A vacancy next door will allow James Arthur Vineyards to expand at its Lincoln home at Eighth and Q streets.
Licorice International this week moved out of its longtime home in the Huber Building at 803 Q St. The company relocated a block away to 230 N. Seventh St. and also opened a second store at 4725 Prescott Ave. in College View.
The move left open space next door to From Nebraska Gift Shop, which is owned by James Arthur Vineyard owners Jim and Barb Ballard and is home to the Raymond winemakers' Lincoln tasting room.
Jim Ballard said the couple have leased the entire former Licorice International space and have some big plans for it.
It will become a retail store called Haymarket Mercantile that will carry some higher-end items and more "touristy" things that will complement the Nebraska products the gift shop sells, Ballard said.
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"We're still kind of working out some of the details on that," he said.
One detail that is set: Part of the store will be dedicated to Christmas items year-round.
The existing gift shop, which the Ballards bought in 2014, will also undergo changes.
The Ballards plan to add a cider house to their wine tasting room, and Ballard said the plan is to add seven or eight taps to showcase their Curveball cider and other ciders.
Another addition to the gift shop will be three areas that will be rented out to other businesses to showcase Nebraska-made products.
Ballard said each business will lease about 100-200 square feet of floor area dedicated to their products.
He said he and his wife are already in discussions with three potential tenants, one of which is from outside Lincoln.
"It gives us another opportunity to showcase some Nebraska folks," he said.
The expansion will more than double the existing space of the store to about 10,000 square feet, making the Ballards one of the largest downtown retailers.
Ballard said that changes being made during the buildout, such as taking down the wall separating the spaces, will open up more room so that everything can fit without any reduction in space for the gift shop.
Plans are for the Haymarket Mercantile shop to be open by mid-March, although the other changes could take a bit longer, he said.
Russ Bayer, who owns the building and is redeveloping the second floor into six condo units, said his goal with the redevelopment was to keep the building as multi-use as possible, and the Ballards' plan does that.
"I'm thrilled that they're expanding," he said.
Ballard said he's hoping the expansion will be a catalyst for more retail in the area.
"We'd love to see more retail in The Haymarket," he said. "Hopefully, this will kind of help take it to the next level."