By Thomas Sellers Jr.
To most in Millington, the large structure at 8323 Highway 51 North is still the “old Cole’s building.”
Mid-South Marketplace was the most recent business to call the location home. Now one of the fasting growing operations in Millington is moving into the Cole’s building throughout June.
June 2019, Alison’s Alcove opened its doors at 4792 Navy Road. Because of high customer demands and vendors seeking space, the move onto Highway 51 came just in time for owners David and Alison Barczak.
“We moved from a 9,000 square feet antique mall into a 50,000 of an antique mall, furniture center, Shops at Alison’s which features a boutique mall that most women will love,” David said.
Last year around this time, the residents of Millington and the surrounding areas rolled out the red carpet for the return of Alison’s Alcove. The business was born through the vision of Alison who was a vendor shop throughout the Memphis area.
One day she asked her husband David to help her venture out. David and Alison said the reception was great in Millington, and business has been better than anticipated.
The previous location was about 2,000 square feet in front of the store dedicated mostly to furniture. Then a few feet away in the back area is 7,000 square feet for the vendors, including an upstairs area.
Now Alison’s Alcove has a home that features 34 new display cases with coins, stamps and other collectibles. The tradition of the art walls is moving as well to the new location. Local artist will have a showcase among the four featured artists who will be on display full time.
Also returning is the Man Cave. At the former location, the Cave was upstairs. Now it has a larger display area with fishing items, tools, custom trucks and more.
New stores within the Alcove are the Dog House featuring items from your furry family member.
“As you walk throughout our building you’ll see many flamingos which have been painted by Lisa Mouser,” David noted. “She’s our resident artist. She creates these beautiful masterpieces of flamingos. They are our mascot and you’ll see them all over the store.
“Shops of Alison is a store within a store,” he continued. “It’s a mini mall, all new items targeting women purses, bags, bows, jewelry, children’s clothing, fresh flowers, soaps, candles, women’s clothing, pop-up greeting cards custom made for Alison’s Alcove.”
That area will have 15 vendors specializing in new home décor. Also coming to the new Alison’s Alcove will be the Craft’s Room with art classes available ranging from tap to crocheting.
Another highlight of the new location is the Community Meeting Room that can house about 50 people for a gathering. It free to use for any community organization for two hours. The Community Meeting Room will be available for rent to small parties and gatherings.
Also a part of the new Alison’s Alcove will be the Sports lounge and Children’s Area. The staff including store manager Judi Peery have taken advantage of a worldwide pandemic to make the transition for Alison Alcove go as smooth as possible.
“When we first opened up Alison’s Alcove June 1 of last year it was a grand opening,” she said. “But October and November, we had a very long waiting list of vendors who wanted to be a part of us. David reached out looking for another location.
“This building became available and he took the steps to make it ours,” Peery continued. “There are several vendors from both locations here. Then the corona came here, old rona, while we were shut down for business over there, David moved forward with construction.”
The Barczaks have been hands on with the moving process and creating the new features.
“He redesigned this building making it our like the pink poles for example,” Peery said. “They were brown. You might not remember everything about the store, but you will remember the pink poles and our flamingos.
“We were grateful for the time,” she added. “It was beneficial for us during the shutdown to run the store and get the business here going. Doing the redesign, tearing down walls and building new walls, making it all ours.”
The rapid growth of Alison’s Alcove and the building hitting the market was ideal timing for the Barczaks.
“We were there for a year and just grew out of it so fast,” David recalled. “Basically we were connected about the building at the first of the year. We were approached about taking the building and creating the shopping experience you see here today.
“We were hoping to open toward the end of June, but the coronavirus shutting our previous store down, we were able to accelerate the opening here,” he concluded. “We’ll have a grand opening whenever we can. We’re anticipating September we can have a big grand opening with all the hoopla.”
The soft opening was held Saturday. To find out more about store hours, vendors and the full grand opening, follow on Facebook at AlisonAlcoveMillingtonTN
