Village of Shops to return to races

The Village of Shops is filling up with equine-themed merchandise at this year's Aiken Steeplechase.

The Village will contain tents for the Aiken Steeplechase Association, Equine Impressions, Walkabout Hats, Pink/Howell, Fair Chase, Screenprint Factory, Princess & the Pearl, Happy Hats, Sweet Sensations, M. Smart Custom Framing, the S.C. Shop, Hats by Katie, Lionel Smith Ltd., Pipe Dreams and Jewelry by Spencer.

The food court this year will move out of the Village of Shops and go to a spot near the walk-ins entrance on Powderhouse Road, according to Aiken Steeplechase Association event coordinator Mia Miller.

"We have 15 vendors, and only one is a new vendor," Miller said. "The reason our vendors keep coming back is that business is great. Some of them are our downtown vendors, and some are from out of town, but most of them have been coming to Steeplechase for years now."

Miller said the Steeplechase Association's tent will bring back some past favorite pieces of race-branded merchandise, including sun visors and wine glasses.

"I've done Steeplechase six times in the past seven years. It's a good crowd; I have my regular customers who come by to see me, and I usually find some new ones," said Michael Smart, owner of M. Smart Custom Framing on Laurens Street, which shares retail space with Tea Garden Gifts. "I usually take a couple of different artists to show, and sometimes the artists themselves go with me. This year I'm taking works by Ginny Southworth, Georgianna Conger and Len Jagoda. I'm also highlighting the book Ginny and Richard Pearce did for the 175th anniversary of Aiken, 'Aiken Illustrated,' and I'll have copies there to be sold and signed."

New to this year's Steeplechase are a gourmet coffee vendor, Miller said, and ice cream vendor Sweet Sensations will offer smoothies in the Village of Shops.

The Village of Shops will open for business at 10 a.m. on race day. For more information about this year's vendors, call the Aiken Steeplechase Association at 648-9641 or visit the Association's webpage at www.aikensteeplechase.com.

Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.