The Downtown Business Association and Main Street El Dorado’s First Thursday kicked off July yesterday with an “Around the World” theme that inspired the decorative skills of business owners and employees throughout downtown.
Participants this month included All About Flowers, Sports Alley, Madison Kate and Co, Cole’s Jewelers, Diamond Nutrition, Shelly’s Shoes and Murphy Pitard Jewelers.
Each business chose a country or region to theme their store around for event.
At All About Flowers, Australia was the country of choice, and the store offered snacks, free boomerangs and even displayed an Australian flag at their entrance.
Shelly Owens at Shelly’s Shoes was eager to show off her Italian decor, which included a snack and wine table, Italian ice, and a display of her Italian-sourced clothing.
Sports Alley took a trip to Spain for their display, offering sangrias to customers. Sports Alley employee Brooklyn Greer said the store had already served quite a few less than an hour after First Thursday began.
Cole’s Jewelers chose Hawaii as their theme and welcomed Oh How Sweet Cotton Candy into the store with a pop-up shop and handed out leis to shoppers.
Other themes included Diamond Nutrition with Mexico, serving margarita-flavored teas; Murphy Pitard Jewelers with Belgium and Madison Kate and Co, with Brazil.
Elsewhere downtown, South Arkansas Community College joined in on the event with a booth. SouthArk Student Advising Coach Tim Johnson said the faculty members were on-site to remind students that fall advising has begun and to give out information about the college.
First Thursday will continue monthly; August’s theme will be “sip and shop.”