Ingleside Village adding new businesses to its small-town setting

During its heyday in the 1960s and ‘70s, Ingleside Village in Macon was thriving, with many kinds of businesses found on Main Street in a typical small town.

It had a toy store, a pharmacy, a barbershop, grocery store, ice cream shop and more.

Although those stores are gone and others have opened and closed since then, things are looking up in the village. At least six new businesses have opened in the past few months or are close to opening.

New and fairly new stores offer farm-fresh produce, bicycles, massages, fitness training, kung fu lessons, natural makeup, flowers, women’s clothing and hair styling. Those businesses join other stores offering antiques, fabric, paint, hardware, home décor, toys, dance wear, dry cleaning, art, framing, giftware and lamps. Also, there are restaurants that provide pizza, sandwiches and Caribbean cuisine.

Cathy Brantley, manager of Ingleside Village Antique Centre, said that reviving the Ingleside Village Merchants Association about two years ago has brought much needed attention to the area. The antique store at 2340 Ingleside Ave. has been in the village 14 years.

“It’s going great. We’re getting a lot of participation,” said Brantley, treasurer of the association. “Every participating merchant pays $25 a month, and so we use that money to advertise the village and for special events.”

The heart of the Ingleside Village business district is considered the portion of Ingleside Avenue between Corbin and Rogers avenues. A few businesses beyond those boundaries also are considered part of the village, however.

“We’re so very excited that Historic Ingleside Village is getting close to 100 percent occupancy,” proclaims the merchants association’s Facebook page. “The vibrancy and bustle is coming back to our street.”

To recognize those new businesses, the village is holding an Open House Celebration on May 14 to kick off its Second Saturday events held from May to October. The celebration will be held 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. and will include sidewalk sales, special events, art and food.

“It seems to me … our hard work over the past year and a half has paid off,” Brantley said of the association. “We’ve updated a lot of things in the village.”

A new raised sidewalk has been added with the city’s help, a large sign was added to the central parking lot, new decorations were hung for the Cherry Blossom Festival and Christmas, and Law Enforcement Appreciation Day continues to be held to honor first responders.

“I think suddenly, I mean within the last year, people are wanting to be in Ingleside again,” Brantley said. “Businesses are wanting to come in here. We only have five empty spaces in this whole village right now and (the owner) is working on fixing up those spaces. … Hopefully we’ll get anchor stores on this end (closest to Rogers Avenue). So we are excited about that too.”

Something else is happening.

“People are keeping the sidewalks and the streets cleaner,” she said. “We’re trying to raise up the pride. … It’s like going to work in a small town. … Everybody knows everybody, and we walk up and down and we visit and it’s very friendly.”

Warm greeting for new businesses

That friendliness from other store owners is something the newest merchants have seen already.

Brendan Rowley opened Village Marketplace on April 12 at 2381 Ingleside Ave.

He and a partner had operated Dirt Farmers Marketplace at the State Farmers Market until February, when they parted ways. Rowley decided to open the specialty market in Ingleside Village offering Georgia-grown, organic and artisan goods such as honey, salsa, almond butter and jellies. The store carries in-season produce and local pastured meats.

“We felt like the people who were shopping in Ingleside Village appreciated more of the Georgia-grown stuff,” he said. “It has been better than we could have ever dreamed of. We’ve been welcomed in there by all the merchants and all the neighborhood. … It really does feel like a family.”

Darlene Batchelor has been a member of the village family for a long time. She opened BoBo’s Dance Supply at 2352 Ingleside Ave. 20 years ago this January. While most of her business is for children, she sells dance outfits from toddler to plus sizes.

“It seems like a lot of things are coming and going,” in the village, she said. “I’ve been happy here. We’re nice and centralized, … and we’re also not too far from the interstate. … I like the smaller community feel of it.”

Newcomer Rick Cain, a certified personal trainer and owner of Trained by Cain Studio, moved from downtown Macon to 2328 Ingleside Ave. at the beginning of April.

“I think it offers a really good change in environment from downtown,” Cain said. “Ingleside was a good option. It has high traffic volume, … and it’s in the middle of a neighborhood, which is another good aspect of it.”

Cain said he was also greeted by “just about every” village merchant as he built out his space.

“It is strictly a merchant area, so you don’t have the competition for parking like you see downtown,” he said. “This is a very well-rounded retail area that kind of complements itself. … There is a community sense to help each other.”

Another new business is Cherry Street Cycles, which also moved last month from downtown to 2389-A Ingleside Ave.

Store Manager Tony Howd said they chose the village because of “great rent and great established businesses.”

The shop, which sells and services bicycles, opened April 20.

“We’ve seen an increase in business already, and we’ve been welcomed by the Ingleside Village neighborhood tremendously,” he said.

And merchants there refer customers to other stores in the village, he said.

“All our businesses are feeding off each other,” Howd said. “We’re happy so far. … There’s a different attitude here that’s refreshing.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Ingleside Village adding new businesses to its small-town setting."