Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood: Shelley Green-The Green Corner Store

Not only is it called The Green Corner Store but is a literal green corner, having seen many other business pop up since it's opening in July of 2009

Webster's Dictionary has this to say about the word green:  pleasantly alluring...youthful, vigorous...fresh, new.  I would say that is a perfect fit for Shelly Green and The Green Corner Store.  One of my favorite spots in the SoMa neighborhood, it is definitely alluring and vigorous.  It's new in the sense that in an area that has been around for well over 100 years the store has only been open since July 2009.  When Shelley Green opened the store she was pretty much by herself on the corner of 15th and Main other than the coin laundry across the street.  The Bernice Garden was just getting completed pretty much.

Shelley Green is an embodiment of the word green, of the green movement, and what is best about SoMa.  Born in Kenosha, WI Shelley has lived all over the country, growing up in Anaheim, CA, and moved to Little Rock from Birmingham, AL in around 2007.  With a retail and consulting background, she was looking for a location where she could put a green store similar to the one she'd consulted with and had seen have huge success in Birmingham.  The location pretty much found her but it was exactly what she had been looking for.  Shelley knew she wanted an environment she would enjoy working in that was located in a walkable area that echoed the green movement.  She also wanted to have that proverbial "Main Street" feel.  Friends of hers had businesses or connections to non-profits in the area so that put the location on her radar.  If all the wonderful factors weren't enough, the landlady Anita Davis had refurbished the building in a very green way using eco-friendly paints and materials. 

The store feels as if it has been in continuous use as it is for the last 100 years, evolving over time as different members of a family have taken over and changed with the times.  Part of that is due to the fact that it is located in a former drug store.  It has a soda fountain, selling sodas and ice cream from Loblolly Creamery, carries locally sourced flowers, honey, jellies, jewelry, clothing, and other merchandise. 

I always enjoy the fresh flowers on the ice cream parlor tables.  These usually come from Bussey-Scott Urban Garden

A sample of the coconut chocolate chip ice cream from Loblolly Creamery! 

 

 

Whatever you choose whether it's cookies, an ice cream sandwich, cone, or fantastic soda you won't be disappointed.

 

 

If you don't like sweets or a soda, no worries there is shopping with choices ranging from fresh cut flowers to vintage albums!

 

 

Shelley has really done a wonderful job putting together a place that feels as much like a community center as it does a store.  One resident had told her that it would probably take10 years for the area to come back but it's been so much quicker than that.  I was just there today when I took a break from working at my laptop to get something to eat and then a sweet treat.  The store was full and I had to sit at the counter!  It recharged my batteries to have the light and dark chocolate mint ice cream, talk with Sally behind the counter serving her delicious sodas, and soak in the natural light coming in the big windows.  As I walked back to my building I thought how wonderful it is to be living in an area that feels like small town America use to feel where you knew your neighbors and could walk to where you needed to go. 

 

Stop by and tell the folks I said hello!

 

All photography rights shared by Brian Kelley/Imagine Photography