West of St. Louis, new stores, restaurants and shopping local in Old Town Eureka

It’s like a vacationer city, solely there aren’t many vacationers. In this group west of St. Louis, throughout from Six Flags’ Interstate 44, a number of Old Town shops have opened in the previous yr.

The secret of the neighborhood’s success—as residents after residents and shopkeepers after shopkeepers advised us—is a way of group.

“It’s a really close-knit group. They are obsessed with supporting Eureka,” stated Tara O’Dell, normal supervisor of O’Dell’s Ale House.

O’Dell’s brother and enterprise associate Casey died of mind most cancers final yr; He was 45 years outdated and left a widow and 5 youngsters beneath the age of 13. The group got here collectively to help the enterprise and household.

Local restaurants donated all of the meals for the funeral, O’Dell stated. Customers went out of their approach to deliver extra enterprise to the restaurant and pub and have been sympathetic when it needed to shut. A landscaper nonetheless cuts the grass at his widow’s home totally free, she stated.

“We’re trying to support each other’s business,” stated Taylor Martin, an assistant at Art Dog — a studio the place prospects can paint their very own pottery or take artwork lessons.

Other small cities in the realm have historic downtowns that are not as affluent.

Union has an enthralling city sq., however a number of workplaces and retailers in the center of the sq., the Franklin County Courthouse, stand empty. There are many vacancies in Pacific’s sleepy row of buildings. St. Clair’s quiet historic district is greatest identified for a restaurant and a quantity of vintage retailers. New Haven gives a cinema, a glass workshop, a deli and a Mexican restaurant, amongst different issues.

The solely exception is Washington, which has a sprawling downtown teeming with individuals frequenting present retailers, outfitters, restaurants, workplaces, and bars. It can be like a vacationer city.

Eureka resident Jen Jones, who just lately went shopping in Old Town, stated, “I think with Eureka you hit a small enough, but big enough, town where you have everything – and people with money.”

In truth, as of the 2020 census, town’s 11,646 residents have a median family revenue of $112,750, nicely above the nationwide median of $67,521 and much more above the Missouri median of $57,290.

“The community is really focused on buying local and supporting the area,” Jones stated.

According to O’Dell, “Perhaps part of our success is being out here in Eureka on our own. You have to go to Valley Park (for shopping), you have to go to Wildwood. So we stay in our community.”

Of course, nothing brings a group collectively like a disaster. In 2015 and 2017, the Meramec river flooded town and in specific the outdated city.

“When the floods came through here, it was the most unified community I’ve ever seen. At the top of the street, 4- and 5-year-olds were filling sandbags,” O’Dell stated.

The heroes of the floods, she added, have been the Eureka High School soccer group, who labored in shifts all night time to help obstacles that saved some of the water off some of the companies.

Resident Renee Streberger, who shopped with Jones in Old Town, stated, “After the floods, when the stores survived, I felt like I didn’t have to go to Sunset Hills or Kirkwood to shop.”

Paws & Boots and a Guy is a trend and equipment boutique for ladies, males and pets that opened in February. It is owned by Dawn Lease and Diane Bowler, who’ve been associates for 40 years.

Paws & Boots is a new retailer – it has been open since February – and it has been embraced by residents.

“Business was phenomenal,” stated worker Lisa Wetzel. “We bring things in and they fly out the door.”

One cause is perhaps intelligent advertising and marketing. Lease drives a jeep and has embraced the jeep ducking pattern. Like different Jeep house owners, she places a mini rubber ducky on each Jeep she sees. Attached to the duck is a enterprise card for her store.

Wetzel stated these geese would be the first individuals to return to the shop.

Across the road is Red Door, a liquor and cigar retailer. Like many of the retailers in the outdated city, it is greater than meets the attention. There’s a small bar in one nook that hosts wine tastings, bourbon tastings, and oenology lessons. Sometimes prospects come in and share a bottle of wine there whereas ready for his or her desk at a close-by restaurant.

Not all of the alcohol they promote is pricey, however for individuals who need it, they promote the Macallan Rare Cask Scotch for $350, Johnny Walker Blue Scotch for $259, and Dom Perignon Champagne for $268.

“Eureka has a very unique vibe,” stated Madison Littlejohn, a barista who lives in Hillsboro however works at Cafe La Finca.

La Finca fits this environment. On the wall is unusually good artwork by co-owner Alejandra Hagedorn and her father Enrique Reyes. John Hagedorn – Alejandra’s husband and co-owner – roasts the espresso in a room above the shop. The pastries are from Diana’s Bakery in St. Louis.

The Old Town’s undisputed anchor is Joe Boccardi’s, an Italian restaurant and pizzeria that has stood on Central Avenue for 51 years.

“We’ve been here for so long that we have a huge following of regulars who come here twice a week,” stated proprietor Mario Boccardi, a son of the unique house owners. Other Joe Boccardi restaurants run by members of the household at the moment are in Webster Groves, Fenton and Columbia.

Robyn’s Nest present store specializes in Christmas decorations, child objects and kitchen objects. On one wall, socks are emblazoned with humorous slogans (“I became a teacher for the money and fame”) and political messages (“Trump 2024”). A range of soaps and tub merchandise are on show in an outdated claw foot tub.

Down the road is one other present store, Rose & Hook, which additionally sells jewellery and residence equipment. The block can help two present retailers as a result of their stock enhances one another, stated proprietor Cheryl Parrish.

The Rose & Hook opened final yr and in accordance with Parrish, “is doing very well. The community as a whole has been very supportive.”

That’s what Eureka is all about – and the help goes each methods.

The day after Tara O’Dell’s brother was final hospitalized final yr, a pair knocked on the door of O’Dell’s pub. They had 52 cents in their pockets, they stated, and they desperately wanted jobs.

O’Dell gave them jobs. In only one yr, they’ve labored their manner up from younger professionals to managers and indispensable elements of the corporate.

“It’s a pay-it-forward community,” she stated.