[ad_1]
DULUTH – Joy Herbert, an entrepreneur at heart, is ready to make her next move. Owner of Little Natures, a play cafe and children’s store in the Enger Lofts development, Herbert is ready to sell her business and take on a new role as manager of Lincoln Park Business Group.
When Herbert and her husband, Joshua, opened Little Nature’s first location in West Duluth, their oldest son was 2 years old. Now he is 16. They also have 14, 10 and 9 children.
As their children grew up, so did their business. Finally, for more room, head to 1832 W. Superior St. in Lincoln Park. He moved. Little Nature’s has 3,800 square feet of retail space offering diapers, gear, toys and clothing for children, in addition to a cafe, work space for parents and a large play area for children.
Brielle Bredsten / Duluth News Tribune
In a Facebook announcement, Herbert said she’s ready to try something new, saying, “It’s very important to me who leads this next, and that this small local business continues to serve the needs of families in our community.”
According to Herbert, there are a handful of interested parties.
“This is my son, this is a 13-year-old boy,” Herbert said of Little Nature. “Unless you’re a business owner, that emotional connection to your business is hard to understand. You’re attached. I know how hard it is and what goes into it.”
In this regard, Herbert feels she can provide support by connecting with other local business owners and bringing businesses together.
While working outside of West Duluth, Herbert also served on the board of the West Duluth Business Club, gaining experience in organizing community events of various sizes. She expressed a sense of disconnect among West Duluth businesses. During Ghost Valley Days one year, Herbert held a meeting between all the competing bar owners to plan a pub crawl.
“These are people who would never be expected to work together in the same room. I was amazed at how well everyone got along, and the pub crawl was a success for the community, working together can benefit everyone rather than standing alone,” Herbert said.
The spirit of support among business owners is what drew Herbert to move to Lincoln Park a year ago and fueled her desire to become more involved in the community.
“Even though the businesses are competing, they’re still working together. It feels like its own little community ready to work together. I hope to facilitate that further,” she said.
As part-time manager of Lincoln Park Business Group, Herbert manages the office, events and outreach to business members and the community. As she gets the lay of the land in the next few months, her focus will be on gathering input from members and coming up with new ideas to grow the group.
Some innovative ideas include partnering with the Entrepreneur Fund to offer classes to the community on business-related topics such as marketing. She also hopes to initiate regular meetings among local professionals for networking opportunities. The team is using the Ecolibrium3 organization’s Main Street program to explore annual events and work to bring people and activities to Lincoln Park year-round.
“We are thrilled to bring Joe to the business team,” President Stephanie LaFleur said in a news release. “She brings both the management skills and small business entrepreneurship experience we need to support and strengthen Lincoln Park’s businesses.”
Brielle Bredsten / Duluth News Tribune
Parking is a challenge in the area, especially during tourist seasons. Herbert anticipates this will be a major threat to Lincoln Park businesses during the construction of West Superior Road through the Lincoln Park Craft District.
The City of Duluth is planning a comprehensive street and utility construction project from Carlton Avenue to West Michigan Avenue. It is expected to take place over a 3 2/2-year period, starting in the late summer of 2025 and ending in the summer of 2028.
“When the roads are closed, it’s worse than the plague. People don’t want to go to places where there’s road construction and they don’t want to walk,” Herbert said. “If parking is too difficult, you’re going to remove all of that from the main street, that’s too much. There’s a real risk that businesses can’t afford it, but this area has a lot of growth, which is extremely exciting. The benefit of being here. That this thing is coming. We all know that but we have time to come up with a good plan to get people to come to the area. The businesses all seem to be working together, so this looks very promising. I want the business owners here to know that I’m here to listen, learn and deliver – whatever it looks like.
[ad_2]
Source link
