Editor’s note: Jay Enghauser’s name was spelled incorrectly and has since been corrected.

Corvallis business partners Lee Eckroth and Tony Pappas have made it their mission to bring memorable experiences back into Corvallis’ downtown. 

With their latest implementation of The Plaza, on SW Madison Avenue, it looks like they’re just in time for spring break.

“My purpose is to do cool stuff in downtown Corvallis,” Eckroth said, owner of The Plaza and local real estate investor.

Both Ekroth and Pappas have helped renovate, develop and maintain businesses, chain and local alike, across the city for years — having many of their businesses attached to SW Madison Avenue. 

Businesses they’ve helped include Runway Fashion Exchange, Grass Roots Books, Guardian Games, Miss Meers, Coriander, as well as several food storefronts found in The Plaza, to name a few. 

Among the six buildings Eckroth and Pappas own and manage, there are more than 100 tenants. Each building is designed with specific businesses in mind. 

For instance, Eckroth points to one complex known as The Square in which, according to him, 80% of the tenants are health and beauty-related businesses. 

“The focus of that building and everything we do is to help their customers to have a fantastic user experience, whether it’s for therapy, counseling or a massage,” Eckroth said. 

Eckroth points out that in this age of transactional interactions over the internet, a thriving downtown — especially in a smaller college town like Corvallis — is becoming a rarer thing. Simply put, people are going out less. 

Part of Eckroth’s and Pappas’ mission to remedy this trend is by creating spaces that are both safe and experience-oriented.

“We try to create spaces in which the business succeeds,” Eckroth said. “Which happens if their customers have a fantastic experience.” 

While Ekroth and Pappas have had a hand in the development of many of the experiential spaces found in Corvallis’ downtown today, it’s the businesses themselves that keep those experiences alive. 

“It brings people together,” said Meera Majors, owner of Miss Meers, a clothing boutique on SW Madison Avenue in downtown Corvallis. “It keeps money in local people’s pockets, and then they go out and spend it with other local people.” 

According to Majors, despite boutique stores not being known for their experiential-ness, Miss Meers tries to go the extra mile in making sure that customers are making memories while visiting. 

For instance, as customers browse and try on clothes, Miss Meers supplies customers with espresso, fizzy water and, according to Majors, “friendly, approachable staff that knows what they’re selling.”

Just across the street, another business lorded over by Eckroth and Pappas is Guardian Games, a chain board game store on the corner of SW Madison Avenue and is managed by Nathan Knight. 

Guardian Games has frequent events and tables regularly available — for customers to try new games, or simply play their own. 

“I think it’s really important to get to know your local community,” Knight said. “I think, for myself, it’s been an awesome experience, meeting other business managers or owners in the area.” 

Knight pointed out that getting closer with fellow business owners has helped when the city needs to come together for different events. 

“I think board gaming and meeting in person, especially after the pandemic, has been a very important thing for a lot of people,” Knight said. 

Moving up SW Madison Avenue, Grass Roots Books provides, as their sign out front advertises, “A Book Experience.” More specifically, the bookstore prides itself on its more personalized and community-driven experience. 

“We have a lot of customers that we know on a first-name basis,” said Amber Hamilton, store co-owner and bookkeeper at Grass Roots Books. “They get personalized recommendations — that’s something the indie bookstore really kind of prides itself on.” 

On top of the day-to-day experience found at Grass Roots Books, the store has held events in the past — local authors have come into the store to do book readings, along with a Midsummer Market event, in which the store held a sale on books, had a mocktail bar and encouraged attendees to dress up.

This Spring Break, students staying on campus between March 21 and March 29 can expect discounts of 10% on purchases from Grass Roots Books. 

In the future, Grass Roots Books plans on doing larger-scale author readings, as well as a partnership with the Corvallis Celtic Festival this summer where a dance class will be held at the bookstore.

Jay Enghauser, one of the new co-owners of Grass Roots Books and previous editor-in-chief of PRISM, emphasized the importance of leaning into certain parts of their store’s experience and development, purely because of its proximity to college students. 

Jay notes that breaking into the college student demographic has been a challenge for not only the former owners of Grass Roots Books, but also for older business owners across the city. But with Hamilton, themself and their spouse, Brandon Enghauser’s acquisition of the store, they’re hoping to change things. 

“Going to the OSU events and selling books there, I think is a big deal,” Enghauser said. “We’re talking to students there, they’re recognizing us, they’re seeing our faces.”