With businesses like Chasity Thompson and Tracie Mosley, revitalization of downtown Elizabethton continues to look bright.
Chasity Thompson and Tracie Mosley, owners of Crazy Creek Co-Op, formerly known as The Crow’s Nest, held a one-year anniversary celebration Saturday that featured the unveiling of the store’s new name and an official grand reopening.
According to The Crow’s Nest Facebook page, the name Crazy Creek originates from a stream in Beaver County, Utah. The store cites the name change as a perfect way to embrace the fun, craziness that ensues inside the facility. And that said craziness spilled over into the weekend.
“It has been unbelievable,” Mosley said with a smile after taking a short break Saturday about the event. “We opened an hour early. But even before that, I got here an hour earlier, and we had people at the door waiting to get in. We were building up the unveiling of the name inside the store and on social media. We had a lot of people interested in the name change.”
After purchasing the store one year ago, Thompson and Mosley utilize the two floors of the building as a way to serve as a hub for other small businesses within the region.
“Right now, we have 55 small businesses that set up at events, markets and festivals but this serves as their permanent retail spot,” Mosley said. “Not only are people support our small business, but people are helping the other 55 businesses that set up shop here.”
Mosley added the store has developed a regional reach, with vendors coming as far as Asheville, North Carolina, but the majority of suppliers are from Northeast Tennessee.
Crazy Creek Co-Op offers a bustling upstairs and downstairs full of various items for sale. One vendor, Mosley explained, utilizes different items following her stint with the Peace Corps visiting third world countries.
The growth of Crazy Creek Co-Op is the continuing mission of growing Historic Downtown Elizabethton. While the store looks to grow even more in the coming years, Mosley added Crazy Creek Co-Op, among other downtown merchants, is excited about the revitalization of downtown.
“We’re all invested in promoting our downtown,” Mosley said. “That’s what we’re hoping to do with Crazy Creek Co-Op. With all the marketing, the publicity … each of these stores uses social media to promote themselves and direct customers to this location. That adds another element of finding more people to come visit downtown.”
Serving as a bridge to attract tourists and community members alike is the name of the game, she added. While encouraging the public to visit Crazy Creek Co-Op, Mosley added vendors help each out by promoting each other’s businesses.
The camaraderie even showed Saturday.
“The first person that texted me this morning ‘congratulations’ was someone that operates a store right down from us,” Mosley said with a smile. “It shows how much we’re in this together to promote downtown.”
Vendors looking to set up “where shopping is always an adventure” still have the opportunity to do so, Mosley added.
“Most definitely,” she said. “There is still room available upstairs and downtown for a vendor to set up.”
Contact Mosley via email at tmosetmose@yahoo.com to learn more about being part of Crazy Creek Co-Op. The store is opened Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.