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BUCHANAN — The long-vacant building on the corner of Days Avenue and Front Street has been brought back to life and is teaming with exciting new energy.

The Hometown & Co., 101 Days Ave., Buchanan is celebrating its Grand Opening with a ribbon cutting from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14. The event will include food, drinks, giveaways, live music, and a Santa photo booth. The Hometown & Co. Mercantile and Food Market is operated as a small business incubator for emerging businesses in the food and retail sector and is managed by LiveBuchanan, a nonprofit formed this year with the mission of revitalizing Buchanan’s historic downtown. The Hometown & Co. and its first cohort of four diverse businesses opened in late November and have already seen immense community support.

“We have an advantage,” says LiveBuchanan Director Ashley Regal, “Instead of one business trying to make a name for itself, we have four businesses working together to strengthen a business ecosystem.”

These businesses include regional favorite Taqueria Don Chepe which saw the potential in Buchanan after attending the summer event also hosted by LiveBuchanan, Munchie Mondays.

“There were a lot of people that came out for Munchie Mondays and we realized this could be a good opportunity for us,” said Peter Mendoza of Tacos Don Chepe,

New to the community, Diana’s Kitchen also saw the potential in Buchanan after the immense response she noted at the weekly food truck event. The space also hosts two retailers including a farm store, McBain Lane’s Mercantile, and a leather goods store, Goddess of the Moon Leatherworks.

“I feel like Buchanan is growing and moving in a direction that can support a business like mine. It’s got a small town feel with big city energy,” said Chandra Williams, owner creator Goddess of the Moon Leatherworks.

“This is truly a community project come to life,” Regal said. “From its inception, we’ve had dozens of community members and volunteers working together to achieve this goal.”

Regal goes on to explain that the long-vacant building was bought and underwent an extensive renovation by the Rowland Property Group who met with the LiveBuchanan team early on and saw the potential of their proposal. Also credited with support is Honor Credit Union which partnered with LiveBuchanan by providing business classes and funding.

“Without Honor seeing the vision, we wouldn’t have been able to get this concept off the ground. Because of them, we’re able to create this system of supporting and growing small businesses locally.” 

The program includes the shared market/retail space, business training, one-on-one coaching, and connections to vital resources that will help support each business as a viable long-term business in the community.

“That’s the goal,” Regal said. “This is more than helping a few businesses, this is about finding a way to make a significant long-term impact on the community by providing a pipeline of viable small businesses ready to call Buchanan home – just like we do.”

The Hometown & Co. is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Learn more at livebuchanan.com.