City officials ‘walk’ business | News

Beginning at 6 p.m., the entire council body met at 160 E. Main St, also joined by Mayor Greg Fraunfelter and Hocking Hills Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bailey Simons.

A list provided by Councilwoman Judie Henniger, First Ward, showed more than 20 businesses slated for Wednesday’s walk, including but not limited to Tacie’s Sweet Treats, Logan Theater, Hocking Hills Paint Parties, Aperture Designs, Hocking Hills DIY, Gifts that Give Back, Shamrock Irish Pub, Hop N’ Hocking Hills, The Connected, North Fitness Center and Hocking Hills Nutrition.

However, not every business listed was available for visitation. Council first heard from Andy Good, owner of GoodCare by CPCI, a medical supply store at 140 E. Main St. Good explained to the council how his business operates, how it has downsized and how the coronavirus pandemic affected its operations.

GoodCare employs five full-time staff, though it has had as many as 15, Good said. Good also owns Hocking Hills Yogurt, he said, which will close next month for the winter season due to a staffing shortage. Other than frozen yogurt, Hocking Hills Yogurt also sells coffee, baked goods and Weaver’s Deli sandwiches, Good said. If he does not sell the business soon, he said, he hopes to sell bulk candy in the future, too.

Next up was Pineland Trading Company, at 110 E. Main St., a first responder supply store. Like GoodCare, Pineland’s business saw the effects of COVID; its grand opening was held March 13, 2020, Pineland’s Brian Breining told the council – the day President Trump declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency.

Despite difficulties brought on by the pandemic, Pineland currently provides supplies for 11 first responder agencies, Breining said. A major goal of the business, he explained, is to provide supplies for southeast Ohio’s first responders: uniforms, tactical and duty gear for those “east of 33 and south of 70,” Breining said. Many first responders, he explained, have to travel all the way to Columbus to get what they need for work.

City Council also heard from Tacie’s Sweet Treats, 96 E. Main St., where owner Tacie Palmer shared exciting news that her business has hired two employees and hopes to expand its operating hours next month.

Following Tacie’s, which is located in the Logan Theater building, Sheila Wolfe, executive director of Logan Theater & Community Arts Center, 86 E. Main St. Wolfe told the council about the theater’s ongoing renovations, including two finished upper floors, one of which the Logan-Hocking School District uses for its digital program, Chieftain Academy.

Wolfe said next up for the theater is marquee and lobby restoration. She also shared that the theater has funding set aside and has submitted renovation plans to the state, and is currently waiting to start on that project. There will also be an auction Nov. 13 to help fundraise for the theater, she said.

Council also visited new business Hocking Hills Paint Parties and More, 84 E. Main St., opened by Logan High School alumna Rachel Gray, artist and owner. Gray told the council that she traveled as a painter for several years before recently opening her storefront, where she sells kits and paintings, and hosts “paint parties” Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Council also stopped by The Logan Daily News; then to Gifts That Give Back’s new storefront at 66 E. Main St., which is currently still under renovation but operating at its original address, 45 S. Mulberry St.

Owner Cassie Davis explained to the council that her business’s goal is to “shop with a purpose,” and that all products she sells are ethically sourced. The business will begin its move to the Main Street location in the coming weeks, Davis said.

The council also stopped to see Hocking Hills DIY and Aperture Designs, 54 E. Main St., both new businesses in a building owned by Edwina Easton.

Hocking Hills DIY is to be an arts and crafts business and Aperture Designs is a sign and banner business. Easton said she has big ideas for her building,

and hopes to renovate the two upper floors into apartments in the coming years, while the ground floor is to remain retail spaces, she said.

The business walk was an idea of Henniger’s, The Logan Daily News previously reported. Wednesday’s business walk, the first of two, was on the northern part of Main; next week’s walk will visit businesses on the southern portion.

The second business walk will be held next Wednesday, Oct. 27 from 6-8 p.m.