3 retailers relocating in ’14
Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 2, 2014
The New Year is set to be exciting for at least three Andalusia businesses.
A property deal closed Tuesday between local businesswoman Chrissie Duffy and Andalusia convenience store owner Roy Mohon is expected to give the businesses a new home.
“I’m excited to say that we closed on the property and that Christopher’s Jewelers, Pink Peppers and Town and Country are being relocated here,” Duffy said.
Duffy’s company, Chrissie Schubert’s Treats, shipped its last large cookie order on Friday.
“It’s time for me to bow out,” Duffy said. “The decision was a two-edged sword – I’m sad because I put a lot into this business, but it’s grown too much for me to handle. Plus, my kids are still small, and I need to be a home with them.”
Both Christopher’s and Pink Peppers are located inside the Covington Mall, while Town and Country is located on South Three Notch Street.
“We’re still in the process of working out the details,” said Christopher’s owner Chris Lawrence said. “We’re very excited about the move and about what 2014 is going to hold for us. Hopefully, the new location will be very good with the two other retail establishments. It’s definitely going to be more visible to beach traffic and to the public.”
Daphne Posey of Town and Country said the three merchants hope to move in late February or early March. The buidling’s façade will be changed to create three store fronts, and each merchant will have the same square footage.
“It will be much like the long, narrow spaces you see in big cities,” she said.
“We want to make it attractive, and add a new sign by the road as well as landscaping so that people will top and shop with us,” she said.
Posey said many of her customers have great nostalgia for the building in which Town and Country currently is located.
“They especially love the main parlor and foyer area,” she said. “But I’ve talked to most all of them, and they say they’ll follow us.”
Posey said Town and Country will be more of a specialty shop and less of a department store, but will keep its Estee Lauder and Capezio lines, as well as shoes and other customer favorites.
Attempts to reach Mohon for comments about the project were unsuccessful, as he was traveling for the holidays.