BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — The city of Blue Springs is asking for input from stakeholders when it comes to what they want to see from the downtown area.
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KSHB 41 News spoke with two businesses on Main Street — Karma Community Market and Genevieve’s. One is in its first year of being open, the other is celebrating a decade downtown.
Karma Community Market calls itself an incubator for other small businesses. It houses almost 30 other vendors. The business, however, posted concerns on social media recently about how if community support doesn’t grow, it won’t be able to thrive.
“In between it kind of feels like we get kind of lost and people either don't know we're here or forget that we're here just as they go on the daily hustle and bustle of their life,” owner Trevor Goodwin said.
Goodwin said they do what they can with promoting on social media but it is hard to break through the noise of larger retailers.
Goodwin said a change falls on the shoulders of both the city to develop the area and residents to want to shop locally.
“Businesses are saying 'if there's a customer base we'll move there,' and customers are saying 'if there are more businesses there, we'd go there.' So it seems like there's a balance that has to weigh out,” Goodwin said.
Down a few blocks is Genevieve’s. The store is celebrating its 10th year on Main Street. Owner Pam Wheeler attributes that to a great customer base and offering online shopping, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t had rough patches.
Wheeler has seen businesses come and go and has ideas for what she would like to see.
“So they're trying to get recommendations, but more retail, that's really what we need. More retail and restaurants, reasons for downtown to be more of a destination and not just a one-stop shop,” Wheeler said. “And parking. Parking is always an issue.”
The city has design studio meetings planned for Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5-7 p.m. at City Hall. It is open house-style for people to come and see some ideas and give their own. The city hopes to have a final master plan to present to the city council by late February or early March.
You can find more meeting information and a survey option at the planning website.
