New owners find treasures and opportunities at Mississippi Marketplace

Making what’s old new again.

That’s the goal for the new owners of a Davenport mall.

The West Kimberly Mall will change over to the Mississippi Marketplace on August 1.

The vintage flea market and thrift shopping center bring together dozens of vendors.

The husband and wife team plan to help see the location’s business grow and the entrepreneurs that call it home.

It started in June for Katie and Jason Padavich, searching for a place to expand their woodworking business.

Instead of moving into a bigger shop, their interest was sparked to buy a little mall with all its vendors to keep it going.

On July 1, 2018, they officially took over the property. 

Lolly P’s Treasures owner Laurie Prather said, “I consider it my retirement hobby. Keeps me out of trouble, keeps me busy and I enjoy.”

Laurie Prather has been running Lolly P’s Treasures out of the West Kimberly Mall for nearly seven years.

Prather said,“That’s probably one of my biggest scares was that someday this might just close and I have a lot of real estate. I have a lot of stuff, and I kept thinking, ‘oh my gosh, what I am going to do with it all.’”

But that’s not a worry for her retirement hobby anytime soon and the dozens of other vendors inside, as Katie Padavich and her husband Jason settle in as the new owners of the soon to be retired name of West Kimberly Mall.

Mississippi Marketplace co-owner Katie Padavich said, “Davenport is expanding, and they’re expanding northwest, and I get to be in the middle of it. I get to be in the prime spot with this location.”

August 1, Padavich said is the big relaunch as Mississippi Marketplace, and she is working with some of the vendors that call it home to help spruce up the home away from home for many.

Padavich said, “We’ve done some mild remodeling but the big thing is broadening the variety of vendors here.”

Padavich’s plans will continue to bring the long-term vendors that have been this location’s staple, is to allow sellers to set up pop-up shops in the empty stalls, to bring in more crafts, foods and live entertainment to keep the business growing.

Vendor George Shipley said, “It seems it’s a new life out here.”

Padavich said, “This building has been here forever. It used to be a bowling alley, it was a nightclub.”

Padavich said they already have some new vendors filling these stalls but this grow is to help those that helped to start this marketplace.

Padavich said, “It’s been here for over 14 years, and some of my vendors have been here since day one.”

Padavich tells Local 4 and Fox 18 News that their first day of the rebranding, Aug. 1, there about 20 new vendors that will join the Mississippi Marketplace.

There will also be a stall dedicated to Rescued, and they’re also collecting school supplies. 

Vendors speaking to Local 4 and Fox 18 News said the benefit of a place like this is they don’t always have to be manning their stalls when it’s open, but shoppers can still go through the booths and buy their items.

To learn more about the relaunch of the Mississippi Marketplace, they can visit their Facebook page.