Avant Card to close downtown store
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By JEAN ORTIZ / Lincoln Journal Star
After more than 25 years, a card and gift shop known for its eclectic offerings will close its downtown location next month.
Avant Card will close shop at 1323 O Street before the end of March because the building’s owners are not renewing the store’s lease, owner Duane Krepel said. He tentatively plans to close March 24.
The space is owned by Bryan and Anita McFarland, who also own the neighboring bar, The Watering Hole.
The owners told Krepel they plan to expand the bar into the Avant Card space, he said.
The McFarlands, who live out of state, were unavailable for comment. Bar management referred all questions to the couple.
The store’s closure marks the departure of downtown’s last card shop and the absence of one more retailer from a scene once dominated by department stores and retail activity.
The store has moved before, operating out of four downtown locations over the years. But with soaring rents, a move this time is just not an option, despite the loyalty of his customers, Krepel said.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” he said. “I don’t want to say goodbye to all these people.”
Krepel, who has owned the downtown store for nearly all of its 25-year run, will continue to operate a store at Gateway Mall and one at 48th and Van Dorn, which opened in December.
He plans to move some of his downtown inventory and employees to the Van Dorn Plaza store, he said.
The storefront Monday included clearance sale signs and a posting that said the store was moving.
Kim Huerta, who works downtown, met the news with disappointment. The colorful shop has come in handy when she needed to pick up something humorous, or for the times she forgot a birthday, she said.
“It’s too bad that our main street just has bars and restaurants,” she said, standing outside the store as she looked down O Street.
Inside, Kent Griffith perused the wall of comical cards during his lunchtime pass through downtown. He said he is happy he can still visit another location, including one closer to home, but is still sad to see the store go.
“I hate to see anything go out of downtown,” he said.
With word of Krepel’s closure plans quickly spreading among customers, at least one fan has stepped into the role of optimist.
“I’m not ready to say there isn’t going to be an Avant Card downtown,” said Polly McMullen, president of the Downtown Lincoln Association. “A lot of people care about this business.”
Retail is an essential part of downtown and its current state is concerning, as is the concentration of bars on O Street, she said.
The concern has spurred study. Consultants recently completed an extensive survey of downtown residents and employees and are moving into analysis mode. The results will help create a plan aimed at strengthening the retail environment, McMullen said.
Whether it yields suggested actions for the association, the city or others with stake in the downtown community, McMullen said she’s hopeful for a greater mix of business.
And Krepel for one, who is unhappy about the pub proliferation, wouldn’t mind seeing a turnaround.
“It just seems retail didn’t have to die downtown,” he said. “It didn’t have to.”
He remembers the days when Avant Card competed with multiple downtown Hallmark card shops. People said he was crazy for going up against such competition, he said.
But the shops closed, and Krepel remained.
“I used to joke I was the last man standing,” he said. “I’m not anymore.”
Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.
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