51����Ƶ

Anderson’s parents, Greg and Deb Haselhorst, owned Euphoria, which at that time was next door to Open Harvest, a food cooperative, and KZUM, a nonprofit radio station, near the corner of 27th and Randolph streets. 

“I did get a front row seat to see all of the challenges, the rewards, ... and I just watched them,” Anderson said. “They've always had a curiosity and they've been willing to do something different.”

Anderson took over the business from her parents and now co-owns the store with Jeremiah Moore.

The three businesses that were on the corner of 27th and Randolph streets have a shared history, but they have since followed different paths. All have found success, though.

'A cultural area'

One thing the businesses shared while at 27th and Randolph was they offered services and products that were unique in Lincoln at the time. Moore said Deb and Greg Haselhorst marched to the beat of their own drum.

“I think that's a testament of whatever kind of magic was happening, late '70s, early '80s in Lincoln, where a unique part of town could cultivate,” Moore said. “I mean, they were all cutting edge.”

Moore said Open Harvest was on the cutting edge as an organic grocery store and KZUM, as Lincoln's first nonprofit radio station, was also innovative for that time.

Greg Haselhorst said moving to the intersection was primarily about getting a larger space, but the other businesses in the area were also on his mind.

“I believe we wanted to be close to, there was kind of a cultural area at 27th and Randolph,” Greg Haselhorst said. “I don’t know what it was about that area. Just a little pocket of really cool businesses right there.”

Euphoria was originally located near the intersection of 16th and O streets and was first named Lady Lavender’s Herb Store, Deb Haselhorst said. Euphoria is a business that sells rocks, beads, minerals, jewelry and herbs for smudging or burning. The business also often hosts events like tarot card and pendulum readings, according to its .

When Euphoria moved to 27th and Randolph, it was next door to Open Harvest which housed KZUM in its basement during the station's early days.

Open Harvest started as a buying club in 1975 that would get together in a church basement, said Margot Conrad, who began working at Open Harvest in the 1980s. However, buying items in bulk to be shared among its members could only be contained to a basement for so long.

The buying club model led to a co-op business model when the storefront opened. The co-op operates with a voluntary membership program.

“The demand outstripped the ability of that kind of business model to accommodate it,” Conrad said. “So that was the emphasis, or the impetus rather, for the storefront to open. So we could have more things.”

'We miss that building'

The businesses at 27th and Randolph began moving to different locations as they grew.

KZUM, which got its start in 1978, left Open Harvest’s basement and had a series of homes before moving to its current spot near the intersection of South 48th and Calvert streets in 2011. Finally, Euphoria is now on the corner of 42nd and O streets in a larger location.

In 1990, Open Harvest moved to a location near 16th and South streets. The co-op needed to be bigger, and the Randolph Street building was a nightmare, Conrad said.

“I mean all the customers would say ‘Oh we miss that building,’ but there was nobody who worked there who missed that building at all,” Conrad said. “We had to carry everything up and down steep steps, including 50-pound bags of everything and huge wheels of cheese. I mean, it was not a user-friendly grocery store building.”

Conrad said the South Street location allowed Open Harvest to expand and then grow again when neighboring businesses moved out.

The business model of Open Harvest also changed. Open Harvest had been supported by volunteers but moved to a system with co-managers and then a general manager, according to an celebrating the 40th anniversary of the co-op.

In February, Open Harvest moved away from South Street to the Telegraph District because of leasing issues. Before the pandemic, the co-op discovered that it wouldn't be able to extend its lease for the time frame it needed, said Open Harvest’s General Manager Amy Tabor.

“As something like a grocery store, we need a long-term lease because it takes an incredible amount of money and resources to move a store,” Tabor said. “We can't just pack up with a month's notice or a week's notice. We need several years' notice to do that.”

'The community and their support'

The businesses have continued to be successful, finding community support and new opportunities.

Open Harvest moved to its new location in a building at 330 S. 21st St. where the co-op now has a longer lease and more space. Tabor said the store has had an influx of new members in the past 12 months.

On Oct. 17, KZUM's revamped news division was named the recipient of a share of a grant to further fund its reporting.

KZUM’s parent company, Sunrise Communications, was named as a recipient of a grant from the Miami Foundation through the Press Forward Initiative, according to a . The station is one of 205 local news outlets to receive a share of the $20 million grant.

That money will translate to about $100,000 over the next two years, KZUM News Director Amantha Dickman said. The funding will allow the station to grow the news program, she said.

“Our hope is to include daily news segments instead of a weekly news show,” Dickman said. “Obviously we want to keep the weekly news show, but we just kind of want to add more content so that folks can have a better idea of what's happening in our community.”

KZUM hopes to build its internship program and add more newsroom positions, Dickman said.

The station also has over 100 volunteers that produce about 7,000 hours of locally produced programming every year, Dickman said.

“It's just kind of our way of handing the airwaves over to our community so that we can foster connection through the sharing of art and news in multiple languages, which helps ensure accessibility for everyone in our community.”

Greg Haselhorst said Euphoria has received community support throughout the years, including when a truck crashed into the shop and damaged it.

“A Ram truck came off of O Street and went all the way to that staircase right there behind us,” Greg Haselhorst said. “We had record sales for the next two weeks because people came in just to support us.”

Anderson said community and family is an important part of the shop.

“We wouldn't be here without the community and their support,” she said. “So we always want to try and meet people where they are and also bring in something that is a little outside the traditional box.”