The heart of Oxford is known as the Square. With a variety of exceptional restaurants, shops, bars, hotels and more, it’s understandable why some fall into the Velvet Ditch, an Oxford nickname.
Tall green trees and flowerbeds with colorful tulips surround the Square this time of year. With small town charm and a unique historic and cultural feel, many walk there each day past the courthouse, a tall white brick building with a clock tower on top.
With many daily visitors and Oxford’s population continually expanding, growth on the Square can be beneficial and challenging to business owners. Meredith Neely, an employee of the Square store Hemline, said parking can sometimes be problematic.
“Parking is a challenge every single day, and I get really tired of paying the meter,” Neely said. “It’s always a very far walk from the parking behind Boure that’s free to hemline. There should be a parking lot on the Square that requires a pass to get in for people that work on the Square.”
Neely said the weather is another challenge. When it’s bad, few shop on the Square. “Not a lot of people like to walk the Square to shop when it’s pouring rain or freezing outside,” she said.
However, most of the time, working on the Square is an enjoyable experience, she said. “I have loved working at Hemline because everyone I work with is so nice and fun, and I have been able to get to know customers too,” she said. “The Square brings so many people for all different reasons, whether it’s for food, work or social. No matter the day, people are always stopping in.”
JCG Apparel (officially written jcgapparel) is another store on the Square that services customers during the day. The store’s popular T-shirts are worn all over Oxford. The front of the store has big glass windows with a lighted JCG sign in front of a window display of colorful T-shirts hanging from the ceiling and covering the tables.
Lydia Morris, a JCG Apparel sales assistant, said the store is one of the most popular apparel stores on the Square because of its unique retail.
“The shirts do not have your typical Ole Miss logo,” she said. “They are fun with different designs and ideas that are unique to JCG’s style, which is like more vintage and distressed looking. We carry a range of apparel sizes, from newborn to double XL adult sizes.”
JCG’s most popular designs include: Velvet Ditch, the Rebel, the original Ole Miss script, the powder blue helmet, and a Faulkner quote. Morris said they all have been reprinted and restocked six to seven times.
“We have people come in every single day that ask what Velvet Ditch means and what HYDR (means),” Morris said. “Velvet Ditch is a saying that has been used since the 1950s to describe Oxford, and it means Oxford is easy to fall into and hard to crawl out of because it is such a comfortable and welcoming place that anyone who comes here never wants to leave.
“Both of the owners, Lewis Herrington and Mary Kathryn Herrington, are not from Oxford, but they went to school at Ole Miss and never wanted to leave Oxford, so the Velvet Ditch saying holds a special meaning to them.”
Morris said the store is busiest on game day weekends. They are usually open only Monday through Saturday, but on weekends with big events, they also open Sundays. “During big event weekends, we have to get there early because, typically on Saturdays and Sundays, there are people waiting outside the door to get in,” Morris said.
With new shirt designs every few weeks, the store stays busy with customers. “If we aren’t helping a customer, we are constantly restocking, because our store is so popular among visitors to Oxford and locals,” Morris said.
Another JCG sales assistant, Ginni Jones, said JCG is in a great location on the Square for visitors. “It’s the perfect location, because it is in between Boure and Ajax, where most people are waiting for a table to go eat,” Jones said.
Jones said JCG’s window display always has a range of different products, from Mason jars and koozies, to onesies and T-shirts. “We always try to keep our window displays up-to-date with our newest designs,” Jones said.
JCG is another place where a lot of locals and students at the university shop for gifts for family or friends. “A lot of people come in asking to gift wrap (items) because it is a good gift that everyone can always enjoy, especially a soft T-shirt with a unique design on it,” Jones said. “The price of the T-shirts depends on the brand, but our short sleeve T-shirts start at $20, and our long sleeves are $25. We also have nice (Polo-style shirts) that are good for men that are made with 100 percent Mississippi cotton.”
The Square offers something morning, noon and night. Students, families and locals gather here during the day for lunch, to shop or to study. As the day goes on, atmosphere on the Square changes. Later in the afternoon, shops are closing and bars are opening for happy hour.
Casual drinking on the Square is a popular pastime, as is dinner at one of the restaurants, including Boure, Lenora’s, City Grocery and Second Line. After lunch, many stroll around the Square popping in and out of stores or sit on the rooftop of a restaurant for a view and refreshing drink.
After class on a recent Monday afternoon, it was a warm, breezy day on the porch at Proud Larry’s that looks out over the street across from the new restaurant, Second Line. People-watching while sitting on the Square can last all afternoon. The aroma of food being cooked at other restaurants filled the fresh air. People were everywhere sitting on balconies and sidewalk benches chatting away.
“Working on the Square is a lot of fun,” Olivia Boone, a sales associate at Katherine Beck said as soft music played inside the store. “On the weekdays, it’s pretty quiet and not as busy. On the weekends, it’s more crowded, and we have more business. I love working here. It’s a fun atmosphere to be in. I have good hours, and it’s fun when my friends come in to visit me or shop here.”
At the Graduate Hotel, you can sit at a tall bar table that overlooks the entire Square and courthouse. The smell of food being cooked on a grill wafted through the air on a recent day, as the murmur of conversations and old music were heard in the background. Jessica Majoy, a Graduate employee, said: “It’s really hectic, but fun. We were sold out every weekend for the month of April. It’s always busy, but the people who stay with us are regulars, so we get to know them really well.”
The Square is also known for its nightlife. Working on the Square, whether day or night, means large crowds, rowdy students, and a busy, yet exciting work shift. Things wind down after dinner, then crank back up for students who come out to the bars at night. Servers leave, bartenders arrive, and the Oxford Square finds itself with a different crowd each night.
Jonathan Peters, a waiter and bartender, is on the Square all hours of the day and night. Serving at The Second Line by day, Peters works at Oxford’s newest Square restaurant that offers a casual atmosphere and Cajun-inspired food. He is also a bartender on the Square at night at The Round Table. “It is really convenient being able to walk from one job to the other on the Square,” he said.
Working on the Square has its perks, and football season brings in big tips for servers and bartenders. “The best part of working on the Square is how I’ve gotten to know everyone else who works at restaurants and bars right here next to me,” Peters said. “It’s a really good group of people right here in town that I would have never gotten the chance to know.”
With a wide variety of retail, restaurants, and bars located in the heart of Oxford, students can make good money picking up part-time jobs walking distance from their houses and campus.
“Working on the Square is an experience every student should have while attending Ole Miss,” said Nest employee Alexis Pounds. “There is no better way to get to know a different part of Oxford and a different group of people.”
Barrett Ervin, Anne Banks Blackwell and Shelby Warner wrote this feature as seen on OxfordStoriesLongform.wordpress.com. They can be reached at ebervin@go.olemiss.edu, abblackw@go.olemiss.edu and slwarner@go.olemiss.edu.
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