Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — May 9, 2025 — Downtown Jonesboro celebrated the upcoming reopening of Main Street with “Meet Me on Main,” a festival filled with vendors, food and fun.
The Downtown Jonesboro Alliance partnered with the City of Jonesboro on Thursday to bring the community together as the completion of the former Citizens Bank demolition draws near. Festival highlights included inflatables for children, live performances from bands and local artists, vendors, and food options provided by downtown Jonesboro restaurants.
Main Street has been shut down since Sept. 25, and many downtown businesses reported suffering losses due to the road’s inaccessibility. Skinny J’s employee Kennedy Soden said the event was put on to usher in a “new era” of downtown Jonesboro.
“All of the businesses downtown have taken a hit from the road being closed, so we’re hoping this will get everybody back downtown,” Soden said.
Soden was a vendor at the event, selling books, homemade crochet and sewing items. She and business partner Sarah Reeves are no strangers to festivals and events like Meet Me on Main, working together to form a business they call Bookish Babes.
Soden offers an experience called “Blind Date with a Book,” where customers do not know the books they are buying before purchase. The novels are wrapped in brown paper and only certain details are told, such as the genre or rating. Soden offered hers with items like stickers and bracelets.
Soden said she was inspired to start selling books at festivals after years of collecting novels.
“I started collecting books to eventually open a bookstore,” she said. “That became harder and harder to do and eventually I was like, ‘I gotta do something with all these books.’ I was originally only doing it with used books and then I started doing the new books.”
A new book cost $30, while used books were priced at $15 and children’s books at $25.
After Main Street reopens, Soden said she hopes downtown Jonesboro sees more variety in patrons.
“I’m hoping to get some more college students down here, some more young people downtown… It brings everybody together, all different ages,” Soden said.
Another vendor at the event was Christen Lawrick, who is the owner of Christen’s Customs. Appearing at other events like the Downtown Jonesboro BBQ Festival, Lawrick said she likes to meet new people and showcase her items.
“Come Christmas time, it helps us out a lot, because people come to me wanting to order because I met them throughout the year at events like these,” she said.
Many of Lawrick’s items were for sale at Meet Me on Main, including custom tumblers, squeezable wax melts, car fresheners and speaker tumblers. A hobby turned business, Lawrick said she first got the inspiration to make her creations by watching TikTok videos. She enjoyed making them and realized she could make money off of them by selling them at festivals such as Meet Me on Main.
Squeezable wax melts costing $5 are among her most popular items.
“They’re twice as thin as regular wax melts, so you can add as much or as little as you want,” Lawrick said. “It starts working faster because it’s stronger and already liquidy.”
Soden and Lawrick were joined by a long list of vendors, selling items ranging from 3D printed toys to flavored nuts and everything in between.
Many vendors also sold clothing items, such as Adara Boutique, located at 240 Union St., and Starz Boutique, located at 311 S. Main St.
As Main Street gears to open back up, other preparations are being made. Main Street, Washington Avenue and Huntington Avenue will be closed Friday as crews will be working on lighting and maintenance related to the demolition project.
There is still no official date for when Main Street will fully reopen, although the City has said it expects this to happen in mid-May.