Zip Walker pushed a foldable black wagon — overfilled with vintage clothing — back and forth across Northwest First Street.
As the Grove Galleria building empties out and the Grove Guild becomes fuller, Walker, the 33-year-old store owner, is exhausted from the transition, she said.
Her consignment shop, Grove Galleria, has been located at 105 NW Eighth Ave. since 2024. It originated in Gainesville’s Grove Street neighborhood, where it received its name.
But in February, Walker’s landlord told her to move out by the summer. Walker, who never signed an official lease to tie her down to the Grove Galleria location, closed the place March 1.
While Walker searches for a new location, Grove Galleria will temporarily merge with its sister store, Grove Guild, located right across the street at 13 NW Eighth Ave.
“For me, if I’m not seeing a future over there, if ideally that space is going to be taken away, [I’ll] save as much money as I can now,” Walker said.
The guild spotlights local vendors, who each have their own rented 10-by-10-foot nooks of the store to highlight their creations, like art and clothing.
Walker said things are still up in the air in regards to the future of her businesses. She’s a single mother and started these businesses because of her appreciation for art, less for her own profit.
She ran Grove Galleria by herself, selling vintage clothing, jewelry, dishware and knickknacks. The space was lit up by hanging lamps, which enhanced its cozy atmosphere. Beloved thrift finds were bound to be found in the abundance of clothing racks.
“I’m still trying to stick it out,” she said. “Because I feel like we’ve all invested into this, and I don't want to just give up.”
Bana Kabalan, 31, is a work trader at Grove Guild. Instead of paying rent as a vendor, she helps operate the shop. She upcycles clothing, makes jewelry and also works with cyanotype, which resembles sun printing but is made using iron salts.
She’s gradually seen the store come into itself since its soft opening, when there was still a lot of empty space, she said.
“Every time you’d come in, everything’s different,” she said.
The merging of the two stores has required a lot of moving items, but Kabalan said that’s not unusual; vendors are always bringing new things into Grove Galleria, so moving items is a part of the process in general, she said. Items that can’t fit in the store go into a storage unit.
“I help as I can, but I can only imagine for Zip, it's a lot for her,” she said.
Russell Needham, a 19-year-old UF landscape architecture sophomore, and his girlfriend offered to help Walker with the moving process. She has lugged most items on her own and welcomed the help.
Needham has visited Grove Galleria once or twice a month since he moved to Gainesville two years ago. As a thrift lover, he wanted to find the best spots in the area, he said.
He said the first time he walked in Grove Galleria, he felt overwhelmed in a good way; there was so much to see. Over time, he started chatting with Walker when he’d come in. Eventually, they knew each other on a first-name basis.
His girlfriend broke the news to him about the close after she happened to visit the last day it was open. He’d known the store might not stay at that location long, but he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
“I was so sad,” he said.
Contact Teia Williams at twilliams@alligator.org. Follow her on X @teia_williams.
Teia Williams is a journalism student and in her second semester at The Alligator. She is a lifestyle and general assignment for The Avenue. In her free time she is constantly reading, going to concerts, or talking about her favorite celebrities.
