Document text
New Ashland businesses pop up just in time for the holidays Others won't quite make it by then and will open after New Year's By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune ASHLAND - December will bring cheer to some merchants who are able to open new or relocated businesses in time for the holiday season. Others who hoped to open will have to wait until next year. Openings will include Jeff's Harvest Market at the former Cantwell's location later this week, Music Coop in the A Street Marketplace and a Papa John's Pizza in Siskiyou Crossing near Southern Oregon University. Enchanted Florist, which had hoped to open in the A Street Marketplace, will wait until January. It will be the firm's first retail site. It currently provides floral services through Internet and phone orders. "We thought (we'd be open for Christmas), but I don't see it happening," said co-owner Leslie Kirkland. "There's a lot we need to do on our part and we don't want to be too close to Christmas." Owner Jeff Pygott says his Harvest Market could open as soon as Thursday at the Oak Street location where Cantwell's operated until May. The store will be open by Saturday at the latest. "We're not going to open until we're ready," said Pygott. "If it's two o'clock Thursday, that's when we will open." Pygott has hired 31 employees for the market. He plans a mix of conventional, organic and natural items similar to Cantwell's offerings, but with 2,000 more products. Music Coop's sign is already in place, and owner John Brenes says the CD store will probably open a week before Christmas. The store will offer more than 15,000 titles. Brenes and his wife, Trina, have moved the business from Petaluma, Calif., where it operated since 1975. "We'll probably get possession next week," said Brenes. "We hoped to be open in November for Thanksgiving. These are typical construction things that delayed us. There's just not much you could do about it." Workers were in the Marketplace Tuesday installing sheet rock and wiring. In late October, developer Allan Sandler said he thought about half the 14 business sites would be open by Christmas. Restaurant spaces weren't expected to open until January. The 22,000-square-foot market is the former home of Oak Street Tank and Steel. Papa John's Pizza is expected to open on Siskiyou Boulevard at Walker Street by mid to late December, said project manager Alex Jansen. The other four spaces in the 11,000-square-foot building are near completion. Jansen is negotiating with potential tenants. Three businesses have relocated to the east part of the former Provost's Home Furnishings location at 357 E. Main St. The Jewelry Studio, Ashland Money and Metals and Artistic Glass Design had occupied the west side since October while the other area was refinished. Jewelry Studio owners Teresa and Monte Foster have leased the entire building from Dom Provost. They will sublease parts of it. A gallery will be added upstairs over the current main floor that houses the three businesses. All three businesses were formerly located inside the Plaza Mall, where they lacked exposure to street traffic, said Teresa Foster. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.