August 2009

For a young company growing at hyper-speed, Pure Marketing and Media had an inauspicious start.
About 18 months ago, Brent Beshore and Erik LaPaglia were meeting for lattes at the Coffee Zone to exchange business advice. Beshore was taking a break from graduate studies and running a new company, Event Solutions, that orchestrates events, while LaPaglia was working as a regional marketing agent for Mediacom’s advertising and sales division, OnMedia.
Some of Event Solutions’ clients had asked Beshore if he would like to also act as their marketing and advertising agency. Beshore had been declining such offers, but then he received a proposal from a big client that he could not pass up. Beshore wondered what to do next. LaPaglia advised him to buy into an existing marketing and advertising agency.

While on her way to see “Hello, Dolly!” at the Lyceum Theatre in Arrow Rock, Sheila Scott from Jefferson City stopped in Columbia to grab some lunch and to check out the merchandise at Upscale Resale.
Four years ago, she stepped into the store on West Broadway for the first time on a friend’s recommendations. Now, she stops by almost every time she is in Columbia.

The recession and related cutback in consumer spending is compelling Columbia retailers to come up with innovative ideas for increasing sales, particularly downtown, where the downturn has had the deepest impact and the amount of vacant space has spiked.

While some businesses in the typically volatile retail sector have closed recently, including Kayotea Tea Room & Bistro, Arsenic Leopard and Manhattan Closet, many are opening, such as MacKenzies restaurant, Artlandish Gallery and Plato’s Closet.