The idea for the Shops at 5807, a mini mall of eclectic small shops that opened last week, came as a result of a flat tire. That flat tire stranded Richmonder Leigh Dobbins in Virginia Beach for a couple of hours. She wandered into a store there looking for a phone book. She left withthe idea for a new retail venture. "It was a concept I hadn't seen before. It was a collection of salons individually owned and operated with a central register to pay," she said.

Dobbins was ready for a career change. Her sister, Anne Brasfield, owned the Frillseekers gift store on Grove Avenue, but the lease was expiring. And the two sisters knew the space at 5807 Patterson Ave., near Libbie Avenue, was available.

"My sister and I have tossed around a lot of hare-brained schemes in the past, but this just all jelled together," Dobbins said.

The Shops at 5807 is an antique mall but without antiques.

Retailers and artisans lease space and bring in the merchandise. Dobbins and her sister hire employees to sell it for them and ring up the sales at a central checkout. The sisters get a small commission on each sale.

"It is a collection of exciting merchandise. It is like an emporium," Dobbins said.

Unlike some antique malls, where vendors have individually defined spaces with interior walls, the Shops at 5807 is open.

"This is like what the Arcade on Grove was, but everything there had the same look and feel because it was bought by one person," Dobbins said. "Ours are individually owned and have their own personality."

The shop has 21 vendors.

Some of them already have other shops in Richmond, including Huckleberries Too home furnishings, the Huck's Berry Patch Tea Room and Ciao. Frillseekers closed its store on Grove Avenue and now has space inside.

Other vendors are new, such as Van Der Wolks home interiors, which also is opening a store on Grove Avenue, and Irish accessories by Emerald Artisans.

The shops also are home to several local artists, including Celie Gehring, Becky Jessee and Tracy Mang.

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch