The Iowa City Downtown District is temporarily leasing the space that previously housed the boutique White Rabbit for a new pilot program to support downtown business. The temporary lease is set to expire in October.
The program, called “In the Meantime,” will open the storefront at 112 S. Linn St. on select days in April for marketing events and pop-up shops.
Betsy Potter, the executive director of the downtown district, said in an interview with The Daily Iowan the district’s ultimate goal is to find a permanent tenant to take over the lease. Currently, no dates for events in the space have been released yet.
“If someone were to come in and want to take over the lease imm ediately or in a couple months, we would be able to have that conversation and turn over the lease,” Potter said.
Potter said this is the first time the downtown district has done a temporary lease. Potter said businesses will be able to do these events by reaching out to the downtown district. Potter said the district will also reach out to businesses they’d like to see in the space, and the downtown district is planning events as well.
According to a release by the downtown district, the program will support boutiques on Dubuque Street that are impacted by the $3.75 million Dubuque Street construction project, which started on March 11. The downtown district stated these businesses can host events and pop-up shops.
“We’re looking to inspire people who might be interested,” Potter said.
White Rabbit was owned by Cortnie Widen and has remained closed since October 6, 2023, after a post to the business’ Instagram account which announced the closure. The business had been open in Iowa City since 2006 according to White Rabbit’s Instagram.
According to the closure post, the boutique does plan to return and is still listed as “temporarily closed” online. However, the store has since been emptied and no further update has been given.
It is unclear what prompted the business to close in October, but there was an alleged incident in late September 2023 that employees had taken over the business’ social media account. The alleged employees posted message screenshots between Widen and employees that were characterized as aggressive. The alleged screenshots still exist online.
On Sept. 22, 2023, a post on the unofficial Iowa City Police Log account on X, formerly known as Twitter, states a call was made to the Iowa City Police Department by the owner of White Rabbit seeking to press charges against ex-employees who took over the business’s Instagram account.
According to court records, charges were never filed against any former or current employee of White Rabbit by Widen.
