NOTE: Throughout the month of July, BrownwoodNews.com is publishing stories daily on 40 standout citizens under the age of 40 making a positive impact and contribution within the Brown County community.
A year ago, Shaw’s Marketplace opened its doors in downtown Brownwood and has enjoyed greater success than imagined. Two of the driving forces behind the family business venture, which is celebrating one year in business today, are the husband-wife team of Matt and Megan McCrane.
“Shaw’s Marketplace is what kept us in Brownwood post-COVID,” Matt, 28 said. “Whenever we purchased the Shaw’s Laundry building, we really had no intention or plan on what it would be, we just knew it had historical significance to downtown Brownwood and it needed to be developed. We asked through social media and friend-to-friend what Brownwood needed, and we came up with this marketplace idea. With 20 small businesses inside Shaw’s that have proven to be successful, it’s been truly a community effort. We have people from all over the state inside Shaw’s and it’s been cool to see them run successful businesses inside our marketplace. It’s done probably 10 times what we expected Shaw’s to do for our vendors. We couldn’t be more thankful for the community supporting them.”
Megan, 27, added, “Shaw’s would not be where it is today without those 20 vendors. There were 20 people, and some of them have changed, that believed in a vision. We showed them an empty room and asked them if this was something they wanted to a part of, and they were all in. They were ready to make Brownwood a little bit more special in that way. We’re just thankful that they believed in us and that we could pull it off. They’ve been right there with us the whole time.”
Matt spent time in and out of the NFL and XFL as a placekicker, but when COVID struck, the couple decided re-prioritizing and relocating was in their best interest.
“What brought us back to Brownwood was when COVID hit,” Matt said. “I was playing in the XFL at the time, COVID had hit, and Megan and I were living in Fort Worth. We just didn’t have the community feeling when we were living up there. At the time downtown Brownwood was starting to pick up in popularity. We thought about the place we wanted to be and where we wanted to raise kids and the no-brainer to me was to come back to Brownwood.”
Megan, an Arlington native, said of the move to Brownwood, “It’s really nice. We live right between Matt’s parents and grandparents. We just wanted to be back by family. As far as the community goes, everyone has been so welcoming. It’s a been a really special place for us.”
Once Shaw’s Marketplace was up and running, the McCranes pursued another venture – Fuzzy’s Taco Shop.
“We weren’t really intending on doing a restaurant or Fuzzy’s, it was just one thing at a time, and we had the community reach out to us and say what we needed and what roles to fill and we explored it,” Matt said. “Megan and I drove to Fort Worth once we had our vendors booked for the marketplace side. We said what would draw traffic and bring traffic to downtown Brownwood and to Shaw’s. We had numerous ideas, we looked at doing a bakery, we looked at doing a coffee shop, and Megan and I said almost immediately let’s look at Fuzzy’s. It was franchise operated so I called Fuzzy’s corporate, and they said come up and meet with us. I think they made the decision within the day to come to Brownwood. They wanted to come to Brownwood for a long time, but it takes people to run a business and that’s what they were looking for.”
Megan added, “Matt and I thought Fuzzy’s sounded great, we love Fuzzy’s, and we thought it would be something a lot of people would enjoy here. It was very much a God thing that Fuzzy’s was so on board. It wasn’t just us going up there and selling Brownwood. There have been people from Brownwood laying that groundwork for years and it just never worked out. They were looking for a corporate store and they hadn’t quite fond the right franchisees so whenever we were there that seed had already been planted and that was something they had thought about. The CEO at the time was a graduate of Ranger College and wanted to get something in Central Texas and make his way more toward us. There were just a lot of factors, and it was cool to see play out and come to fruition.”
Matt has also been pleased with the amount of traffic Fuzzy’s has received as well.
“I’ve been impressed with the community support because we are away from the traffic T,” Matt said. “Fuzzy’s and Shaw’s are isolated in downtown, but with the downtown movement and the revitalization of downtown it’s all coming together. It’s a really cool experience. My grandpa owned a store in downtown and the Harper family dates back to pre-1900, so our family has roots to downtown prior to just a year ago, and it’s all coming full circle for us.”
As for what comes next for the McCranes, Matt said, “I compare it to kicking in that it’s always been one kick at a time for me, so I tell Megan it’s one project at a time even though it may be five at a time. Let’s take it one step at a time and see what falls in our lap. If it helps our community, I’m willing to jump on board with it and go 100 percent. That’s what led to each project that I’ve done. I don’t know what our plan is, I don’t know what’s next for us. Right now, we’re focusing on two successful businesses that we have. We won’t forget about Shaw’s and Fuzzy’s because that’s what started us and has helped our community so much.”
Away from work, the McCranes are eager to become even more active in the community.
Matt said, “Yes, we do run businesses and yes, we’ve helped our downtown grow, but the next step for us is diving into our community organizations, and that’s something we haven’t done yet. That’s the next step for us.”
Megan added, “I’m trying to get more involved with things at the Chamber and we go to church at First United Methodist and we’re members there. We’re slowly starting to plug in more to the community as things are becoming a little more stable and calmer.”
The McCranes also expressed thanks to fellow businesses downtown for the joint effort that has sparked the area’s revitalization.
“We’ve had so much help from other small business owners in every venture we’ve done,” Megan said. “We’ve gotten great advice and people haven’t been scared to share that with us which I think is awesome. It’s been very much an open book conversation because they want us to be successful, too, which is incredible. I think they’re setting a really good example for our age group as different businesses start up or move in from a different city. Not being scared to share their knowledge has been a huge benefit and pushed us ahead.”