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Nate Cornett and Lisa Wolters opened the Yellow Springs Brewery in 2012. (Photo by Megan Bachman)
The Decade in Review: Local Business
- Published: January 2, 2020
Businesses that launched in 2010 included CJ’s Southern Cooking, Indian Food Corner (later Aahar India), Renewable Energy, 2 for 1 Energy, EdenWorld, Botanica Pusanga, The Soap Bar and Rolling Pen Book Cafe.
Also in 2010, villager Bob Baldwin purchased part of the Kings Yard retail complex on Xenia Avenue.
In 2011, YSI was bought by global water and defense company ITT and spun off as a subsidiary of a new publicly traded company, Xylem. The village’s largest employer, YSI remained in Yellow Springs. Antioch College, one of its major stockholders, realized $35 million from the sale.
Also in 2011, Friends Care Community opened a $2.25 million rehabilitation wing on its Herman Street campus.
And businesses that opened in 2011 included S&G Artisan Distillery, Vigilant Eats, Blokhedz, Modern Salvage, Artistic Silver and Twisted Tines. Brother Bear’s Coffeehouse changed hands, becoming Dancing Goats Cafe (now Spirited Goat).
Major business news in 2012 came in April, when Creative Memories closed its manufacturing plant. The closure concluded The Antioch Company’s 86-year presence in the village. Thirty-eight employees lost their jobs at the Creative Memories production facility at 888 Dayton St.
In August of 2012, Nate Cornett and Lisa Wolters launched their new business, Yellow Springs Brewery, located in local industrial and office park Millworks.
New businesses opening in 2012 included Iona Boutique, Springs Survival Store and a handcrafted eyewear business. Local yoga studio Yoga Springs expanded to Springfield.
In 2013, the former Creative Memories building was sold to an investment group from the west coast.
Also in 2013, the Little Art Theatre closed for five months to undergo a massive renovation. The upgrades cost $600,000, and notably replaced the theater’s 35mm projector with a digital projection system. (Photo by Lauren Heaton)
After purchasing the former Barr property the previous year, Jim and Libby Hammond announced in late 2013 their plans to build a hotel and restaurant on the site.
Several businesses opened in 2013, including Sweet Sanaa, Sidedoor Salon, the relaunched Epic Book Shop, Aleta Cafe, BouChic (which closed later that year) and Ohio Vintage. Businesses that shut their doors in 2013 included longtime Chinese restaurant Chen’s Asian Bistro and The Asian Collection at Oten Gallery.
The News launched two series focused on local business and the economy in 2014. One tracked the state of local business, which was determined to be recovering from the recession. The other series explored the village’s changing economy, including the decline in local jobs, rise in commuting and shift toward a tourism-based economy.
Chinese food returned to the village in 2014 with the opening of Lucky Dragon.
Dr. Donald Gronbeck opened his medical practice, YS Family Practice, in a space at the former Creative Memories building in 2014. The next year, Community Physicians of Yellow Springs, a 58-year-old local primary care practice that became part of the Kettering Health Network, relocated into the Creative Memories complex from its former Xenia Avenue office.
In 2015, Tom Gray of Tom’s Market celebrated 50 years in the local grocery trade.
At Millworks during 2015, EnviroFlight undertook a $3 million expansion, while Yellow Springs Brewery expanded its production of craft beer to produce five times as much as previously.
Yoga bloomed in the village in 2015, following the closure of Yoga Springs the previous year. Yoga and healing arts studio House of AUM opened, and local yoga and movement teachers formed the Kula Cooperative.
New clothes and new haircuts came to Yellow Springs in 2015, with the opening of Wildflower Boutique and Salon on Xenia Avenue. Urban Gypsy started up on Dayton Street, and vintage shop Back to Now in Kings Yard.
Also in 2015, Layh & Associates celebrated 35 years of providing mental health services to Yellow Springs. Gallery and framing business “would you, could you” In a Frame closed after 20 years. Urban Handmade relocated into the space.
Major business news began the year in 2016, with DMS Ink, formerly Dayton Mailing Services, officially closing on its purchase of the former Creative Memories building in January and starting to relocate its operations to the site. Headed by president Christine Soward, the printing and mailing company received the promise of a tax abatement from the village with the completion of anticipated building expansion.
Katie, Libby and Jim Hammond celebrated the opening of the 28-room Mills Park Hotel on Xenia Avenue in 2016. (Photo by Dylan Taylor-Lehman)
Also in 2016, Gilah Pomeranz and Shep Anderson preserved a downtown business anchor by purchasing the former Do It Best Hardware, which they renamed Yellow Springs Hardware.
The biggest business news of 2017 was the June purchase of eight acres of the former CBE property by Cresco Labs, a Chicago-based medical marijuana company. Cresco CEO Charlie Bachtell addressed Village Council and citizens in May regarding plans to locate a medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility on the site. Construction plans moved ahead late in the year, and the company received an Ohio medical marijuana cultivator license in December.
In other business news of 2017, the four-acre industrial and office complex Millworks was put up for sale. Union School House was also put on the market in 2017.
Yellow Springs’ oldest business got a new owner in 2017, with Ye Olde Trail Tavern being purchased by Peach’s owners Christine Monroe-Beard and Don Beard.
Meanwhile, Mark Crockett and Gail Zimmerman’s longtime local jewelry and guitar store Rita Caz closed its doors in 2017 after about 30 years, and nearby House of AUM stretched into the space. Peruvian folk art store La Llama Place, a village staple since the 1980s, also closed.
Blue Butterfly boutique opened in 2017. The next shop over, Atomic Fox, a mid-century modern antique store, moved online in late 2017, and Rose and Sal Company Mercantile, offering vintage and antique pieces, moved into the Dayton Street storefront the next year.
Wander and Wonder, an outdoor lifestyle store, opened its doors in 2017. And Super-Fly Comics and Games and its “super-fans” celebrated 10 years in the village.
Production began at Cresco Labs in 2018, with the planting of its first marijuana crop at its Yellow Springs facility in the fall. The local facility harvested its inaugural crop in December.
In September of 2018, Millworks was purchased by husband-and-wife business team Antonio Molina and Jessica Yamamoto.
Also in 2018, Jamie Sharp opened Yellow Springs Toy Company after the late 2017 closing of longtime local toy store Mr. Fub’s Party.
The village was poised to get a second brew pub, with plans announced for Trail Town Brewery in the Corry Street space formerly occupied by Williams Eatery, which closed at the end of 2017.
Other businesses opening in 2018 included Calypso Grill and Smokehouse, Little Fairy Garden, Trillium Organic Services and TLC Dental Center of Yellow Springs.
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Jessica Yamamoto, owner of Millworks