A sign outside the Smith-Martin Building points to the Sandbox Bookstore. The space, which once housed a single store, is now home to 14 businesses, with more space available.
November 26, 2022
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Downtown businesses make the best of small spaces
MOSES LAKE — There’s a lot happening in the middle of Moses Lake, and it’s happening in smaller and smaller spaces. “Even with all the business closures that are happening around town, businesses that are still open are doing more initiatives to attract more people to their stores,” said Mallory Miller, director of the Downtown Moses Lake Association, which promotes the business community downtown. “We've got Artgarden, she's doing more classes. We've got Hello Nature which is bringing in things constantly. (Owner Magen Evans) is doing little sidewalk sales. So just bringing more people into downtown.” Moses Lake’s downtown business core has had its share of ups and downs over the years, as businesses come and go. Many of the businesses that were pillars of the downtown core 30 and more years ago – Pinky’s House of Fashion, Berry’s Department Store, Furniture West – are now the stuff of nostalgia. But in their place have come smaller concerns, many of them doubling and tripling up in the available spaces.