While it may be common for buildings or businesses to be bought and sold, buying them in bulk is a bit more rare. Rockwood resident Lisa Griffin is hoping to bring some life back to downtown Rockwood by buying out and renting many of the buildings in the Rockwood St. and Front St. block, and has even placed some of her own businesses in the area.
“We bought that whole block of buildings on the last day of last year,” Griffin said. “We wanted to put something in there to give life back to it, utilize those buildings because they were in good shape. We started off, the intent was to move Pink Cricket that was originally owned on the other side of the street to move it over there, rename it, which is now called Wild Souls Boutique and Home Goods, and just have a place in there where people could come shop and it fit anyone.”
Some of the businesses set up in Griffin’s buildings include Wild Souls Boutique and Home Goods, The Shop hair salon, Tennessee Tails pet groomer, Buck Hills Auction House, an upcoming event venue, and Bubba’s Bakery, an up and coming bakery and cafe just across from Rockwood’s Homecoming Park.
“An 18-year-old boy opened up a business and called it Bubba’s Bakery, and he ran it for about 6 months and he decided it was just too much,” Griffin said. “He didn’t realize the responsibility that came along with owning a business. So, we bought the business from him because it’s a small town bakery, coffee shop, when the kids get out of school they can come there and hang out and have a safe place especially since Live and Let Live closed.”
Griffin is also set to open Wild Souls Boutique and Home Goods this week, set between Bubba’s Bakery and the Buck Hills Auction House. However, this project ended up proving difficult due to the severe storms encountered earlier this year.
“Me and my husband, we kind of got discouraged a few times because we got hit by a big storm that came through,” she said. “We were replacing a roof and everything which had to be replaced when we purchased the building. We were halfway through the replacing of it when the storm came through. We had several weekends of almost tornado-like activities and it ripped everything off that we had been doing on the roof and so we had to restart and it ended up being about $120,000 instead of $20,000 to fix it.”
Griffin says her plan to revitalize the block is going well. With all the buildings in the block being rented out by businesses in one form or another.
Griffin herself is a Westel native and member of the Woodall family with strong ties to Rockwood.
“I grew up in Westel just right on top of the mountain, and my dad is a Woodall,” she said. “There’s lots of Woodalls and they all grew up in Rockwood. We always grew up here, and we always were a hard-working people and try to give back to people.”
Griffin’s husband is from Indianapolis having moved to the area in the 9th grade. The couple now has four children and six grandchildren. Griffin herself worked as a nurse for over 15 years, and her husband Robbie worked at Rockwood Water, Sewer, and Gas for over 23 before both felt it was time to pursue new ventures.
“In the last two years we started flipping houses and as we flipped those houses the money we made off of them got put back in order to purchase something to put back into our town to try and give it some life again,” Griffin said. “I’m a huge history person, I don’t like seeing any old buildings getting torn down. But I understand sometimes there’s no other option. So if the building is in good condition and we can actually go in and restore it, then yes, that is something we are looking at.”
