Sep. 26—Logansport is a community of doers. It's apparent right away.
Look across Cass County and you will find a lack of national name recognition. That's changing to some extent, but mostly Logansport has had to do-it-yourself for a very long time.
That's led to an eclectic mixture of businesses both old and new.
And as the community waits for Harbor Freight Tools, Culver's and Wendy's, local businesses are popping up around the area, breathing life into a downtown that is ready to bloom.
"Communities our size, the backbone is entrepreneurs, small businesses, non-franchised names," said Bill Cuppy, president of president of the Logansport Cass County Chamber of Commerce and the Cass Logansport Economic Development Organization. "What we've seen gravitate to the mall and some of the East end are franchises. That's because of traffic count, demographics, to where our entrepreneurs and mom and pop operations, they can take more of the grass root approach. Logansport needs X and they can build it. They don't need approval from corporate. They can see how it goes. See how it works."
There have been a lot of new ideas come to Logansport in 2022.
And it's working well.
Mr. Happy Burger retires
Before jumping into the new, one must acknowledge the past.
Longtime staple of the Logansport community, Bob Shanks, sold his remaining Mr. Happy Burger restaurant, 1050 W. Market St., on January 27 to Pat Hilton of Penguin Point restaurants.
Shanks has delighted the town for decades and is known for his compassion, his care for his customers and handing out free Coke tickets to young children.
He had previously sold his Westside location, 900 W. Market St., to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse in October 2021. That business officially opened its doors this spring.
Shanks' legacy influenced a generation of Cass County entrepreneurs.
New kids on the block
Downtown Logansport has been popping with new businesses, making good neighbors for the colorful murals that dot the tired buildings. Together, business and art is revitalizing the area.
Rosie & Clive's Beauty Boutique, 29 S. Third St., brought more diversity to downtown retail, offering hair care products for Black women and other beauty and style merchandise.
Alyssa Irvin turned her love of plants into a business, opening Plant Therapy LLC, 608 North St., in April.
"In the six months that I have been open, we have evolved so much as a store," she said. "I have been able to expand my horizons and provide more options for customers. I have built this business over the course of many years of hard work and learning. I did not use business loans or grants and continue to work hard to do what I love."
One of the most anticipated locales of Logansport finally opened its doors in August. The Science Project, 611 North St., is a brewery and restaurant and gives Logansport another option to both hang out and grab a meal.
Sienna Urbina, a local artist, helped design the mural on the exterior of The Science Project. She credited the local entrepreneurs, especially Scott Johnson, who opened Black Dog Legacy and Matt and Katya Swisher, Bonus Pints owners, for sparking the local arts movement.
"The art that started to take place, I feel that started to happen as these new businesses opened up—these new, funky, eccentric people started to believe in themselves and say 'hey, I'm going to go ahead and do this thing because why not,'" she said.
Johnson recently sold Black Dog Legacy to his former barista and manager Marissa Bergstedt.
Bonus Pints continued to run as a local bar and restaurant while also housing The Record Farm. The Swishers opened up the second floor and welcomed Fulcrum Barbershop as well as The Lantern, one of the most unique businesses in Logansport.
Spooky and Kooky
The Lantern, alongside Spooky Grandma's Halloween Shop, both arrived within weeks of each other in June. Both focus on the odd but operate on opposite ends of the supernatural spectrum.
The Lantern opened after a successful trial run as a pop up shop during the 2021 holiday season. Run by artist Brett Manning and her husband, Frank Rouch, the shop sells artwork, clothing, Tarot cards and other unique items, some focusing on pop culture such as "Stranger Things" and "Twin Peaks."
Spooky Grandma's, 6342 W. County Road 100 North is where horror icons Jason, Michael and Freddy hang out on cloudy, starless nights.
Located just on the outskirts of Logansport, hidden in the woods like a place every horror film ever has told you not to visit, Melissa Lyttle's business embraces the manic fun and thrills of a scary movie.
One might question if Logansport needs two spooky shops. Based on both businesses early success, the answer is yes.
"We honestly didn't expect things to take off so fast to the point of launching a website," said Spooky Grandma's shop manager, Alyssa Lyttle. "We have had so much interest we wanted to make a marketplace accessible to everyone."
The business website launched on September 9.
Spooky Grandma's has committed itself to being all about community, offering events such as spell casting sessions, movie nights and spooky parties.
One can only anticipate what they have lined up for October.
"We love meeting all our customers and forming personal friendships with them," said Lyttle. "These people have become our spooky family."
The old school
The new blood can only prove beneficial to all the established local businesses.
There's a sense of hope in the community of owners. There are talks of collaborations. There's support, wanting to see each other succeed.
The Nest, 510 E. Broadway, has been part of downtown Logansport for 48 years. Owner Nikki Reed is still going strong, her shop full of decorative knick knacks.
"I think downtown is growing," Reed said. "I think there is a lot going on and a lot happening and I think that increases the number of people downtown. There's a lot of people walking around anymore."
The Gray Mill, 500 E. Broadway St., is still a centerpiece in the area. Judy's GoodLife Emporium, LLC, 325. E. Market St., continues to sell natural health and nutritional supplements and Sage N' Tonic, 220 South 6th St. entered it's second year of business.
"I feel so excited about that because I also live down here," said Natasha Walters, owner of Bodyworks Studio + Empower Wellness Café, a yoga studio in it's 11th year of operation. "I love to be in this area and to be able to walk around downtown. I feel really excited about working with these new business owners in the upcoming months."
International delights
Walk through downtown Logansport and it feels like walking down a New York City side street sometimes. With fewer people, obviously.
International markets dot the landscape, offering tastes of the diverse populations who call the town home. There's something authentic around every corner.
Dona Conchita, 801 N. 3rd St., a bakery that opened this summer, brought tasty treats and fluffy loafs of bread to Logansport.
Food trucks grew in popularity as well. El Rancho Street Tacos had customers lined up down the street in Walton. The Palencia family took a risk when opening El Taquito Feliz, but it paid off.
There's more to come. Tropico Grocery Store and El Rinconcito Del Saber will open soon.
Destination Logansport
Scan through The Lantern's and Spooky Grandma's social media pages and you will find potential customers asking about making long drives to visit the businesses.
Recently, someone asked The Lantern's owners what else she could visit if she made the five hour trip to Logansport.
Slowly, Logansport is becoming a place people want to be again.
The past has been unkind to Logansport. The struggle is on every downtown building, their boarded up windows like gray wisps of hair and worry wrinkles after tough times
But young entrepreneurs and locals who love their community are hard at work rebuilding it.
They'd love for others to join them. Logansport and Cass County truly have potential to be an Indiana gem.
"You like to create and see things happen that keep people here because they want to be here," said Cuppy. "We're not only seeing that but we are seeing people want to come here."
