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Five College Hill business owners picked for 'OurShop' initiative


Five College Hill business owners picked for 'OurShop' initiative (WKRC)
Five College Hill business owners picked for 'OurShop' initiative (WKRC)
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COLLEGE HILL, Ohio (WKRC) - It's a dream come true for five local business owners who were given a unique opportunity to open their storefronts, rent-free.

The College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (College Hill CURC), in partnership with The Carol Ann and Ralph V . Haile, Jr. Foundation, YARD & Company and the Kolar Experience Institute, is launching ‘OurShop’ a new retail program this Small Business Saturday, November 27.

OurShop connects retail entrepreneurs with rent-free space and resources to grow and scale their business.

Two vacant storefronts along Hamilton Ave. will be soon filled by five small businesses.

At 5852 Hamilton Ave, the tenant is Set the Vibez, owned by Erika Standifer.

Four tenants will be located at 5846 Hamilton Ave including DeeDee’s Butter Bar owned by DeAngela Gill, LAMA Herbal Solutions owned by Maria Walkup and Laura McCarthy, Launch Party owned by Brittany Cochran, and Like Mom’s Only Vegan owned by Naomi Sams.

“These five businesses are poised to make an immediate splash in the heart of our business district and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to College Hill.” said Seth Walsh, Executive Director of College Hill CURC. “Development in neighborhoods too often requires extensive capital investment that blocks out small businesses from being a part of the revitalization. OurShop gives us and them the opportunity to be a critical part in our work.”

Each business brings something different, innovative, and creative to the college hill neighborhood.

“Fifty-five applicants got ranked and then they brought in the highest-scoring ones, and sat down with each and every one of them. They went and talked with all of them, talked about their business plans, they talked through they worked well with others, what their goals and objectives were, it was a really difficult process,” Walsh said.

Maria Walkup will be selling CBD products and sharing a space with three other tenants.

“Were excited that we would be able to collaborate with other entrepreneurs and just talk about some of our struggles, successes and just share ideas with each other,” Walkup said. “It would be very difficult for us to have a retail storefront and it's scary because you have a lease that you have to pay every month, utilities and that type of thing and you are going to rely on the sales coming in, and you don't really know until you get started what that looks like.”

Erika Standifer will be right next door, selling balloons and other party supplies.

She says without OurShop, she doesn’t believe she’d be in a storefront today.

“No, not at all,” Standifer said. “It's very hard just driving around finding locations; and then having to go through all the tedious steps that they want you to do it's very hard.”

The College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation will track how the businesses are doing in the next six months and decide what happens long term. The data will be publicly shared.

“We're going to be collecting the data for them that sets them up long term to be able to go to bankers, and go to investors and actually say here is the data you're looking for, it works,” Walsh said. “On the other side of it, we as a community are going to be collecting this data we can then show to future entrepreneurs as well and say hey this is why you should come here and this is what you should be doing.”

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