Guess which established Columbus retail business is moving back downtown?

In the late 1970s, with downtown Columbus dying on the vine, the Kiddie Shoppe was one of many retailers to make the move to Columbus Square Mall.

That’s what stores did back in the day to save themselves from financial ruin. They went where their customers were. And they certainly were not downtown.

Now, guess what retailer is preparing to move back into downtown Columbus next month?

You got it right, the Kiddie Shoppe.

Want to guess why?

Simple: the same reason the business left nearly four decades ago. It makes financial sense.

(Job Spotlight: Tiffany Yarbrough, owner of The Kiddie Shoppe)

Listen to what Kiddie Shoppe owner Tiffany Yarbrough said of the reason for leaving the Bradley Park area and coming back downtown, where the business started in the late 1930s just prior to World War II.

“Our heart is in the Kiddie Shoppe and we put 110 percent of ourselves in it,” she said of the niche business she owns with her husband, Josh. “We love being where we are. ... But the rent is crazy as it is everywhere in north Columbus. In order to keep the Kiddie Shoppe going and be able grow it like we want to we realized we had to cut one of our biggest expenses, which was the rent.”

The Kiddie Shoppe is a Columbus institution. Over the years it has been downtown, as well as Columbus Square, Cross Country Plaza, Peachtree Mall and Main Street Village, and at Bradley Park for the past nine years.

The Yarbroughs, who live in midtown Columbus, have owned it since December 2013. Their bread and butter is still apparel for children. It is still a sit-and-fit shoe store. But they also sell toys and baby furniture.

About six months ago they began seriously looking at property to lease downtown.

“We wanted to be on Broadway,” Tiffany said.

They could not find what they were looking for on Broadway, so they decided to play off Broadway, but not too far. The new location is just a few steps off Broadway on 11th Street behind Mama Goldberg’s sandwich shop.

The Kiddie Shoppe currently operates out of 2,600 square feet and will be moving into about the same amount of space downtown. The rent will be about 40 percent cheaper, Yarbrough said.

“I do realize that we are faced with some issues, like the parking, but I am hoping we can make up for what we lose there with some walk-by traffic,” Tiffany said. “Summertime, for instance, is our slowest time where we are now. A lot of people in Columbus leave for vacation. By being down here, I feel there will be people coming in here for the summer.”

She likes the energy she sees downtown.

“Josh and I come down here and ride bikes, we bring our children down here, and it has never been a problem to us,” she said. “The parking has never been an issue. Even when we go out to eat, it is not a big deal to me to have to walk a little ways to get somewhere. I love the energy and the fact that we are getting the new hotels and retail spaces.”

Edgar Chancellor knows a little about downtown retail. His family owned a men’s clothing store on Broadway for four generations before he sold it more than a decade ago. He is still a significant downtown property owner.

“We need more retail down here and this is a good sign,” Chancellor said on Friday. “The last part of the pie in what is happening downtown is retail. We already have the best restaurants in town by far. We just need the retail to go along with it.”

He thinks the Yarbroughs are making a good move. Chancellor said they looked at a building he owned but could not work out a deal.

“I really wanted to put her in one of my buildings, but it was already rented,” Chancellor said. “I am really glad they landed down here. You talk to her for any length of time, and you can tell she has a heart for retail, and that’s what it takes these days.”

There is another reason Yarbrough believes she has found the right spot at the right time: many of her customers are downtown throughout the day and many potential customers now live downtown or in the nearby Historic District.

“I feel like I have a lot of customers who are working moms — and dads, for that matter — who are at Synovus, TSYS and some of the other downtown businesses,” she said. “Hopefully, it will make it a little more convenient for them.”

She knows that the families who have children at St. Luke School are customers and potential customers. There are many fitness groups, including one called “Stroller Strong Moms” that exercises a street over several times a week. There is also the new playground and splash pad on Front Avenue that draw kids — and parents — into downtown.

“We know there are a lot of opportunities,” Tiffany said.

The store is opening in early March in time for the Easter season, traditionally the busiest sales time of the year. Plans now call for the Kiddie Shoppe to be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

“But we can adjust that as we need to,” she said. “If we need to stay open later on concert series nights we will do that.”

And she knows that with the new territory will come new issues. Some of her customers, used to parking in front of the store, have raised the parking question. Parking downtown is regulated and as the area has developed it has become more difficult to park in front of the store or restaurant you’re visiting.

“I have pointed out there are a couple of handicapped parking spaces, but there is also a 15-minute space right there,” Tiffany said. “I have told them to pull in there and I will run and park their car for them. We are going to make it work no matter how we have to do it.”

That’s the right attitude.

But for Chancellor, it is more than attitude.

“To me, it says a lot that she wants to bring her business back to where it began,” he said.

Yes, it does.

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Guess which established Columbus retail business is moving back downtown?."