Grow Crafting a space to
with the Downtown Business Alliance Story and Photos by Lizz Daniels
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aughter filled the air as cocoa flowed, filling mugs during this year’s downtown Sip ‘n Stroll event. It’s a local Holiday staple, and for many, it is the official kickoff of their Christmas season. The event was launched 11 years ago by the Seguin Downtown Business Alliance, who has helped keep the tradition going all these years later. The DBA, much like the Sip ‘n Stroll, began small but has grown over time. DBA President Dana Hall owns the downtown crafting studio, You’re So Crafty. “That was our event,” said Hall. “It was really just formed to help our own investments in opening a downtown retail store. And then it just kind of –– there were only five of us, and you know how that goes. So we continued to do Sip ‘n Stroll with the support of Kyle (Kramm) and the Mainstreet department, they’ve helped keep it alive.” The downtown area in Seguin is expanding, despite the hardships caused by the pandemic. You’re So Crafty has been in its current location for the past six years. “It’s the most retail we’ve had downtown in a long time,” said Hall. “There have been a couple of large investors. Mary Reiley, when she bought her building, it sort of sparked a little something.” Gift & Gourment, owned by Reiley, has
become a downtown staple carrying local wares and wildly popular brands like Kendra Scott. But when new businesses with unique aesthetics come in, like Culture (a downtown skate and clothing shop), the area continues to expand local commerce options. Part of the Downtown Business Alliance’s purpose is to help manage this growth in a way that is beneficial to them and the shoppers, no matter if they are tourists or locals. “We can make things happen a lot faster than government can,” said Hall. “Kyle’s department is amazing in supporting downtown, but he is limited to the historic segment of downtown. He’s funded by the Texas Historic Commission. Keepers is outside of the historic downtown, Serenity Boutique is not inside downtown, but they’re DBA members. So we work in conjunction with Mainstreet, but we are a private association. There are so many new people in town, and it was like we got to get them and we need our own local residents to understand that we’re down here.” To achieve this, they launched a now-familiar downtown event, Third Thursdays, where shops stay open late to allow those community members that work during regular business hours a time to go shopping in the places they know and love.
