DOWNTOWN SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Jones421 building is at 6th Street and Phillips Avenue near Falls Park West. People are already living in the condominiums above the retail space that is still under construction. Three businesses are done though and will open Saturday. Those businesses are The Source, Swamp Daddy’s and Game Chest.
The north side of Downtown Sioux Falls, which is also referred to as the uptown area, is starting to build up with the Levitt Pavilion under construction as well as The Cascade. The Levitt Pavilion is a new entertainment space that will open right across from The Cascade, which will bring more housing and retail space. Those are expected to open in 2019.
That means the Jones421 building is the first to finish construction in that newly developed area.
“This brings an anchor to the north side of Phillips Avenue, which is much needed. It’s going to help create that connection between Falls Park and the core of Downtown,” Joe Batcheller said, the president of DTSF, Inc.
“These business owners are pioneers. Because they’re a little bit ahead of the growth, it’s really important that the community make the effort to come here to support them, so that they can get as solid a start as possible,” Jodi Schwan said, who is the owner of SiouxFalls.Business.
Batcheller said they are the first businesses to open in that area, which could be risky, but there’s always a calculated risk for entrepreneurs no matter what. DTSF, Inc. will be available to help market events like First Friday as well to help bring in business for them.
All three of the businesses will be open throughout the day Saturday, but there will be a grand opening event with live music from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
The way Jones421 is set up is a new concept for Sioux Falls as well. It’s called a marketplace and Schwan said it’s something that has been proven to be successful all over the country.
“This marketplace is a great example of what we call micro-retail and that’s a trend in retail. So, it’s smaller spaces. You save money on the square footage. In this case you’re able to achieve additional savings because they’re sharing seating in the common spaces,” Schwan said. “It really allows for some nice specialty, locally owned retail.”
Schwan said it will be beneficial that these businesses are opening together so they can cross-promote.
Game Chest is one of the retailers opening Saturday. It may be a store some people are already familiar with because they had a pop-up shop in Downtown Sioux Falls for the holiday season. The husband and wife who own the store said they want to cater and support the local gaming community in the city. Game Chest is a place where you can buy board games. The owners have all of the traditional board games available, but they are trying to get people to try different ones as well. They will have a renting system where you can rent a game for $5 for the first night and $2 for every night after.
The Source is another business that will open Saturday. The same owners of The Source used to own Black Sheep Coffee, which was on West 11th Street where the newly constructed Kum & Go now stands.
Kristin Chau, one of the owners of The Source, said the coffee will be the same as it was at Black Sheep. They have the same roaster, so it’s the same product, just in a new location. The owners have added beer and wine to the menu though. The Source will have a self-serve tap wall with 16 beers, some local and some out-of-state. You will be able to enjoy your beer and wine inside The Source’s space or out in the common area of the Jones 421.
Swamp Daddy’s is taking people to the south in their new space. Some may be familiar with Swamp Daddy’s because of their food truck that has become very popular in Sioux Falls. The owners said the truck will stick around for now as well. The menu will still be small like the truck. They will offer a small menu of cajun-style food, but they will also start offering healthy options like salads. In the new restaurant space, they say they will be able to cater more to customers needs because they have the space.
