One of the latest businesses to move into a section of Cherry Street Commons, the 42,000 square foot, newly redeveloped old tobacco warehouse in Downtown Johnson City, is Southern Dutch.
Founded in 2010, Southern Dutch is the business name under which Jennifer (a Johnson City native) and Rob (from the Netherlands) Lesman operate their ecommerce stores. Its flagship sites are MyCraftSupplies.com and EleanorBrownBoutique.com, both represented on powerhouse online retail platforms Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and soon Walmart.
Jennifer Lesman said, “Being a family business allows us to be flexible, fast, and fully focused on our customers’ needs. Our small team loves coming to the shop every workday morning, ready to serve. And although we are not open to walk-in traffic, when locals shop with us online from the comfort of their home they can count on their order being delivered to them with ‘prime’ speed.”
The Lesmans opened their first webshop, SantosCageDoll.com, one year prior to establishing Southern Dutch. Currently serving as an archive, the website is home to an extensive collection of antique-style Santos dolls. Centuries ago, devout European Catholics started handcrafting similar ‘primitive’ style statues; meant as private altars to worship at, or to carry in religious processions.
Nowadays, Santos are much treasured as home décor. And as the saintly site steadily grew into the world’s number one webshop of its kind, Jennifer and Rob found other chic and shabby décor pieces they wanted to share, too. So with Jennifer’s mother as the shop’s honorary curator, Eleanor Brown Boutique opened its virtual doors next. The site specializes in “new and vintage lovelies for the lady of the house.” Which means that, in addition to Santos, Eleanor stocks a curated selection of French Country and Urban Farmhouse style products. Think rustic bee skeps, ruffled shower curtains, bird-themed treasures, and other precious pieces to grace your home or garden.
My Craft Supplies is an extensive addition to the Southern Dutch family of webshops. This online store carries top quality favor bags, washi tape, planners, small wood supplies, cards and envelopes, and many other competitively priced supplies for those who love to craft.
In 2016, after several previous moves, the Lesmans were again in search of a larger warehouse. And they found just what they needed at Cherry Street Commons. Jennifer said, “Mitch Cox Companies is known for its quality work, and we are excited to relocate to our brand new 7,000 square feet space at 108 Ashe Street. We are proud to join the many thriving small businesses in Johnson City’s reinvigorated downtown.”
Cherry Street Commons already has three other tenants, Olson’s Martial Arts Academy, the Owl’s Nest, and Urban Collective. Philip Cox, President of Hotel Management Services, Inc. and a Development Partner, said, “we are very excited to have Southern Dutch as our newest addition to the Cherry Street Commons development. We are especially excited to welcome a successful ecommerce operation to downtown Johnson City.”
Cherry Street Commons has 9,140 square feet of space remaining. For more information about the remaining spaces in the Cherry Street Commons redevelopment, please contact Shannon K. Castillo, affiliate broker at Mitch Cox Realtors, at 423-282-6582 or shannon@mitchcox.com.
Founded in 1979 in Johnson City, Tennessee, Mitch Cox Companies is a full-service real estate solutions company offering development, architectural, construction, brokerage and commercial property management services. The company also manages hotel properties across the Southeast and Midwest U.S. and manages residential community associations in the Tri-Cities region of Tennessee. To see our work and listings, visit our website, Facebook page, call us at 423.282.6582, or, visit our new office at 2304 Silverdale Drive, Ste. 200, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601.