Vortex Souvenir owners to give Revolutsia a turn
UPDATED — Vortex Souvenir owners Hannah Scott and Kevin Wildt love a lot of things about the space their store opened in near Second and Hydraulic in November, but that’s not stopping them from moving to the new Revolutsia shipping container development.
“We like the idea of being closer to other businesses and being a part of something as a group or a collective,” Wildt says.
“It’ll get us in front of different people that might not have found us otherwise,” Scott says.
They’re moving their art and gift shop to the development at Central and Volutsia in October.
“Revolutsia is kind of all coming together at that same time,” Scott says. “We just felt like it would be a smart move to try it out.”
Wildt says he and Scott are friends with Little Lion Ice Cream owners Ian and Jubilee Miller, and visiting their store at Revolutsia got them excited about the development.
“One thing led to another, and it felt like more and more it was the right fit and the right next chapter for us,” Wildt says.
At their current space, Wildt says most shoppers have found the store through word of mouth.
“We’ve been spoiled,” he says.
Sept. 16 will be the final day Vortex Souvenir is open in its current space, which is decorated with murals that Scott painted.
“That is really sad, honestly, to leave it,” she says.
Scott says she and Wildt also appreciate their current landlords, Leon Moeder and his son, Daniel, but they didn’t want to give up the opportunity to reach new people.
“We’re excited to surprise people who maybe have no idea what we do as a shop,” Wildt says. “We just kind of get to be a jolt of something new.”
Krista Racine of J.P. Weigand & Sons handled the deal for the 640 square feet of space.
During the couple of weeks Vortex Souvenir will be closed for the move, a new store website will still have items for sale.
“We just really try to put a focus on independent artists and designers that have pride in their work and what they do,” Scott says.
She says the new store will carry the same merchandise, though slightly streamlined since she and Wildt have figured out what works best in the shop.
Wildt says the store’s pinball machine and vending machine with toys will make the move.
“They’re just fun ways for us to give visitors more of an experience,” he says.
Racine says there is a 960-square-foot space left at Revolutsia along with a 2-story, 1,400-square-foot space with floor-to-ceiling windows and a courtyard view that she thinks would be great as a co-working space. There are also two 160-square-foot spaces available.
Look for a video of the new Vortex Souvenir space next month along with a larger feature on the entire development.
This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 2:48 PM.