Business

The Village Gourmet is a shop that appeals to the senses.

When you walk into the Bergen Park kitchenware and gift shop, your nose is greeted with the smell of fresh-brewed coffee. Samples always are available by the door.

Your eyes see the vibrant colors of everything from dishes and kitchen gadgets to gourmet food and cookware.

Your fingers can touch the soft towels and shiny pot and pans.

If you walk to the back of the shop, your taste buds can partake in handmade chocolate truffles.

Cupid made her mark in downtown Evergreen last week in honor of Valentine’s Day.

Cupid could be seen, as she put it, tiptoeing and dancing through the downtown area tossing rose petals.

“I just wanted to spread love in downtown,” said Cupid, also known as Tricia Wales. Wales, who works at the Holly Berry flower shop, is president of the Evergreen Downtown Business Association.

The building that formerly housed the Rib Crib restaurant on Meadow Drive has a new owner and several new tenant prospects.

The 12,000-square-foot, three-story building just north of Da Kind Soups has been renamed Meadow Drive Village, though owner David Hatch figures it will be at least 10 years before people know the building by that name.

Hatch, of Highland Renovations North LLC, lives in Louisville but travels regularly to Evergreen to oversee the building’s remodel. He began with adding some landscaping soon after purchasing the building on Oct. 1.

The historic El Rancho restaurant has closed, and it remains uncertain whether it will reopen under new operators.

Mark Johnston, who has leased the restaurant from property owner Doug Antonoff, closed the establishment in November because of financial losses.

“There just wasn’t enough business to sustain it,” said Johnston, who lives in Detroit. “We were doing about $1,000 in business a day with $3,000 in costs. You can do the math. I just couldn’t go any longer.” About 20 employees were laid off as a result of the closure.