LOXLEY — The town of Loxley is hoping that a new business established in one of the town's oldest structures is just the beginning of an effort to revitalize the municipality’s downtown area.
Opened in November, Fish River Mercantile held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Dec. 14, with town officials and the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.
“We just want to thank everyone who had a hand in restoring this historic structure,” said Loxley Mayor Richard Teal. “This is part of an ongoing effort to revitalize our downtown area and it’s places like this that will keep people coming here far into the future.”
Owners Robert and Minal Byrd worked with architects and local business Kerby Custom Renovations to restore the structure located on First Avenue, which has served the town in a variety of ways through the years, including as a hardware store and a flower shop.
“I love this building,” Byrd said. “We spent eight months researching what we could do to bring it back to its original condition.”
This is the second location for the business which offers a wide variety of home décor goods. The first location was on the corner of County Roads 32 and 9 in the Fish River/Marlow community of Summerdale.
“It’s just amazing what they were able to do with this place and it's just a great place to shop,” said Chamber President/CEO Gail Quezada. “They replenish their supplies every day and every time you come in here it's a different experience.”
The Loxley location at 3152 First Ave. is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. You can visit the Fish River Mercantile page on Facebook for updates.
