The shared marketplace at 639 8th Street passed its move-out deadline yesterday. Nine small businesses at Clermont's Downtown Exchange got termination notices in August and were told to be out by Sept. 30, 2026. One incoming tenant, Divino Market LLC, has said it will open a new concept there later this year. It hasn't said what that concept is. Eight of the nine departing businesses have been named publicly. As of Oct. 1, only one has a confirmed place in downtown Clermont where you can find it this fall, and that place is a Sunday market booth.
So if you were a regular at the Exchange, a calendar is now the most reliable way to track several of its former vendors downtown. The same summer also brought a new dessert shop into a 1965 Airstream on the Art Walk. Taken together, downtown's small independent businesses are showing up in smaller, shorter-term formats this season, and the fall event schedule is where they gather.
What the Exchange Was Built To Be
The Downtown Exchange opened in 2020, and South Lake Tablet called it "recently opened" by late September of that year. South Lake Tablet described it as multiple shops under one roof. That layout let a small maker rent a built-out booth in the historic core without signing a lease on a full storefront.
Dawn Mancuso, owner of A Little Hello Co., told WKMG that the Exchange was supposed to be a steppingstone. She opened there about a year ago to grow her business and hoped to move into a storefront of her own eventually. Then she explained why the next step looks steep:
"I think the biggest heartbreak for us all is that we've invested thousands of dollars to build these spaces out."
Mancuso said rent in the area can run $3,000 to $5,000, and landlords often want first month's rent, last month's rent and a security deposit up front. If $3,000 is the low end of a monthly bill, a small vendor could need roughly $9,000 or more in hand just to sign, before building anything out.
The landlord's statement says each lease included a termination-for-convenience clause that required 30 days' notice. Every tenant got 45. The landlord also said several of the operators ran good businesses and promised to help with relocations and timing and to return deposits promptly.
Vendor by Vendor, What's Confirmed as of Oct. 1
WKMG named three of the nine businesses in its Sept. 9 story. A follow-up report published Sept. 10 named eight. Here is what each business's own site or public reporting shows so far:
- A Little Hello Co. sells watercolor-based stationery, cards and gifts that it designs, prints and handcrafts in its studio in historic Clermont. Its homepage now points shoppers to its booth on 8th Street at the Downtown Clermont Farmers Market every Sunday. It also asks customers to follow its social accounts for the fall and holiday pop-up schedule.
- On-the-Go Pickleball Shop sells paddles, gear and accessories and rents equipment. Its website says it is relocating and that a new location is "coming soon." No address has been posted.
- DiVilma makes cinnamon rolls in flavors such as blueberry, pistachio, pecan and Nutella. Its store locator lists one shop, at 5455 Gateway Village Circle, Suite 102, in Orlando. No Clermont address appears.
- YodiBrodi does custom embroidery and printing on T-shirts, hats, polos and athletic wear. Its homepage still mentions a shop on 8th Street, but no new address has been posted since the deadline.
- The Healthy Nut Café listed fruit smoothies, vegan and alkaline handhelds, snacks and drinks on its Exchange menu. No new location has been announced.
- Pat's Soft Serve: no new location has been announced.
- Sapore di Napoli, spelled Sappore di Napoli in WKMG's report: no new location has been announced.
- Sparkle Creations: no new location has been announced.
The ninth business hasn't been named in any of the coverage. If you were a regular at one of the stalls not on this list, the owner's own social accounts are the best place to check.
This list may change quickly. Some of these owners could announce a new storefront next week. For now, the Sunday booth on 8th Street is the only confirmed spot downtown where you can find one of them in person.
The Airstream on the Art Walk
A few blocks away, a different small space got a new tenant this summer. Scooped & Stuffed opened in the Little Gem, a vintage 1965 Airstream on the Clermont Art Walk at 755 W. Minneola Ave., with a ribbon-cutting hosted by the South Lake Chamber of Commerce.
The trailer has its own history. Art Walk developer Jayson Stringfellow found it abandoned on a fern farm in Umatilla and spent seven months restoring it. It sits behind Roasted Spirit, and its first tenant was The Wave. Scooped & Stuffed comes from Brandon and Andi Moss, founders of Muse Gelato, in partnership with restaurant industry veteran Christopher Buxton. Muse Gelato has been making small-batch gelato for more than 20 years. The menu pairs that gelato with freshly baked desserts that are deliberately oversized, warm and gooey.
The Little Gem and the Exchange worked the same way. Each gave an operator a small, ready-made space downtown without a full storefront lease. This summer, one of those spaces got a new tenant and the other began closing to its vendors.
The Fall Dates Where Downtown Makers Gather
Between the Sunday market and the pop-ups A Little Hello Co. mentions, here are the downtown dates through Thanksgiving weekend that bring the most local businesses together:
- Saturday, Oct. 3, 4 to 8 p.m.: Family Food Fest and the October Downtown Cruise, a classic and exotic car show, both downtown.
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 6:30 to 9 p.m.: The October Wine Stroll, with sampling at more than 20 local businesses. Check in at 756 W. Montrose St.
- Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25: Suntoberfest, downtown.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Clermont Main Street's Harvest Festival at 752 W. Montrose St., with more than 100 artisan vendors, music, food trucks and a kids' zone.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 5 to 8:30 p.m.: Taste of South Lake at Waterfront Park, which the South Lake Chamber says will feature tastings from more than 30 local restaurants.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 4 to 8 p.m.: Family Food Fest returns downtown.
- Friday, Nov. 13, 6:30 to 9 p.m.: The November Wine Stroll, with check-in again at 756 W. Montrose St.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Shop Small Saturday downtown, with check-in at the Art Walk, 756 W. Montrose St.
The Harvest Festival is the biggest of these for local makers, with more than 100 artisan vendors in one day. Shop Small Saturday starts at the Art Walk, home to the Little Gem. If you're hoping to run into a former Exchange vendor, those two dates are the likeliest, though no vendor has announced plans for either one yet.
What Fills 639 8th Street Next
Divino Market says it is a local small business, that its concept is new and not an expansion of an existing restaurant, and that it expects to open later in 2026. It also said it had no role in the previous tenants' leases. The landlord says plans for the property will be announced once they're final. That leaves about three months on the calendar for "later this year," and neither party has given a date.
Other downtown projects could eventually add space for small businesses, but none of it is ready soon. In August, the City Council approved a conditional-use permit for West End Plaza at 821 W. Minneola Avenue, allowing up to 16 homes and 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. The project still needs site plans and permits before construction can start. The proposed Lumberyard District, on 12.3 acres beside Victory Pointe and the South Lake Trail, would include 392 apartments and roughly 53,000 to 55,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office and entertainment space. It is still a proposal.
Until one of those projects opens or a former Exchange owner signs a new lease, the confirmed places to find these makers downtown are a booth on 8th Street on Sundays and the Montrose Street event dates listed above.
Kara pays close attention to how storefronts like the Exchange change hands in downtown Clermont, and she'll keep tracking what opens at 639 8th Street and where its former vendors land. If you want to talk through what those changes mean for your corner of Clermont, Kara Wisely is happy to share what she's seeing. Let's Connect.
