Blackbird Emporium

This week’s Small Business Spotlight is on Blackbird Emporium in Historic Downtown Oxford. This adorable artsy boutique is owned by Randy Young, a local artist who has found a way to showcase all the unique and creative merchandise he has found from other local artisans and crafters!
This is a place you have to see to believe! Along with lots of art, clothing, jewelry and accessories, he also does painting classes and Murder Mystery dinner parties. He is currently expanding his space further to include a book nook and reading area!

• Tammy (T): Blackbird Emporium is such a cool name! Where did it come from?
• Randy (R): I was a big Beatles fan growing up, so their song “Blackbird” is where that part came from. Because all my life I’ve wanted a place to show my art and paint and do classes, and when I found this building and decided to rent it, it felt like “this is my time”. The song says, “it’s time to take your broken wings and fly” so this is my time to fly and do something I’ve wanted to do all my life.
  Then I wanted it to be a store with such a variety of stuff, so my daughters thought of “emporium” because that also means market. A person coming in won’t just find one item, they’re going to find many items.
• T: How did Blackbird Emporium get started?
• R: I was taking my granddaughter to school and saw there was a rent sign on the building that hadn’t been there before and I knew I had to check it out. I called the number and it wound up being someone I know that was showing the building, and it had so much amazing potential! It had everything I would want or need. That was in August, we got everything ready in September and we opened on Oxford Fest Day, in October 2020.
• T: Tell me about your location here in Historic Downtown Oxford and the history of the building.
• R: I don’t know all the history of this building, but I do know that it’s been a couple of different pharmacies. There’s even part of the name of the drugstore that you can still see on the back of the building outside. It was around sometime in the 1800s and the store sold soda, candy, and food as well as being a pharmacy.
• T: What kind of products and vendors do you have here in the store?
• R: I have lots of my own paintings for sale throughout the store. We have clothes, hats, dog toys, bags, and art. We have treats like cotton candy, caramel corn, saltwater taffy. Some of our local vendors are Resin Art, Carolyn Crowe art, Farmhouse Inspirations by Patricia Avila and Lindsey Miller, Weston Gray, pastel portraits by Ann Robertson, Sweet Bay Magnolias, Martha Smith and Quote Pop. 
• T: Tell me about the painting classes and events that you hold in the store.
• R: I tell people, get your favorite people, get the tribe together, contact me and we’ll schedule a time! Bring food and drink (or wine!) and we have a room in the back where we can easily fit 12-14 people in for a painting party! We do birthday parties, and any kind of fun get together. I also do Murder Mystery dinner parties. I’m doing a Mad Hatter Murder Mystery soon, where everyone comes dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland. We do the princesses from Once Upon a Time and we also do The Wizard of Oz. I like to do local foods for the parties, Hubbard’s Off Main will be supplying the food for us at the next party. I like to keep it local as much as possible so we can celebrate small businesses and help out locally. 
• T: You participate in local events as well? 
• R: Oxford has started the Market on Main at Simmons Park every Saturday through August. They have vendors, food and lots of local businesses from downtown Oxford.
• T: Where can people go to find out more about your business or sign up for a class? 
• R: My email is [email protected] and our website is www.blackbird502main.com.
• T: Anything else you’d like to share?
• R: You just have to come by to see everything in person! It’s time to buy gifts for mothers or fathers or graduation, and there is something for everyone! We also offer gift certificates for painting classes or for anything in the store.

Be sure to check out their Facebook page and website, to find out more about the painting classes and themed Murder Mystery dinners. There is something for everyone here!