The Fashion Barn building officially has a new owner.
Josh Read of Edward Jones Investments purchased the downtown building at 100 Fifth St. S. on Nov. 30.
Pending permits and the approval from the city’s historic commission, Read said he intends to use part of the building as his financial office and will split the remaining space into either retail or office spaces.
The corner building boasts 4,600 square feet on the ground level with an additional 1,000 square feet upstairs.
“The purpose of buying it was obviously to put my office in it,” Read said. “But ultimately I just knew it would be a good investment in Columbus. Anything we can do to make Columbus even more beautiful and more attractive to attract businesses and people to come in, we want to do it.”
Fashion Barn closed in February 2020, leaving the store vacant for nearly two years.
“One of the best investments you can make in your life is in the community,” Read said. “I want to make the Fashion Barn building, which has been iconic in Columbus for years, to be more beautiful.”
Read said he’s been working on collecting historic images of the downtown building and hopes to pay homage with a timeline showcasing the building’s history.
“We want people to see the history of the building,” he said. “If anyone has pictures they want to give me, that’d be great. … It’s been a lot of businesses, and I consider it an honor to be able to own the building and be able to give back and add more to the history.”
Read’s office is currently located at 115 Fifth St. N. and he hopes to move downtown over the next year.
In East Columbus, a new venue is open.
Diamonz Brown opened The Luxe, 201 Alabama St. Suite L, at the end of November.
“With all of the events happening in the area, I thought it was the perfect time to add another venue,” Brown said. “This gives people another option to have when looking for a place (to) hold their special events.”
Brown added the venue at the Gateway Shopping Center is perfect for birthday parties, receptions, baby showers and more.
The new venue in east Columbus can host up to 99 people. It provides tables, chairs and a kitchen. For booking information, you can call 662-889-5424.
“We have an amazing light showcase that looks great at night and can be the highlight of someone’s special night,” Brown added.
Moving over to Starkville, a crowd favorite is back up and running.
Petty’s Barbecue, which closed in March, is serving up plates again out of the Starkvegas Snowballs stand on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.
Petty’s closed down earlier this year to make way for the new development on Highway 12. The Dispatch previously reported a Georgia developer is building the retail space, which currently has a signed lease with Chipotle.
Folks that have missed Petty’s pulled pork, ribs, cole slaw, baked beans, hot tamales and more can visit Petty’s Tuesday through Sunday 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
Former Dispatch reporter Mary Pollitz writes about business openings and closings, as well as other unique business news. Send tips to [email protected].
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