ALTON – Saturday was a gang-busters day in the Mineral Springs Mall.
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Once described as a problematic, ne'er-do-well site in Alton with a lot of history and not much of a future, the former hotel built atop a mineral spring is enjoying its new life as a retail center and ghost-hunting Mecca. The building contains an antique shop, a barbershop, a museum of oddities, It' Raining Zen – an eccentric, esoteric and occult shop, Indigo Moon, a place to get wellness and feel-good items such as bath bombs, tea and essential oils, and now Mississippi Hippie.
Mississippi Hippie is an apparel shop owned by Donna and Dave Nunnally, who also operate It's Raining Zen and Indigo Moon. It is the latest in a long line of expansions the couple has done in the last five years, since operating a small booth of crystals and tarot cards at a local consignment shop. It has a wide expanse of clothing, jewelry, and accessory options and its own entrance from East Broadway, separate from the rest of the mall.
The shop is managed by Jan Buttry, who formerly managed the Indigo Moon section of the store, and was designed in the former hotel bar by Lataua Applegate.
“We hired her to design the place, knowing she would do a great job,” Dave Nunnally said Friday, before the shop's Saturday grand opening.
“I wasn't even allowed to go into it while she was doing it,” Donna Nunnally added. “I wanted to be genuinely surprised by it, and I was.”
The cracking beige walls were replaced by a vibrant aqua, which goes stunningly with the rainbow rope lighting strung along the bright trim.
Clothing items in the store include the former themes of playful magic once found in the addition of It's Raining Zen, which was in the hotel's tea room area and will serve as an office for Donna Nunnally and a meditation/healing space in the future. Dave Nunnally said the usual tie-dye and Grateful Dead attire will be available, as well as some more edgy themes.
“Biker Brothers leather recently shut down, and we don't sell leather or anything like that, but we do have a lot of people come in here on their way up to Grafton, and we wanted to get something for them,” Dave Nunnally said. “So we have some fun shirts with no sleeves or skulls – you know, some more edgy themes for people. Alton is a fun and weird town full of creative and wild types, like artists, musicians, writers and bikers. We try to be there for all of them.”
On Saturday, the new shop's grand opening, Dave Nunnally said the shop had one of the best days the couple have ever experienced in Alton. While that is a cause worth celebration, Dave Nunnally said it is also a cause to share.
“When we do well, we have to give back,” he said.
As far as more expansions in the future, Donna Nunnally said they may expand more into an online marketplace and add some more services in the newly-freed space. Both Nunnallies said their efforts would not be possible without the tremendous help provided by Dave Hornsey, who currently owns the building.
“He lets us do just about anything we need to do, as long as it doesn't involve tearing down one of the load-bearing walls,” Donna Nunnally said, laughing.
More information on Mississippi Hippie can be found on its Facebook page.
