Whether they’re located in a renovated downtown historic building, an old movie theater, or a new strip center, a diverse group of new business owners are thinking outside the big box.
Ranging from ages 16 to more than 60, some are native sons, others are relative newcomers. All are unique. But all the same in one aspect. There’s no place like home.
Jerry Adams - Temple High class of ’65 - has converted a former cinema and hardware building on South 31st Street into a wonderland where kids can ride old-fashioned bumper cars, bowl on miniature lanes, and eat pizza until they pop.
Hank’s Town Family Entertainment opened in December 2007. General manager Dwayne Lewis said they have rekindled the exciting indoor skating rink atmosphere he remembers as a kid.
“I’ve got a 5-year-old grandson. When he comes in, his eyes light up,” Lewis said. “He thinks I’ve got the greatest job in the world.”
Adams said he saw a need for an indoor entertainment center with food. Parents can munch on veggies from the salad bar while kids tank up on macaroni and cheese and stuff tokens into various arcade games.
Also on South 31 Street, native son Harold Mitchell and wife, Diane, opened Bella Tu Salon this week. Their modern shop is decorated with a Tuscan theme, like getting your hair done and traveling to Italy at the same time.
The couple recently returned home after living in Washington, D.C. They were surprised by the growth.
“Temple has grown a lot in five years. Traffic’s bad out here, but that’s where it’s growing,” Mr. Mitchell said.
Over on West Central Avenue, the new kid on the block is A.J. Hardin. The Temple High School student works for his mother, Shauna, the owner of Skyline Skate Shop. Out of their small store, they sell skateboards and accessories.
After living in Killeen 16 years, Ms. Hardin and her son moved to Temple in 2007. She said Temple offers a sense of community, something she’s missed for a long time.
With a skate park nearby, and no other skateboard shops in the vicinity, she said this was the right time and place to open a small business.
Ms. Hardin is crazy about downtown, envisions sidewalk cafes and bistros popping up everywhere. She can’t understand why more entrepreneurs aren’t taking advantage of the affordable business property here.
But one group of investors has done exactly that, buying the historic Cotton Exchange Saloon building on South First Street.
Through the course of a couple years, Karen Steeves and Jill Hopper took the building down to the bare bones. They found charred brick, evidence of a long-ago fire, and remnants from the front page of a 1912 Temple Telegram edition plastered to an upstairs wall.
With the restoration complete, the duo opened Design Center of Central Texas last May. Under their 100-year-old roof they have a modern showroom that features tile, carpet, plumbing and light fixtures, and furniture that can’t be found at large, national retailers.
“I saw a niche that wasn’t being filled … customers talking to me about what they couldn’t find here and having to go to Austin,” Ms. Steeves said. “We don’t want Austin and Dallas getting all this growth opportunity that’s here.”
Temple growth has also spurred a need for landscape contractors. Brian Bush - Temple High class of ’96 - builds retaining walls, performs site grading and installs concrete pavers for new and existing homes.
Bush outgrew his Moody location, and last April moved BSK Contractors into an office and showroom on West Adams. He’s helped a lot of local homeowners with water problems.
“I’ve seen where people have had their houses flooded eight, 10 times and could not get a solution in the yard to keep the water from coming in. And we solved that,” Bush said.
These home-grown business owners say these are difficult economic times. But they feel strong enough about the local economy to sink their plow into some native soil.
