Iowa City consignment store plans expansion

The planned closing of a long time downtown Iowa City business will enable a next-door neighbor to expand.

The Soap Opera, 119 E. College St., will close by the end of January after 34 years of business. The business, which opened in January 1981, sells bath and body products including more than 100 different kinds of soap.

But the space on Iowa City's Ped Mall will not be vacant for long.

Sheila Davisson, founder and owner of the Revival, a neighboring boutique at 117 E. College St. that sells new and consignment women's clothing, said her business will expand into the storefront.

'We won't be knocking down any walls or anything like that,” Davisson said. 'We've just kind of outgrown our space, and while we love our space, we're really at capacity.

'We would like to expand several of our categories, like our men's clothing, shoes and gifts. We may also carry some bath and body products since we already carry candles and some skin care products.”

Davisson said business has been good as Revival marks its 11th year of operation.

'We have been experiencing growth every year in both our new and resale items,” Davisson said. 'The new retail that we will be adding is just a little more of everything we already have.”

Davisson said the new space also will include a photography studio and shipping area to expand Revival's online retail operations.

'Our online business is growing pretty dramatically,” she said. 'The Soap Opera has backroom and warehouse space that is used for its private label product line. We're going to move all of our online operations over there.”

Davisson said Revival will take possession of the Soap Opera space in February.

'We've been working very closely with the Soap Opera to make this happen,” she said. 'We're hoping to be open for business with that space in March.”

Davisson said any physical changes will have to wait until more is known about the Soap Opera space.

'We really don't know what's over there,” she said. 'With these old buildings, you kind of discover things as you go.”