LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Garwood Linton and his NuLu business have made it through the pandemic.
As the country nears the two-year anniversary of the first pandemic lockdown, store owner Linton has a very positive outlook for his business and other businesses in Lousiville’s NuLu neighborhood.
Though Linton says the last two years have been a roller coaster ride.
“Things have really picked up,” Linton said.
Linton owns Red Tree, selling furniture, home decor, jewelry, gifts and more. His Market Street location is a favorite, and essentially a cornerstone business since Linton has been open here for 20 years. The hallmark of his store is it’s bursting with merchandise, every inch of his floor space is adorned with items for sale.
“We find that we have to do reorders every day because we are getting merchandise in every day because people are coming in and supporting local businesses,” he said.
Not only has Linton been in business for two decades, for the last six he’s been a board member of NuLu’s business association. Not only is he invested in his two store locations, he’s connected to all the entrepreneurs in this area of Louisville.
“Oh, gosh there’s so many new businesses that come in. There’s the dog shop that opened up, there’s West Sixth which we are thrilled to have, the NuLu marketplace,” Linton said.
Because of his longevity and success, Linton felt it was a natural progression to become involved with NuLu’s broader development. In fact, Linton has operated Red Tree before NuLu was even named “NuLu.”
The pandemic, the associated shutdowns, capacity requirements, mandates and other restrictions affected small businesses and unfortunately, the setbacks were too great for many. Linton, of course, feels grateful to be through the worst of it.
As spring approaches, he definitely feels a positivity in the air among his staff, other owners in the area, and customers.
“But all of a sudden we are seeing an up-tick of people from all kinds of cities; Chicago, New York, San Francisco. Hotels are being booked at 90% so it’s really exciting,” Linton said.