‘Dynamic economic time’ forces Old Mill Trade Days to close 5 years after reopening

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – In Publish, Previous Mill Commerce Days closed its gates Sunday for the final time. The location has drawn in guests and distributors from far and extensive for a few years, however enterprise homeowners say a ‘dynamic financial time’ is forcing them to shut up store.

Previous Mill Commerce Days has been a city inside a city for artisans, distributors and buyers from throughout. C. W. Publish opened the unique fiber mill in 1912. It was one of many solely of its variety, which created product from subject to shelf – which means the cotton went in, and it got here out as sheets, pillow instances, comforters and extra.

The mill shut down for good in 1984, and was reopened from 1994 to 2007 because the venue for Previous Mill Commerce Days. Curt Cowdrey and his spouse Donna introduced it again to life in 2017.

“However just lately, we’re seeing plenty of the small cities mentioning their very own farmers markets or their very own little commerce exhibits,” Cowdrey mentioned.

Cowdrey says market share and several other financial components are forcing them to shut. The Publish Financial Improvement Company owns the property, and the Cowdreys have been leasing to buy. For greater than a yr, they’ve been planning to shut on a contract to take possession.

“The contract was not, we weren’t in a position to fulfill the contract. There have been some liens that have been held towards the property that weren’t cured, that weren’t cured in title, and we missed the cut-off date in March,” Cowdrey mentioned.

The Cowdreys had plans to develop, by including a household leisure venue and a luxurious RV resort, however contract delays led to a lack of capital.

“While you discuss cash and the respect of a venue like this, when your buyer site visitors declines however you’re attempting to make funds on one thing large, there’s a degree the place we simply received to go, ‘I can’t deal with that load, that monetary load,’” Cowdrey mentioned.

The Cowdreys have run Commerce Days with satisfaction for the previous 5 years.

“It was a spot for individuals to come back see, go to, cease, eat, take a break, purchase one thing that’s distinctive, ‘trigger all these individuals have distinctive objects,” he mentioned.

Cowdrey says Commerce Days not solely gave distributors a spot to arrange store, however a spot to develop. Espresso Wizards opened a sales space on the web site in 2017, after which, after seeing success, purchased a meals trailer. Because the enterprise continued to develop, homeowners Jeff Hood and his spouse have been in a position to save as much as purchase a brand new store on the primary freeway. They simply celebrated two years on the new location.

“Commerce Days was a very good factor for us, it allowed us to provide the enterprise a check and realized that we favored it,” Hood mentioned.

The Cowdreys branched into occasion internet hosting, internet hosting Halloween carnivals and haunted homes, managed by way of the pandemic, and battled rattlesnakes, as they revamped the property.

“In April, within the spring, it’s going to blow sand or it’s going to spit mud balls and that’s what we had. They might not sound like enjoyable, however we glance again and go, it’s enjoyable,” Cowdrey mentioned.

A century in the past, the Postex Mill turned cotton into sheets, pillow instances and extra. At the moment, the identical web site has turned distributors into enterprise homeowners.

“There’s locations which might be crumbling, however it’s nonetheless purposeful. My youngsters in school would giggle at me and go, ‘Hey, you already know, you outdated man, you’re nonetheless fairly good about going and dealing and doing issues. I mentioned, ‘Previous issues are nonetheless helpful, bud,’ and that’s why we discuss this place,” Cowdrey mentioned.

Cowdrey says he doesn’t know what the Publish Financial Improvement Company plans to do with the positioning sooner or later.

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