Kwik Trip goodies – now available on Water Street.

With new retail businesses open and the remodeling of old favorites, the Water Street district has been in a state of flux over the past few months.

Some changes include a Kwik Trip convenience store (where you can fill up on Karuba Gold, but not gas – there aren’t any pumps) on the ground floor of the Aspenson-Mogensen residence hall (210 Water St.) and a new front entryway at The Goat Coffee House (336 Water St.), as well as the demolition of the former Guppy’s Pizza (421 Water St.) and several other buildings on the street, which runs by the UW-Eau Claire campus.

“These always provide benefits to the community,” Aaron White, the city’s economic development manager, said of such commercial developments.

“You are talking about new places for retail, new services provided to residents and folks that live in that part of the community, particularly the student population.”

Now that students have returned to UW-Eau Claire and nearly six months have passed since the pandemic began, businesses are trying to adapt their models to reflect a new normal under COVID-19, White said.

“We encourage folks to go out and check on their favorite businesses,” White said.

“Hopefully we can continue to support these local businesses as they continue to come back to a normal operation.”

For more information about businesses in downtown Eau Claire, including Water Street, visit downtowneauclaire.org.