ARLINGTON, Fla. – Throughout Jacksonville’s Arlington area, a handful of small business owners explained to News4JAX why they’ve set up shop in the historic community.
The three we interviewed point to Arlington’s central location on the First Coast.
Looking at a map of the area, you’ll see Arlington sits right in the middle of Duval County, midway between the Beaches to the east and I-10 to the west.
“I can jump on 295 and I can be in Orange Park,” Jennifer Harris says as she rattles off different areas she services with her cake-making business.
“I can jump on JTB (John Turner Butler Boulevard). I mean, it’s just so easy to get everywhere. Arlington Expressway and I’m downtown. It’s so central.”
We shadowed Harris and her husband Scott, co-owners of For Goodness Cake, at a photo shoot for an upcoming community mixer in downtown Jacksonville this fall.
The entrepreneurs’ clientele includes large-scale parties and events, with clients like the Jacksonville Zoo and CSX, making maneuvering the city even more critical to keep their small business thriving.
Scott Bryant agrees wholeheartedly.
Owner of SpaceMakers Removal, it’s Bryant’s job to pick up other people’s junk.
He not only profits, but so do area nonprofits.
“We’re a junk removal company that focuses on donating, recycling, repurposing,” Bryant tells us, smiling. “So instead of just going to the landfill and throwing things away, we try to take it to places like Hope’s Closet, BEAM, Rethreaded, and Beaches Go Green, things like that."
Bryant doesn’t live in Arlington, but he says being a Jacksonville native enabled him to know where the best spot would be to build his small business.
Most of Bryant’s clientele comes from word-of-mouth, thanks in part to people like Chelsea Fitzsimmons, owner of Let’s Go Organize. When she receives potential client calls for help, the person is ready to make a life change.
“I have had clients where there’s a pathway from the door to a bedroom where you can’t even get to the bedroom because there’s piles of clothes everywhere,” Fitzsimmons explains. “I help them go in and clear the clutter. Scott comes in and hauls away the junk, and we make a pretty good team.”
All 3 small businesses have no brick and mortar storefront, and each owner has no intention of leaving their centrally strategic location, as Jacksonville and the surrounding areas keep growing, with Arlington in the perfect spot to reel in more clients.
“And it keeps the cost lower for the customer, too,” Bryant adds -- another advantage of being able to reach different parts of Northeast Florida with ease.