoming the latest business to be open on both weekend days.
• BAGG Books, which launched their mobile romance bookstore about a year ago, plans to establish a brick-and-mortar location just across the street from Ink Drinkers in the coming months.

For downtown Kennewick advocates, the burst of activity is just the latest example of how the commercial district has been on the upswing and building community.

“When someone says we’re struggling, they haven’t been downtown,” Stephanie Button, executive director of the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership, recently told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. “Every week I’m fielding calls from people who want their business down here.”

An entrepreneurial nest

Hughes, a sculptor who opened the antique mall Roxy 2.0 in February with just $800, said downtown Kennewick is the place to be for those offering something special beyond the things they sell.

“You go downtown because you want to spend half a day there,” he told the Journal. “It’s where the unique offerings are, the artisans, the entrepreneurial nest.”

Every quarter since Roxy 2.0 opened has either met or exceeded Hughes’ expectations – and this success convinced him to open Chat Noir at 117 Kennewick Ave., Suite 120. With 27 vendors across both locations, patrons can find everything from typewriters and books to vintage clothing and tools.

Many customers are tourists, particularly on Sundays for those waiting to catch a flight from Pasco, or seeking nostalgia. But budget-conscious shoppers are also becoming a key demographic.

“Prices have gone up so much that my vintage goods are competitive with new goods,” Hughes said.

Business owner Warren Hughes stands in Antiquités du Chat Noir, his second antique mall in downtown Kennewick, on Small Business Saturday.

| Photo by Ty Beaver

Deliberate strategy

Downtown as a destination is a deliberate strategy, Button said. It’s part of the reason she has encouraged more businesses to be open on Sundays as well as Saturdays, as it provides more opportunity for the region’s visitors as well as residents to pay a visit.

“I’ve heard comments about how people have come to view downtown as a vacation, a splurge near home,” Button said.

It’s also become an accessible launch pad for those wanting to start a small business, specifically microenterprises which have a sole proprietor and no more than six employees.

Pop-up markets at downtown events and businesses, such as those used by BAGG Books and Ink Drinkers, have provided proving grounds for those businesses without a permanent home.

The Public Market @ CRW, located on just the other side of Washington Avenue from downtown’s main drag on Kennewick Avenue, has begun to serve as a business incubator, Button said, with businesses such as 4 Whistles Winery taking the leap to a downtown storefront after seeing success at its stall at the market.

Challenges

That’s not to say the commercial area doesn’t have challenges.

Downtown Kennewick has seen some major tenants leave in recent years, including the Tri-City Herald, Esprit Printing, and, more recently, Farmer’s Exchange, its historic multiple building facility now bank-owned, vacant and up for sale.

As one of the oldest parts of the Tri-Cities, many of its buildings need maintenance or replacement by landlords.

The Brick Box recently moved into the storefront next to Ink Drinkers from the public market and had planned to open in mid-November. But the opening was delayed and then canceled as the art goods and gifts dealer said via social media it would need to find a new location due to challenges with the condition of the space.

Some also think the city could do more to support downtown beyond keeping city hall at the nearby civic campus.

More city resources should be dedicated to repairing infrastructure such as sidewalks and supporting business owners overall, said Hughes, who recently mounted a failed bid to join the Kennewick City Council.

“$73 million is going into the convention center but we can’t get $7,300 to promote one event,” he said.

Community building

Button said she’s encouraged by some new direction and hires at the city related to economic development. Kennewick staff provided support for the downtown’s Small Business Saturday promotional efforts and there are ongoing efforts to look for other ways to collaborate.

But she also stressed that downtown is as much about community building as it is commerce. Business owners have worked hard over the past decade to make the commercial district welcoming, fun and accessible. That takes long-term buy-in and not just offering great deals.

“If you want to come downtown and make a quick buck, downtown isn’t for you,” Button said.

And it was ultimately that sense of community that led the Mann sisters to lease their bookstore’s storefront.

Despite growing up in the area, they hadn’t spent much time downtown. When they began holding pop-up markets earlier this year, it was downtown where they felt most at home.

“It just felt like a really cool community that we wanted to be part of,” Sara Mann said.