The LaGrange Mall held its second annual Summer Showcase earlier this week, on July 18. The event showcased local businesses and companies in LaGrange to allow community members to get a taste for what LaGrange has to offer in one space. 

Donna Powell, property manager of the mall, said that the Summer Showcase is an event to highlight businesses in the community and is a way to bring LaGrange together for a fun event that will benefit the community. 

“We wanted to be able to invite businesses to showcase what they have and advertise their products to the public,” Powell said. 

The Summer Showcase is not only happening at the LaGrange Mall however, as the event is also taking place at several malls around Georgia throughout the summer. This is the second time the LaGrange Mall has participated in a summer showcase, and numbers show that the event has grown in popularity. Last year, there were only about 30 tables filled. This year, the amount of participation doubled, with more than 60 businesses participating in the event.  

“We maxed out the tables this year,” Powell said. “There were so many entries, we had to turn some away because we ran out of room.” 

Anna Murphy, a B’s Meat Market volunteer, said that participating in the Summer Showcase has given her the opportunity to get the word out about the business she is assisting.

“Not many people in LaGrange know about B’s, so it’s nice to be in a space with so many people from the community to let people know what we do,” said Murphy, when asked why she was participating in the Summer Showcase.

“An event like this gives smaller businesses in LaGrange a chance to introduce themselves.”

The LaGrange Mall’s Summer Showcase plans to continue for years to come, and hopes to continue to attract more community members as time moves on.

The Summer Showcase has included a wide array of malls from across the country this summer, with 23 malls from all across the country taking part. The purpose of the nationwide campaign has been to raise awareness for local malls and to celebrate their importance to the communities they serve, from Georgia to Indiana to North Carolina and beyond. 

Of the 23 malls taking part, a vote to determine the nationwide City Favorite has been taking place as well. Voting for the City Favorite award ended the day of LaGrange’s Summer Showcase, and a winner will be announced soon. 

LaGrange looks forward to next summer’s event.