Neighbors, Merchants Help Thyme and Spice Move to 612 Jefferson Street

A short video shared by The Evergreen Hour shows residents, business owners and neighbors hauling boxes, propping open doors and offering whatever help was needed as Thyme and Spice Company moved into a new space at 612 Jefferson Street. What was meant to be a routine relocation for Thyme and Spice Company turned into an unexpected moment of community teamwork.

Owners Travis and Ashlyn Long were identified in local coverage as the business leaders receiving the help. The clip, later posted on social media with the caption, "Businesses pitched in. Friends lent a hand. And together, our downtown community helped Thyme & Spice Company make their move to their new home," circulated among neighborhood feeds and was picked up by local outlets. WQAD described the scene this way: "Thyme and Spice was moving to a new location when the entire downtown community, including neighbors, fellow business owners and friends, all came together to help."

Downtown Partners, Inc., a branch of the Greater Burlington Partnership, framed the episode as more than a feel-good moment. Amy Moyner, director of Downtown Partners, Inc., said the support reflects what makes the area unique, emphasizing that the downtown thrives on relationships as much as commerce. The moment highlighted the strong sense of connection within the downtown district.

The move arrives against a backdrop of persistent downtown challenges documented in other reporting. "Viral videos have documented open drug use, people pushing shopping carts through the streets or sleeping in tents on city greenbelts, groups loitering on the steps of downtown churches. Merchants say shoplifting has increased." Those same reports note two community-backed responses that aim to stitch services and security together: the Downtown Ambassador Project and the Downtown Health Project, both sponsored in part by the Pomerleau Family Foundation.

Andrew LeStourgeon is Burlington’s Downtown Ambassador, a new position funded via the Burlington Business Association by members of the local business community, with lead funding through the Pomerleau Family Foundation. "Andrew helps us in many ways," Mills said. "He is blunt and to the point and truthful. He’s helping many recovering addicts and some who have relapsed and people who are inside of active addiction and desperate to change." LeStourgeon is also focused on collecting data. For example, downtown businesses say that retail theft has skyrocketed in recent years, but Burlington’s official crime statistics don’t reflect the increase. That’s because merchants don’t report the thefts due to the cumbersome reporting process, Devine said.

For Burlington residents and downtown merchants, the Thyme and Spice move is both literal relocation and a small test of community resilience. The spontaneous assistance underscored local networks that neighborhood businesses rely on even as public-safety and public-health questions dominate planning discussions. Expect local leaders and organizations such as Downtown Partners, Inc., the Burlington Business Association and the Downtown Ambassador Project to cite episodes like this one when making the case for continued investment in downtown services and easier reporting pathways for merchants.