Meadville’s downtown area will soon see some changes to its local businesses. Indigo Boutique and Botanica announced on Sept. 25 that it will be closing its physical storefront ­— on Market Street just south of Chestnut Street — and moving online starting on Oct. 5. Soon after, Hatch Hollow announced that it will relocate from its Chestnut Street location into Indigo’s old building. Hatch Hollow also announced other renovations, including expanding its gallery and coworking space and adding more art supply options to the shelves.
Hatch Hollow owner Heather Fish, ’15, is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, but after graduating from Allegheny College she chose the city of Meadville to make her home. Fish said she started Hatch Hollow in 2018 as a coworking space for individuals searching for a community to connect with outside of their home-work office. Fish herself often worked from home, and while she appreciated the remote workspace, she also expressed feeling isolated from her community. So, connecting her passion for the arts with her desire to join her community, she dreamed up Hatch Hollow.
The plan is to renovate the coworking space in Hatch Hollow’s new storefront “to activate the space during the daytime hours, where we don’t get as many walk-ins for the gallery.”
Hatch Hollow will be making the move into Indigo’s previous building shortly, which will provide more opportunities to display local art pieces.
The retail area from the original boutique will turn into a co-working space/gallery, and craft materials will be displayed where Indigo’s apothecary is currently located. Other parts of the building will stay the same, with the first floor remaining as the storefront and the second continuing to house apartments.
There have been several pitches for what the third floor should occupy, but Fish is hoping for an event space. More specifically, Fish is interested in creating a ballroom that could be rented out for private use. She said she is crossing her fingers to utilize her interior design skills from prior jobs when doing renovations on the top floor.
Within the upcoming weeks, submissions will be accepted for display in an upcoming gallery titled “Mythical Manifestations.” Further information about submission details are on the Hatch Hollow website. Along with that, Fish said a few events are on their way to be tested out at this new location. A salsa night might be one of them. Fish said Meadville residents should watch out for those “salsa-colored leaves” during the fall because they could stumble upon the event in Diamond Park. Dancing, a potluck and music are all waiting for the citizens of Meadville to enjoy.
Sara Degnan, ’27, said the new Hatch Hollow location sparked her interest in the future of the business. Degnan loves the art supply store and the friendly employees.
“The first time I went into Hatch Hollow was on Second Saturday this year, and everybody there [was] just so sweet,” Degnan said. “So I’m excited to go back as soon as I can.”
Degnan is a loyal customer of Indigo and specifically admires their jewelry and trinkets. Degnan is sad to see the business transition to an online platform, but is confident that she will continue to shop there.
“I am because I’m a bad online shopper, because I’ll buy everything,” Degnan said.
Both Indigo and Hatch Hollow regularly interact with Allegheny, sometimes hosting events for students. Degnan missed past events hosted on campus from Indigo so she hopes to be involved in the next one. Leslie Flint, founder of Indigo Boutique and Botanica, said that the motivation to switch to an online platform is multifaceted. Flint said she has a lot on her plate, currently being a student along with running her shop. The dual commitments come with quite a bit of responsibility to Indigo, Flint said, and cause a lack of expansion in her personal life. Additionally, future businesses coming to the city like TJ Maxx and Five Below overlap with Indigo’s sales of crystals, tarot cards, jewelry, metaphysical books and more. Competing with companies like these tends to be difficult with the difference in prices even though the product might not be sustainably sourced like the ones Flint provides.
Flint also partially attributed the transition online to her health. The workload of running the boutique seven days a week has collided with her health issues and aging, so an online platform seemed more suitable to her at the moment, Flint said.
“When you open a business, you think you have this permanent idea, right?” Flint said.“I’m going to have this storefront at (945 Market St.) and this is going to be the cat’s ass and I’m going to do this forever.”
Flint said her attitude starting up Indigo ran its course and she welcomed all feelings of growth and improvement. Indigo will have its online presence and a few local huts for the foreseeable future but is subject to change.
Owning a valued small business takes tremendous work and Flint said she has given her all to provide a space like this to the city of Meadville.
Feeling blessed to be a part of the Meadville community, Flint loves her “Allegheny babies” and seeing them visit Indigo. She said it is not so much about the money as it is about giving students fun activities to engage with outside of your average on-campus events. Sound bath and reiki sessions may be in the works at Allegheny college in the future, according to Flint.
“Sometimes,” she said, “you just need a cool, old hippy chick in the community to give you a hug and say ‘Hey, how are you doing?’”