Sean Kiser has been on the business scene in Athens for seven years — with Kiser’s Barbeque and the Eclipse Company Store — and is continuing to expand.
Kiser opened Shop Athens Ohio at 11315 Jackson Dr. in The Plains. ShopAthensOhio.com was created by Amy McKee two years ago to curate and sell Athens items and food products online.
“We really wanted something out there to go with (the beer hall) so I came across the website Shop Athens Ohio (which) was for sale, and it would be a cool idea to couple it with the beer hall,” Kiser said. “We are a locally based food business so we wanted to be a part of the local based food scene as well.”
He bought the site from McKee in August, and on Oct. 12 he opened Shop Athens Ohio which features locally produced goods.
“A lot of the partnerships were already established when Sean bought the company," Tristen Phipps, Shop Athens Ohio store manager, said. "We have been adding new partners in the past month."
Phipps graduated from Ohio University in the spring with a degree in journalism, and Kiser graduated in 2005 with a degree in English.
“(Kiser and I are) both alumni and both very passionate about OU,” Phipp said. “I have my own cupcake business, Sugar Tree Sweets, so that’s where Sean brought me in on the business end.”
Shop Athens Ohio offers a variety of Athens apparel and has most recently partnered with Pork & Pickle, Dexter Run Farms, Dirty Girl Coffee and Rock Riffle Run Pottery.
“They have really cute stuff, my friends have bought things from there like t-shirts cut into designs,” Jessica Costello, a freshman studying journalism, said.
Since they are no longer bonded to shipping items, Kiser said Shop Athens Ohio will expand what they will offer to their customers. Kiser wants to start selling art and other items that are too expensive to ship. The redesigned shop will also soon begin to sell and ship gift baskets of local products.
“When you are just e-commerce it is difficult to sell certain items for fear of breakage through transit or damaging something,” Kiser said.
The shop obtained a grocery license, and is planning to sell local produce in the coming months.
The Eclipse Company Store at 11309 Jackson Dr. will turn into a beer hall in March. The historic building is from 1901, but has been owned by Kiser for four years as a rental facility for weddings.
Kiser said he wanted to start doing something on a daily basis with the craft beer movement in Ohio, and locally with people crafting their own beer with microbreweries.
“Athens is beginning to be a really well known beer destination,” Kiser said.
