WHISTLESTOP SHOPS PUTTING THE “SMALL” IN “SMALL BUSINESS”

The biggest roadblock most small businesses face is that they’re small. They often come onto the scene with tight budgets, limited resources and a tiny network of loyal supporters. Even though their reach is inherently small, they’re thrown into a world with big consequences and big competitors and expected to sink or swim.

Auburn’s mayor, Linda Blechinger, City Council and the Downtown Development Association set out to provide a space for the City’s 150+ home-based businesses. As a humble rail town dedicated to preserving its history, Auburn was a blank canvas full of potential. Without high-rise apartment complexes, amphitheaters or major interstates cutting through town, Mayor Blechinger had plenty of space to bring her vision for a cottage-style community of local businesses to life.

Seven years ago, Auburn invested $250,000 to construct the Whistlestop Shops, named by a group of local elementary students. The collection of shops is right next to Auburn City Hall and includes 11 8-by-12-foot cottages which serve as storefronts for local businesses. This idea was inspired by the mayor’s visit to a similar shopping center on St. Simons Island.

The concept of the Whistlestop Shops would generate awareness by placing small businesses front and center in the eyes of Auburn residents, cutting startup costs drastically with a monthly rent payment of only $250 and eliminating threats of major competitors by surrounding entrepreneurs with other similarly positioned business owners. The idea quickly caught the attention of locals with home businesses and other small businesses in the surrounding area.

Nowadays, every shop is occupied, and so is the waitlist of interested business owners. The shops have become one of the City’s biggest assets, right up there with its railroad history. Visitors and residents flock to the Whistlestop Shops daily for various product and service needs. Currently, the shops include a barber shop, bakery, jewelry store, woodworking shop, candle shop, seamstress, day spa and more. Each business operates independently of the City, with the ability to choose its hours and host events.

Auburn champions its Whistlestop Shop owners in any way it can, like promoting them on social media, hosting well-attended city-wide events in front of the shops and reserving a place for them in the City’s future.

As Auburn looks forward to many new developments promising to bring a downtown atmosphere to the City, its biggest priority is preserving natural beauty and historical significance. The future of downtown Auburn will be an eye-catching one, paying homage to the railroad through architecture, enhancing, but not eliminating, green space and, of course, giving its fateful Whistlestop Shops the spotlight they deserve in the center of all the action.

CITY OF AUBURN spring

Auburn Ever After summer

Independence Day Celebration fall AuburnFest

Linda Blenchinger Mayor

Since the shops opened, Auburn’s population has almost doubled. Mayor Blechinger attributes this to the City’s steps toward investing in the local community, which started with creating the Whistlestop Shops. “People and developers are taking notice of this and looking to become part of our community,” she explains.

“I have been in the shops for over six years selling custom items like shirts, bags, Koozies and car decals. My store, Dragonfly Dreams, has grown tremendously since I’ve been here. I love my little cottage. It’s the perfect size for a business like mine!”

Visit Dragonfly Dreams at cottage #4!

1369 4th Ave, Auburn, GA 30011 winter

“Sounding Off the Christmas Season”

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