Village shop owners deal with uncertainty
Georgia — While the fate of the Blue Willow Village is still up in the air, the owners of shops currently open are left wondering what will happen to their stores.
The Village — a suite of shops behind the Blue Willow Inn Restaurant — is currently facing foreclosure. But while owner Louis Van Dyke is working to reach a compromise with Wells Fargo on the loan, shop owners still left in the Village are looking to the future with concern.
Kathlene Miller, owner of Do Over Children’s Consignment, opened her store in the Village last August and said news of the foreclosure earned an instant reaction from her customers.
“There’s been a panic,” Miller said. “People have called asking if we were closing, to get checks and clothes back or to cancel meetings. We’ve had to explain to everyone we are not going anywhere.”
Miller said she first opened Do Over in the Village because the rent was cheaper than downtown on Cherokee Road.
