Midtown in Reno Gets Renewed Life with First Thursday
Madison Castagnola attended Midtown’s First Thursday event, hosted by Midtown shops and restaurants to promote shopping and spending money locally.
Midtown Reno First Thursday launched its first event back in September of 2021. While the larger details of the event can be found on Midtown’s social media @renomidtown, here is a quick background. The event takes place the first Thursday of every month and lasts until closing time for each business. There are a variety of boutiques, restaurants and services that plan their own events within the concept.
On March third there were about fifteen businesses participating with a variety of retail, restaurant, bar and other services like the Pineapple Pedicab so participants could get around safely.
I was able to meet with a few business owners and managers to get their opinions on Midtown First Thursday and why they love participating.
The first up was Noble Pie who were partnering with their neighbors Pinion Bottle to offer happy hour all evening on food and drinks. There was also live music by local musicians.
“It creates a whole different type of vibe and energy,” Ryan Goldhammer, the owner and operator of Noble Pie, said. “For First Thursdays I think they really got started in Fall as the weather was turning and as Omicron was still kind of a big deal, so I think to see what it is going to become is going to be huge.”
Goldhammer knows that his establishment already gets a lot of business from word of mouth but enjoys that First Thursdays bring more people in.
With the pandemic now easing again, Goldhammer said other events at Noble Pie will soon resume. “We will be starting back up our famous rock n roll bingo we used to have at our downtown store,” he said.
“For this month we didn’t have a theme but we got the store ready and were like let’s do it,” Cabin Creek Crystal Manager Juliette Sierras said.
Sierras shared that she learned about the event last minute but still went ahead and participated. This store was a large open space that had tables stacked with large and small crystals, sage for burning, jewelry and plants.
It was a great space to walk around and view all of the colors and textures everything had to offer.
“We are always trying to reach out and say ‘hey we are here to help you, we are here for all you benefits and needs too,’” Sierras said.
Black Hole Body Piercing at 912 S Virginia St was another establishment that was able to provide some feedback on the event. “When it first started happening in the fall, it was really great to see the different businesses come together and support each other and lift up each other’s discounts and offers,” said manager Alexandra Trimble.
Black Hole is a super popular piercing shop so while they love participating in First Thursday, Trimble said it can be hard because they are usually booked out about two weeks in advance. She shared a secret that they do give special gifts if you ask the receptionist on a First Thursday while touring the shop.
Midtown Reno First Thursday is a great event to learn more about the Reno area, its shops and particularities. The next First Thursday will be April 7th. If you think that any business should participate let them know so they also visit midtownreno.com to sign up to join the event.
