Downtown Bastrop's Storefront Shuffle: What Changed on Main Street Before Wassail Fest

Between June and October, the 900, 1000 and 1100 blocks of Main Street in Bastrop gained a vintage clothing shop, a boutique, a scrubs and uniform store and, soon, an insurance office. Over the same months, two shops built around home decor and gifts announced they were winding down. One barbershop left Main Street for a lot the city originally bought for a parking garage.

The new arrivals have something in common. Most of them sell things you wear or services you need. That matters on Nov. 28, when Wassail Fest brings Small Business Saturday to Historic Downtown Bastrop. People who last walked the street for a holiday sip-and-shop a year ago will find a different set of doors.

Main Street, address by address

Here is the turnover reported since early summer, in street order.

Seven addresses in three blocks is a lot of movement for a downtown this size. The pattern shows up when you sort what's leaving from what's arriving.

The gift shelves are thinning, and clothing racks are filling the space

The two shops winding down both sold decor and gifts. As Community Impact reported, Desiree Laux, who owns Black & White Interiors and the building at 1015 Main, is retiring the current retail model. Her liquidation sale started Oct. 15, with most merchandise discounted, Christmas stock included.

The storefront isn't going dark, though. Once the inventory sells, Laux plans to reopen it as a curated antique vendor co-op, where individual vendors rent booths or display space. She said customers had often asked for an antique store. The opening date depends on how fast the remaining stock sells, so there's no firm date yet.

A few doors down, In The Sticks at 928 Main is preparing to close in late 2026 after nearly three years. Its owner hopes to stay open through the end of the year, so it may still be open for Wassail Fest.

The businesses opening on the same street look different:

• Good Old Habit, 1021 Main, brought vintage fashion downtown in mid-June.
• Bluebonnet Scrubs, 1112 Main, opened Aug. 3. Mary Lou Porter, a Bastrop nurse and licensed vocational nurse, sells uniforms and work accessories for people in health care, hospitality and child care.
• Magnolia Row Boutique, 1003 Main, opened Sept. 5. Owner Nicole Salas carries dresses, tops, sets, shoes, jewelry and Wrangler and Montana West merchandise, plus candles and room sprays.
• Germer Insurance Services is moving from 799 SH 71 W. into the former Relics storefront at 925 Main. The September report described the move as planned for this fall, so look for the sign rather than assuming it's open.

Three of the four sell clothing or workwear, and the fourth brings an everyday service office from the highway corridor onto Main. A uniform store and an insurance office both draw people downtown on an ordinary Tuesday, not just on event weekends.

1003 Main has changed hands like this before

The boutique space at 1003 Main shows that this kind of turnover is old news on this block. The building is known locally as the historic Lock Drug Store. Its Texas Historical Commission marker record identifies the site as Dr. Sayers' Office, where Dr. David Sayers kept his medical office from 1851 to 1886. From 1905 to 1967, the building housed W. J. Miley's drugstore.

After that, the space ran through a sequence of uses: an emporium in the 1960s, a drugstore again starting in 1975, Lock's Drug after that, then renovation. Tough Cookie Bakery came next, serving vegan and vegetarian food until it closed on Sept. 30, 2025. The storefront sat empty for almost a year before Magnolia Row moved in.

So one address has gone from doctor's office to pharmacy to bakery to clothing boutique.

A parking garage lot became a barbershop

The most unusual move this fall involves the City of Bastrop as a landlord. Chubby's Barbershop had been at 901 Main until owner Christopher "Chubby" Higgins got notice to vacate because the city planned a change in that property's use. The new use hasn't been announced.

Higgins worked with the Bastrop Economic Development Corp.'s Start Smart program, which led him to 804 Water St. That address has its own story. The city closed its $525,000 purchase of the 0.16-acre lot on May 6, planning a downtown parking garage with retail space. According to Community Impact's August update, the city couldn't buy the neighboring properties the larger project needed. On July 27, the BEDC extended the construction start by 24 months and allowed commercial use of the lot in the meantime, with rent going to the BEDC.

The lease proposed at the Aug. 25 city council meeting covered two years with annual renewal options. Rent would be $2,000 a month after a three-month waiver for improvements, and either side could end it with 180 days' notice. The same report said adjacent owners weren't willing to sell and the city was looking at other approaches to a parking facility.

Chubby's opened on Water Street on Oct. 10. "My team loves the new space, our clients love the parking and the atmosphere, and honestly, we haven't missed a beat," Higgins told Community Impact. The family-friendly, Black-owned shop offers haircuts, beard sculpting and hot towel services for men, women and children.

For anyone tracking downtown parking, here's where things stand. The garage site has a business on it, the lease runs two years, and no construction date has been set.

Nov. 28 is the first holiday shopping day on the new lineup

Wassail Fest is Bastrop's Small Business Saturday celebration downtown. Participating businesses serve their own homemade wassail, and visitors vote for a People's Choice favorite. The festival is presented by Downtown Bastrop with the City of Bastrop Main Street Program.

What to know before you go:

1. It's free. Registration on Eventeny costs $0, and the official mug that comes with it works as your tasting pass.
2. Preregister for a cup and tote. According to Discover Bastrop, the first 1,000 preregistered guests get a souvenir cup and a downtown tote. Extra cups may be available on the day while supplies last.
3. Check the hours close to the date. The main event page and Eventeny both list 3 to 7 p.m., but a separate Discover Bastrop listing says 4 to 8 p.m.
4. Watch for the participant map. The list of participating businesses and the map will be posted before the event.

Wassail Fest is the middle event of a busy stretch. The city's annual tree lighting at Fisherman's Park is the night before, Friday, Nov. 27, followed by a walk along the River of Lights on the June Hill Pape Riverwalk. The Lost Pines Christmas parade is Saturday, Dec. 12. Route and parking details for the parade will be released closer to that date.

If you want food beyond the wassail, PrimeBite opened July 2 at the Chestnut Grove Food Truck Court, 710 Chestnut St., just off Main. A loop from Magnolia Row at 1003 Main up to Bluebonnet Scrubs at 1112, then back past the soon-to-be antique co-op at 1015 and Good Old Habit at 1021, covers most of what's new this fall in about two blocks.

At KC Realty, we follow downtown Bastrop one storefront at a time, because who moves into a historic building tells you a lot about where a neighborhood is going. If you own property near Main Street and want to know how this fall's changes affect its value, request a free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.