“We get quite a few calls of people asking for space downtown and a lot of times, (for) small retail businesses, what we have available is too big or requires too much renovation, so we’ve always need this middle ground,” said Miamisburg Community Development Director Katie Frank. “We want to get people in there to create the momentum and the vitality, but at the same time we also want to cultivate the business to hopefully, eventually be able to occupy a storefront downtown.”
Up to five tenant spaces are available on the 1,500-square-foot first floor of the Market Square Building, which recently underwent renovations that include installing new flooring and retaining the building’s historic woodwork. Lower lease rates are available in varying increments to qualified retail businesses.
Tenants who do move into a Miamisburg storefront become eligible to receive a 50 percent rebate of the rent they paid into the Thrive program, Frank said. They are required to take a minimum of four hours counseling with a local Small Business Development Center representative.
The first tenant in the Thrive program, Hedy Riegle Studio Ltd., offers hand-stamped jewelry. It’s set to part of a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Owner Hedy Riegle told this news outlet she enjoys shopping and dining with family and friends in growing downtown Miamisburg and is excited to be chosen as one of the first candidates for the Thrive at Market Square program.
The business operated for five years in downtown Dayton’s 2nd Street Market. This year would have been her sixth, but the market has not reopened since March, she said.
“I feel like I was displaced with the market not being open, so finding another space for short-term was not easy,” said Riegle, of Germantown.
The previous location included a “charm bar” where customers could choose charms and put them on necklaces or bracelets or key rings. With the Miamisburg location offering more space, the business plans offer workshops so customers can learn how to stamp jewelry themselves.
“It’s kind of branching me out a little further than I was before," she said.
Hours for Hedy Riegle Studio Ltd. will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. each Sunday.
The Market Square Building became vacant last year when the Miamisburg Historical Society relocated to the former Dayton Metro Library branch on Fifth Street.
City Manager Keith Johnson said that the Thrive program "will not only be a productive use of one of Miamisburg’s historic buildings, but also serve as an example of the public-private partnerships that have been important to our revitalization efforts downtown.”
The city is accepting applications for additional tenants. To request an application or obtain more information, write to katie.frank@cityofmiamisburg.org or 937-847-6686. To keep up-to-date on the program, visit www.facebook.com/thriveatmarketsquare.
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