KEARNS, Utah — A new walking loop through Kearns is highlighting local businesses and community history, with some business owners hoping it will bring new customers through their doors.
Eat, Explore, Shop Kearns is a 1.2-mile loop through the city’s central business district. The route starts and ends at the Kearns Library and takes people past shopping centers and local businesses while highlighting the history of the community.
For business owners along the route, the loop could offer another way for people to discover what is already in Kearns.
Bianca Villanueva said her family has been at its current Kearns location for about a year after moving into a larger space.
“We started this business because of my mom’s cooking, and she’s a really good chef,” Villanueva explained. “We also saw it as an opportunity to share her food and our whole culture.”
Villanueva said many of the people coming through the doors are already familiar with the business.
“I think we have a lot of the same customers and their families all coming in, but there’s not a lot of new customers,” she said.
She hopes the walking loop can help change that by introducing more people to small businesses throughout Kearns.
“There’s a lot of small family businesses that are struggling, and I think it could really be helpful to those businesses,” Villanueva said.
Charity Levao, who owns a Polynesian market nearby, also hopes the loop encourages people to explore more of Kearns.
Levao said her family moved to Kearns from Samoa in 2003 and that the community has long felt familiar to her.
“Growing up in Kearns, it’s just the closest thing we had to feeling like a village back home in Samoa,” Levao said.
Her shop has been in Kearns for two years. Levao said she already sees support from the community but hopes the walking route brings in people who may not know what businesses are available in the area.
The walking loop also highlights plans to revitalize the area into the Kearns Town Center.