Riverwalk Event Rentals and Decor has something for everyone

Riverwalk Event Rentals and Decor, located at 404 Lynn Street in downtown Danville, has been open for more than a decade. But the local business has been working through an exciting series of changes the past couple of years, as they are evolving from primarily an event rentals service into more of an antiques and custom gifts business.

“We’ve been open about 11 to 12 years. We’re a small business. It’s myself, and my sister helps fill in for me when I cannot be here. We did close for about four years, and then I re-opened. We changed things up a little bit,” said owner Jean Williams in a recent interview with the Star-Tribune. “I do event rentals, but I’m moving more towards antiques and vintage. I also carry the Dixie Belle chalk mineral paint line, and I teach the classes in learning how to paint furniture, accessories, and pieces. I do carry custom pieces, and we have some gift items. So I have a variety of things.”

The shift from event rentals to more of an antiques and vintage gift business was partially due to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was also due to the changing dynamics of downtown Danville.

Surrounded by Impotters Clayworx, located at 406 Lynn Street, Pretty ’N Cute Pet Grooming, located at 408 Lynn Street, and Angela’s Creative Catering, located at 401 Wilson Street, Riverwalk Event Rentals and Decor is set up nicely in a thriving part of downtown Danville, filled with a variety of fun and dynamic local small businesses. 

“They make pottery and teach classes on one side of me — and on the other side we have Angela’s Catering. She caters wonderful meals. We also have a pet grooming business. There’s a lot going on, on Lynn Street. I’m not standing alone over here by myself,” she said.

Williams sees an opportunity to fill a need in downtown Danville with her eclectic variety of products, from vintage antiques to custom wreaths and arrangements, to the relatively new and ever-growing popularity of chalk paint, which can be used to improve a wide range of items.

“I think the pandemic really put a halt on the event rentals. There wasn’t a lot going on for a while,” Williams said. “It is picking back up, I will say, but (wedding and event) venues offer everything in a package. I have a few customers that still want to rent small things, but I’m just playing it by ear to see how it goes. If it picks back up, that’s great. If it doesn’t, I may just do away with that completely.”

“Right now the downtown area, I felt like eventually with things changing down here, it may need more gift items that you can pick up - vintage items, wreaths, clothes, and arrangements, antiques, just different items there,” Williams continued. “Not all just one thing, because not everybody likes antiques, and not everybody likes vintage things. There are gift items, so it’s a variety here.”

“We have vintage dishes. There’s just a lot of different names. I kind of like dishes myself, so if I see something I like, I’m going to grab it, whether it’s glassware or dishes. We have some Noritake brand and some Lenox brand, and Johann Haviland. In our Dixie Belle chalk mineral paint, it’s very popular. The chalk painting. Dixie Belle has a huge variety of colors and all kinds of accessories to go with it. So you can do a piece, do your walls, do your chairs, do your lampshades. Whatever your imagination is. It’s a fun line. I’ve got pieces that can be bought if you want to redo it, and I have pieces I have redone in the chalk mineral paint and sell, too. Just different things.”

Along with the Dixie Belle chalk paint product line, Williams offers a series of fun and engaging classes, where people can come and learn how to restyle and renovate their own pieces of furniture or custom item, or they can choose an item in the store and refurbish it as part of the class. 

“I offer the classes,” Williams said. “I usually will post the class (online). It lasts about two hours for a beginner class. I can do more extended classes, but the beginner class is about two hours. It depends on if I offer the product that they are going to refinish or if they are going to bring it in themselves as to the cost of it, but I would say anywhere from $55 dollars to $65 dollars for the two-hour class - that is, if I provide everything. And then they take the piece home. It’s fun to do, and they get to do it with other people maybe that they haven’t met before. Usually it’s held on a Saturday, and they can learn enough to go home and do their own piece, and take it to the next step. And I also sell the products. So that’s a win-win for me.”

In addition to their brick-and-mortar store on Lynn Street, which is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first and third Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon, Williams has opened an online boutique called Riverwalk Antiques and Decor. The online boutique offers real-time shopping experiences for those who may not be able to easily get to downtown Danville, or who wish to shop during different hours than when the physical store is open.

“I have an online boutique. It’s called Riverwalk Antiques and Decor. The Facebook page is Riverwalk Event Rentals and Decor, but the online boutique takes out the name “event rentals”. They can shop online and purchase there, and pick up in the store. That’s 24-7. If you want to sit at home and shop, you can,” Williams said.

Learn more about Riverwalk Event Rentals and Decor at https://www.facebook.com/RiverwalkRentals/, or call 434-250-5974 for more information.