Downtown Jackson Faces
January - March
2023
LISA GARNER
Lisa Garner is the owner of Garner Blue Shop located in Jackson Walk, and before that, she was one of the first tenants at theLOCAL. Her shop features hand-dyed indigo art to wear and love, along with other handmade gifts and unique finds.
“My concept for theLOCAL was always Garner Blue, plus. I always wanted to feature other handmade things. When I got done with my two years at theLOCAL, I started looking around and I always knew Downtown was where I wanted to be. I’ve always seen a lot of potential in Jackson's downtown, there’s something special about it. I wanted to be somewhere with foot traffic, so this spot in the Jackson Walk has been awesome.”
ADDIE RICHMOND
Addie Richmond is the owner of Peppermint Addie & Co., an old fashioned hand dipped ice cream and sweet treats shop right in the center of Downtown Jackson.
“The most rewarding part about owning my own business is that I get to learn so much about entrepreneurship at a young age. I’ve been able to acquire communication skills, leadership skills, and learn the importance of networking. These are things that I couldn't normally see myself being capable of doing until I was older, but now I know, it’s possible to do at just 15 years old.”
REGETTA NELSON
Regetta Nelson has been the Administrative Assistant for the County Mayor's Office for 23 years and has lived in the Jackson area for 39 years. She loves helping people and the hidden treasures she can find downtown.
“If people would just come downtown and hang around for a little while, they might be amazed at the hidden treasures they might find. I have lived here for almost 40 years and am still learning and seeing things I've never noticed before.”
MIKI MARTIN
Miki Martin is the Director for the LIFT Wellness Center. LIFT is actually an acronym and it stands for Living in a Fit Tennessee. She is in charge of providing oversight for all aspects of daily operations as well as future strategic planning and works under the umbrella of West Tennessee Health Care.
“LIFT Wellness Center opened 10 years ago, in January of 2013 as a part of the Healthy Community revitalization plan for downtown Jackson. With Health and Wellness being integrated into every facet of the plan, naturally, it made sense to incorporate a state-of-the-art Wellness Center as an anchor,” Martin said. “Involving our community’s healthcare system, West Tennessee Healthcare, was just a natural fit and a wellness center was something that West Tennessee Healthcare had been strategically planning for many years prior to the decision to build downtown.”
JOSEPH KYLE
Joseph Kyle from Jaxon Records works as an audio engineer and a musician and has been an integral part of the Downtown and Tennessee music scene.
“The job of engineer is vital to making the entire record happen. You are quite literally responsible for making sure that every sound gets recorded,” Lauren Pritchard, a music artist from Jackson, said. “It’s a lot of heavy lifting but Joe brings so much joy to his process and it makes all the hours in the studio a lot more fun when you’re working with someone like that.”
VIICTOR & KATIE GARCIA
Victor and Katie Garcia are the owners of Art on Shannon which is a studio complex that brings people together and gives them the opportunity to manifest their creativity. Victor is also a web developer for the University of Memphis and Katie is the owner of Garcia Mortgage Processing.
“I think the biggest thing overlooked about downtown is the opportunity. We had this crazy idea in June of 2022 and here we are less than a year later making it happen,” Victor said. “We want to express our sincere thanks for all of the people who have encouraged us, especially the artists who have made Art on Shannon a reality!”