Holiday Island has struggled in recent years, especially during the pandemic, to keep a strong commercial district going. But Robert and Andrea Evans, who relocated from Texas and purchased four shopping centers with multiple storefronts, are breathing more fresh air into the newly incorporated city.
New businesses include The Corazon Grill, a restaurant featuring grassfed beef and cheese, and Discounts Plus, which carries just about everything you can imagine from tires to toys, including the largest selection of men’s clothing in Holiday Island or Eureka Springs.
“We love Holiday Island and its residents and wish nothing more than to help the town succeed in building a bright future for its current and future residents,” Robert wrote in an email interview. “There are a few tentative people fearful we will have trouble staying in operation as that has been a problem in the past. The one thing I have to say is that our success is a reflection of Holiday Island, and we are motivated to see Holiday Island succeed!”
The couple moved here in June 2020. They sold a portion of a business owned in Texas and focused those resources on investing in Holiday Island.
“In this world of Covid and wackiness, we have had to stay fluid to be able to change with the ever-evolving rules of operation,” Robert said.
Discounts Plus is not that much different than similar stores in other cities. The intention of the Evanses is to provide quality products and affordable prices in a clean environment.
In the Corazon Grill, they focus on serving the highest quality food carried by no one else.
“Being in Holiday Island, an area that has typically had problems holding onto restaurants, we decided that our food was priority number one,” Robert said. “I didn’t want to just open up a burger joint and have the same things I could eat at every other burger place.
“Not only that, Eureka Springs has so many wonderful places to eat that we didn’t want to be that crummy burger place in Holiday Island. We really wanted our food to be able to compete with the Sparky’s and Outer Limits of the area. While doing so, we didn’t want to just copy what they are doing, we wanted our own flavors, our own beef and our own cheeses.”
Their grassfed beef has earned rave reviews from customers. They purchase the beef from a rancher friend in Texas, and the cheese is made by the Veldhuizen Cheese Shoppe in Dublin, Texas.
“I have personally walked through their caves several times and can tell you that you can see the care the folks put into this product,” Robert said. “Last, but not least, our breads all come from a small family bakery in Ft. Smith. Harvest Moon Bakery focuses on quality ingredients to deliver a superior product. From our buns, to our sourdough and multigrain, to the occasional pie or tart, these folks know how to operate. The Corazon Grill not only focuses on the quality of our ingredients, we also concentrate on the families of those under our employment and those families that provide our quality products.”
Up to this point, they have primarily had locals visiting their businesses in Holiday Island but are starting to see more out-of-state tags in front of both the restaurant and discount store.
“We have really been aiming every spare dollar on advertising to bring in both locals and out-of-town folks,” he said. “Jay Wilks has been such a wonderful addition as the manager of Discounts Plus. He has given us a new understanding on what it takes to bring in customers from everywhere. The Corazon Grill has been utilizing billboard space in Rogers along with handing out postcards to folks at our Eureka Springs business locations.”
They purchased the Silly Chile business on Spring St. just a few weeks ago, and also run the Bohemian Apotheca in Eureka Springs. Robert said Andrea has really done such a fantastic job with her design and branding in this store.
“She has gotten it to such a wonderful place in such a short period of time,” Robert said. “She handmakes the candles, and most of the printed shirts and tie dyes are also handmade locally at our facility in Holiday Island. Jan and Mel Shipley are the folks that we lease the Bohemian Apotheca location from at 85 Spring Street.
“They approached us about purchasing the Silly Chile. We both put a lot of thought in it and took a leap of faith and purchased the building at 87 and 87 1/2 Spring Street from Jan and Mel. Jan and Mel built the Silly Chile for the last 25 years and we hope to carry it forward and can only hope that we do the Shipleys proud for the next 25 years.”
By having businesses in both Eureka Springs and Holiday Island, they are hoping to bring the two cities closer together with a positive working relationship that will allow each town to not only benefit but thrive from the awesome people and great ideas that resonates from each place.
“We have loved both Holiday Island and Eureka Springs for the 22 years we have been married and have always felt drawn to be here,” he said.
Robert said they not only want to attract shoppers, but new residents. They feel Holiday Island has the opportunity to help provide housing to an area that is severely lacking in adequate affordable housing for those who perform the tasks that keep the area afloat.
“As business owners, it is our responsibility to help facilitate new growth with a working age group that can help bring Eureka Springs and Holiday Island out of this worker shortage we seem to be living through at this time,” Robert wrote. “I have spoken to so many 20 and 30 somethings who are having to leave the area due to a lack of adequate housing. Our goal is to work with both Dan Kees and Butch Berry, the mayors of Holiday Island and Eureka Springs, to help come up with some ideas and alternatives to help alleviate this issue. Our workforce deserves to have quality housing within a decent proximity to where they work.”
The Evanses have purchased a lot for building townhomes and are looking to buy a few more pieces of property to build affordable duplex rentals outside of Holiday Island and Eureka Springs to help attract a vibrant workforce.
Good for them !!! Best of luck