Downtown Columbia has not always been the welcoming, vibrant environment it is today, longtime Columbia resident Arnie Fagan says.
Fagan, an MU graduate, opened popular downtown vender Cool Stuff 23 years ago and has since seen the area become a kind of haven for students and members of the university. Now sitting on top of 23 successful years of business and growth, Fagan is closing up shop.
Since opening his store, Fagan has spent his life traveling the world and acquiring the miscellany that populates the walls and shelves of his store. It takes little more than a few steps inside Cool Stuff’s doors to behold an impressive repertoire of what truly is “cool stuff.”
What Cool Stuff has above the cheap, by-the-barrel marketing style of Oriental Trading magazine is its authenticity, and Fagan is proud of it. As part of its closing, Cool Stuff shut its doors to everyone but friends and family of Fagan. Thursday, the store will be re-opening to the general public.
“It’s the same cool stuff, but I have so much of it from my many years of travels, and I’ve got a short time to try to sell it,” Fagan says.
Everything in the store seems to be discounted, from elaborate headwear to novelty salt and pepper shakers.
Fagan is not closing shop because of financial troubles. He stressed several times that he was closing under his own volition, still commercially on top.
Now, as he prepares to bring what he fondly dubs his “life’s work” to conclusion, he wants to make sure he does so in the spirit of the work itself, the spirit of Cool Stuff.
“They say, ‘Guys with the most stuff win.’ Well, I have the most stuff. It’s time for me not to have the most stuff,” Fagan says.
Chunk at a time, he plans to bring his entire stock (even drawing from his personal collection) onto the floor of his shop where he can share it with anyone who is interested.
In addition to Cool Stuff, Fagan leases the space currently occupied by specialty bakery Hot Box Cookies. With Fagan’s departure, rumor of Hot Box’s demise has reached campus, but owner Corey Rimmel says the eatery will not be be closing, despite a possible need for relocation.
“Sales have been at an all-time high, and I’m planning to stay open,” he said. “Where my store will be I don’t know yet.”
For Fagan and Cool Stuff, the near future will be full of sale signs and gradually emptying walls. Following his store’s completed close, however, Fagan has new plans.
“One of my goals in the next two years is to spend six months of the year abroad,” he says. “I want to spend time in different third-world countries, rural settings, little towns and jungles in South America and Asia.”
In light of his business’s success, Fagan said he is completely ready for this next step, which, he hopes, has even _cooler_ stuff in store.